Car restorations can be a fulfilling endeavor, but it also comes with risks, especially when dealing with unscrupulous car restoration shops. The quality and reliability of classic car restoration shops is going to vary just like any other industry. You are going to come across top notch companies that take great pride in what they do. You will also find companies that operate with less than honorable methods.

Unfortunately, there are shops out there that will cut corners and do what they can to make a quick buck. Most shops, however, would not stay in business very long if they operated this way. It is good to be cautious when hiring a company or individual but have faith that with enough research you will find a reputable restoration shop.

Here are ten common scams in the car restorations industry and tips on how to avoid each:

Finding a reputable car paint shop is crucial to ensuring that your vehicle receives a high-quality paint job. Doing bodywork and painting a vehicle correctly is something totally different.  It takes quite a bit of know-how and talent to make a paint job look picture-perfect.  During a typical restoration, as much as 50% – 60% of the time spent will be working on the bodywork and paint.

Whether your classic needs an entirely new paint job or just part of its color matched, you are going to want to turn to professionals to get the job done right. For a high-quality paint job, not show standard but something still impressive, you are looking at a minimum of $15,000 – $20,000 to get the job done right.  Show quality paint jobs usually just start around $35,000 depending on the labor rates in that area.  These numbers might sound like a lot, but you once you realize the amount of time and work that goes into it, things start to make more sense. It is a lot of work to completely disassemble the exterior, strip paint down to bare metal, and fix any minor dents and creases.  We are not talking about any rust repair or new metal or fiberglass fabrication either.

While a car restoration contract is meant to protect both the customer and the restoration shop, certain contract clauses can potentially cause trouble for the customer if not carefully considered or negotiated. Disputes involving car restoration work are in the upper echelon of the “Legal Files” Top 10 Hit Parade. Even in the best of circumstances that should not be surprising. Car restorations have many elements that can easily lead to disputes no matter if the restoration shop is operating with the best intentions or is one of the many restorations shops that operate in the fringe.

As a customer entering into a car restoration contract, several beneficial clauses can help protect your interests and ensure a successful restoration project. A restoration to high standards on just about any car can begin at about $50,000 and can easily climb into the millions on many exotic cars. Most of the cars that we drive will be in the $50,000 – $100,000 range, not including the cost of the car. This is a substantial amount of money, yet I regularly hear from people who contact me when they discover that they have written out $150,000 in checks for a restoration that was supposed to cost $50,000. And the worst part is that it has been two years since work began and the car is still not even back on the frame.

There is no way to guarantee that any restoration will be completed on time, and on budget. But without a written contact, I can guarantee it will not. This is the case even with an honest shop, and a customer willing to keep the cash flowing. That is because a restoration is a complicated undertaking, and unless things are reduced to writing, the expectations of both the customer and the restoration shop will be different. These expectations can apply to the payment schedule, the work schedule, and the level of quality of the work to be performed.

Having a written agreement is crucial when working with a car restoration shop, or any service provider for that matter. Who in the car hobby among us has not at some time imagined doing a comprehensive high-quality restoration on the car of our dreams? Perhaps it is a car that we already own, or one that we would buy for the sole purpose of restoring. For some, the thought of undertaking such a project is a dream. For others, it is a nightmare. As with so many other things in life, how well you prepare and how realistic your expectations are will determine whether you wake up in the morning with the warm fuzzies, or in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. A written agreement helps protect both parties involved in the restoration process by clearly outlining the terms and conditions of the project.

Over the past few years, we have discussed how to locate a good classic car restoration shop as well as some of the scams that are out there to take your car and money without providing the work that was agreed to. Even now I still receive questions from car hobbyists who are stuck in miserable car restoration projects after they say they researched the shop. One of the statements I hear is that they had checked the restoration shop’s Better Business Bureau (BBB) report as well as Google feedback and did not see anything of concern. Unfortunately researching a car restoration shop takes a more thorough review as most shops do not get negative feedback posted for public view; just positive reports as most people are not reporting shop scams, they encountered at a car restoration shop. Let’s dive into this further to help get more accurate information out into public view.

For many in the car hobby it is that time of year when thoughts turn to either seasonal car repairs or even a full vintage car restoration. Avoiding car restoration shop scammers is essential to ensure that your classic car restoration project goes smoothly and is completed to your satisfaction. The news still contains far too many restoration shop scammers out there taking advantage of the unsuspecting hobbyist. In the past we have discussed both how to locate a restoration shop, and the many warning signs of unreputable shops as well as shop scammers techniques.

When you finally own a restoration-worthy car, you will have to determine if you can perform any aspects of the rebuild yourself, or if you will have to farm out the entire project to specialists. If you reason that restoration is out of your league, the next step becomes the homework you will have to do to pick a restoration shop that will deliver the finished product you envision while remaining close to your budget and time schedule.

Restoring a modern car and a vintage car can have distinct differences due to the technological advancements, availability of parts, and complexity of the vehicles. Let’s face it-not all of us have the tools, skills, and space to restore a vintage car by ourselves. Where does this leave us? There are hundreds of restoration professionals operating a car restoration specialty shop out there who can tackle even the rustiest hulk of a formerly glorious car. Before you can choose a restoration shop, you have got to decide what you want the finished car to be (Concours-winning show car, or simply a nice driver?) and how much money you can spend to get to that point.

When you finally own a restoration-worthy car, you will have to determine if you can perform any aspects of the rebuild yourself, or if you will have to farm out part or the entire project to specialists. If you reason that restoration is out of your league, the next step becomes the homework you will have to do to pick a restoration shop that will deliver the finished product you envision while remaining close to your budget and time schedule. Or do you farm out your vintage car to have work done by autobody, interior, and mechanic’s shops.

Over the years I have witnessed quite a few car hobbyists stuck in a classic car restoration project that is simply going nowhere after many years. Their car or truck is parked at a restoration shop, and they are seeking answers as to how to extract themselves from a restoration project that was supposed to be completed but are not even close after laying out many thousands of dollars. All these cases are slightly different, but the one thing in common is that the car owner paid for work to be done, and some, or all, of the work has not been completed.