Old Car Facts

From decades of experience of working under, in and on top of old cars, we at Zakira’s have come up with the following consistent observations:

1. Old cars are cool but they’re also, well, old.
2. Old cars often leak. They leaked when new; they leak now.  It just is.
3. Old cars are typically not driven much, which often causes problems down the line.
4. Existing parts on old cars are tired, worn and often in need of repair or replacement.
5. Replacement parts for old cars are often either difficult to find, available only from Lower Botswana – or simply unavailable.
6. Available replacement parts are often of poor quality. Sometimes you can tell; sometimes you just can’t.
7. Old car problems are often very difficult to diagnose. Sometimes the diagnosis takes far longer than the repair. Again, it just is.
8. Old cars are very often difficult to repair. For example, removing an old fastener can take 10 seconds – or it can take well over an hour. Just depends.
9. Old cars almost always have things wrong with them other than those prompting a visit to a repair facility.
10. Repairs on old cars almost always uncover unanticipated challenges, leading to unanticipated costs and delays. Snags...Will...Happen. Nature of the beast!
11. It is not unheard of that repairs to an old car exceed the value of the car to begin with. Definitely something to consider.
12. An old car’s owner typically has little idea of what’s been done to the car throughout its lifespan, unless he or she owned the car from new – and even then, things may have been done and forgotten about that will affect the requested repair.

Servicing an old car is definitely NOT like servicing a new car!!