I caught the end of a episode of Wheeler dealers where they purchased a 64 Corvette roadster for $18,000. The car needed paint, and a new interior and brake work. But what makes me think this show is a baloney is nothing was said about the birdcage or frame, yet the car was not in good shape from what I saw. It seemed getting the clock to work and the brakes adjusted were the biggest headaches. then when they talked about the numbers to restore the Corvette it really got nuts. They said the body shop used carbon fiber body filler to smooth out the body. They had all this body work done and the trim replaced in England for $3,000. When they added up the total bill it came to $960.00 for top relplacement, $3,000 to ship the car to England, $220.00 for replacement ignition . They then sold the car for $45,000 at a Corvette show. The car looked brand new according to what I saw on the screen. Maybe we should be taking out Corvettes to England to be restored, it sure would be a lot cheaper.
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Re: Wheeler dealer 64 Corvette
Yep Walter, and all probably took a week to do. Except for the shipping.
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Re: Wheeler dealer 64 Corvette
I haven't seen that episode but watched the show many times and the numbers they give out are only material costs and no labor is included I guess Edd China is free.Comment
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Re: Wheeler dealer 64 Corvette
Ed China's considerable labor has to be free. It's the only way that they can make it look like they're making
any money. IMO, if you took into account the $$$ required for a mechanic's labor they would lose money on every car that they flip.Comment
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Re: Wheeler dealer 64 Corvette
I sent an email to Mike asking that exact question and here's his reply.Ed China's considerable labor has to be free.
WHY DON'T YOU ALLOW FOR EDD'S LABOUR COSTS IN THE WD RESTOS?
You also have to note that until this season, their prices were in English pounds, so $3K in pounds is equivalent to around $4000 US. This season was the first to use US dollars because (again, as Mike said):Edd always explains things from the home mechanics point of view. If work leaves the shop we always include the labour and repair costs, however Edd essentially is you and you wouldn’t charge yourself labour.
WHY DO YOU GIVE THE PRICES IN DOLLARS ON WHEELER DEALERS AND TRADING UP?
EdTrading up as well as Wheeler Dealers have now become very successful global shows and Discovery Channel want us to use a more Global currency….the dollar we think works and we understand resentment partially from the UK audience. But in the real world of international business and commerce including the motor trade, we deal in dollars.Comment
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Re: Wheeler dealer 64 Corvette
I seems that many of the fixer type of shows massage their facts to make them more interesting to the viewers.Comment
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Re: Wheeler dealer 64 Corvette
I understand Mike's answer about why they don't include Edd's labor in the total - the premise is that you would do the work yourself. I just wish I were half as clever as Edd! Seems like there isn't too much he can't handle. Still one of the few automobile shows on TV that I enjoy - it sure beats a bunch of scraggly nitwits in black T-shirts fighting with each other and yelling "WHOOOOOOO!" every few minutes. I wouldn't take any car I have EVER owned to any of those butchers.Comment
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Re: Wheeler dealer 64 Corvette
I totally agree David.
Edd actually FIXES the cars he works on as opposed to those other monkeys on TV that slap bondo on a car, give it a quick paint job and then push it on some unsuspecting sucker.
However, in a real world situation, you would STILL want to factor in your labor in the final price. Especially if you flip cars for a living! Not doing so is just losing you money.
EdComment
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Re: Wheeler dealer 64 Corvette
I've been watching them since the beginning. They started over a decade ago buying 10-20 year old cars for literally a few hundred pounds and doing only a few repairs. Body work consisted of at most rattle-canning a rusty "wing" and actually cleaning parts was out of the question. They started getting into what I hesitate to call "restorations" a few years ago only after their show became successful. There's at least a couple of episodes where Edd replaced the entire rusty frame underneath a car, a Morgan and a TVR as I recall. But in the more recent seasons it seems they've scaled back to doing a handful of quick fixes more like they started with, just now with far more expensive cars and maybe they'll get it painted. I would expect a couple of reasons. Its probably hard to squeeze a full restoration into an hour show and harder still to make a commitment to X number of episodes per year. Still, for me, and probably most of the NCRS, a full restoration is an average of 156 weekends worth of work. Doesn't matter what they call it tho. I've still learned a lot from Edd (I didn't know that about Corvette clocks) and even some of Mike's visits to various specialty shops like the time he found a guy to cold stitch a crack in a cast iron cylinder head. I'll continue to watch until the educational content falls off or they start screaming at each other.Comment
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Re: Wheeler dealer 64 Corvette
I've watched it since the beginning as well, and, the '64 Corvette shown in the beginning of the episode in question (the gun metal gray car) is owned by Corvette Forum member "toddalin". And, yes, I would rather watch Mike and Edd instead of some tattooed up goofball with a baseball cap pulled down over his ears and a sappy smirk on his face and earrings the size of fender washers...
I've noticed in the latest episodes (perhaps the last 4) Mike is actually getting his hands dirty and doing some mechanical work. Its interesting how the format of the show has morphed over the years. The only episode I found sort of ridiculous was when that put the "bubble-themed' wrap on a van that turned out so horrific that Edd supposedly kept the van for himself...Comment
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Re: Wheeler dealer 64 Corvette
My friend owns a body shop and he always amazed at how cheap some of these car shows can do body work on and paint a car.Comment
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Re: Wheeler dealer 64 Corvette
Wheeler dealer is entertaining but your right the costs just dont add up, another show over in the UK is Car SOS which has also some interesting cars on - most of the show is around a couple of guys, which end up cutting out endless rust - enjoy
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