Build or not to build

[Peter Cox]

NB. I still haven't got the hang of posting in the right forum, so if I appear stupid it's because I am.

This has been prompted by a mate's decision to sell his Westfield "mid-build" and look to buy a fully built version next Spring.

From the sale, other than the hours he put into the mule himself he's got back the money that it cost him in parts (i.e. he broke even).

He reckons building a 1.8 Zetec Westie currently costs about £10k (excluding equivalent labour costs).

He reckons that, in comparison, he should be able to pick up a bog standard 96/97 Xflow Westie for about £5k. His plan is then to spend the difference (when he can) in upgrading the beast.

Other than...

(a) in the short term he'll be using old (but really huggable   ) technology

(b) caveat emptor

© initially at least he won't necessarily get the spec he would've done if he'd built it himself

(d) maybe he'll miss out on the satisfaction of self build

...I think he's being shrewd.

Anyone disagree? Got an alternative point of view? Got any better suggestions?

[Nick M]

I chose to build my first Westfield rather than buying second hand but I have to say in some ways I wish I'd bought a second hand car, enjoyed it, tinkered with it and then sold it to help fund the build of a car to exactly the specification I wanted.

What I ended up doing is building the car to the spec I could afford and then shelling out more money to upgrade it over the years.

Yes, you get the satisfaction of building it yourself, but I think it's easier to find out what you do and don't like when you buy a second-hand car that's ready to use.  And what's to say you have to just buy one second-hand car - why not try a couple and see which engine you prefer ??  It would certainly allow you to decide on what elements you would include in a car built to your own tastes.