Car SOS - how good are their restorations?

Car SOS - how good are their restorations?

Author
Discussion

Esceptico

Original Poster:

8,242 posts

116 months

Friday 27th January 2017
quotequote all
I enjoy watching Car SOS but wonder about the quality of their restorations. From what I know of other people doing this privately, a full restoration (which most of them seem to require) seems to takes months or even years yet Car SOS seem to turn it around in a few weeks (admittedly there seem to be lots of people working full time on the car during that period). Are the end results actually good restorations or just look good for the show?

steveo3002

10,664 posts

181 months

Friday 27th January 2017
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dont take too much notice of the time scale , i dont believe for a minute theyre done in a couple of weeks

as for the quality , some seem better than others , im not always thrilled with the standard of repairs they show

roboxm3

2,443 posts

202 months

Friday 27th January 2017
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I like a bit of Car SOS and it appears that they seem to do a half decent job of turning the cars around.

I don't think they're up to Chip Foose / Overhaulin' standard but better than Mike and Ed'd Wheeler Dealer stuff (I think Ed's great but the whole point of what they do is not to go too far).

Along with a bit of Gas Monkey and Top Gear re-runs on Dave, that's pretty much my TV schedule sorted hehe

ambuletz

10,992 posts

188 months

Friday 27th January 2017
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didn't pimp my ride used to take up to a year doing some peoples cars? and in that time they'd give the person a rental.

ZesPak

24,926 posts

203 months

Friday 27th January 2017
quotequote all
ambuletz said:
didn't pimp my ride used to take up to a year doing some peoples cars? and in that time they'd give the person a rental.
A couple of Pimp My Ride guests have shown up in the media here and there about the shoddy "repairs". In fact, more often than not they just didn't repair anything non-cosmetic, or put it in to minimum working order.

Shows like Car SOS seem to do a bit better from my perspective. Only a couple of the guests could know for sure though.

Blib

45,435 posts

204 months

Friday 27th January 2017
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I'm of the habit of DVLA checking the cars on this show. (I've no idea why I do this. It's curiosity, I suppose). It's surprising how many are sorned. One or two are no longer on the database.

helix402

7,913 posts

189 months

Friday 27th January 2017
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Have a look at the Range Rover MOT advisories after 1 year.

markcoznottz

7,155 posts

231 months

Friday 27th January 2017
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Don't believe anything you see on tv.

blade7

11,311 posts

223 months

Friday 27th January 2017
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Great show, though some of the cars owners look more than capable of paying for the restoration themselves.

Jonno02

2,252 posts

116 months

Friday 27th January 2017
quotequote all
ZesPak said:
A couple of Pimp My Ride guests have shown up in the media here and there about the shoddy "repairs". In fact, more often than not they just didn't repair anything non-cosmetic, or put it in to minimum working order.

Shows like Car SOS seem to do a bit better from my perspective. Only a couple of the guests could know for sure though.
Let's be honest though, it's "pimp" my ride, not "mechanically repair my ride". THAAAAAAANKS XZIBIT! A NEW CLUTCH!

TEKNOPUG

19,337 posts

212 months

Friday 27th January 2017
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Another pointless premise car show with manufactured jeopardy.

The cars look good when they are finished though.

e600

1,380 posts

159 months

Friday 27th January 2017
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I thought the E Type had gap issues, certainly on the drivers door. Getting doors to fit correctly on an E Type is a skilled and lengthy process, especially if replacement door seals are fitted. I can't recall if a shot was shown of the drivers door fully closed , perhaps they attended to it post show?

ChocolateFrog

28,677 posts

180 months

Friday 27th January 2017
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helix402 said:
Have a look at the Range Rover MOT advisories after 1 year.
Have you got the link.

They seem to do a reasonable job, would be interesting to see behind the scenes.

I prefer things like Project Binky where you get a feel for the 100's if not 1000's of hours that go into a detailed restoration or build. Not to mention the timescale which stretches to years.

droopsnoot

12,664 posts

249 months

Friday 27th January 2017
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steveo3002 said:
dont take too much notice of the time scale , i dont believe for a minute theyre done in a couple of weeks
Can't be - in a similar fashion to the other unreasonable-deadline show that was "American Hotrod", you can often see other projects in the background. Last nights episode was from Series 3, an E-type, and the quattro they did in the same series was on the ramp in the background of several shots. While they might do one easy restoration in a 2-week period, they're certainly not doing two.

anonymous-user

61 months

Friday 27th January 2017
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if you look closely at the end of the show you can spot quite a few 'faults' on the cars, shut lines, trim missing, corrosion still present .. that sort of thing.. now if that's what you can see one wonders about the quality of what you can't.

Balmoral

41,767 posts

255 months

Friday 27th January 2017
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TEKNOPUG said:
Another pointless premise car show with manufactured jeopardy.
I think there would be a market and an audience for a proper car restoration show, with things done seriously and with care to a good standard, and no false dramatisation.

SystemParanoia

14,343 posts

205 months

Friday 27th January 2017
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Balmoral said:
TEKNOPUG said:
Another pointless premise car show with manufactured jeopardy.
I think there would be a market and an audience for a proper car restoration show, with things done seriously and with care to a good standard, and no false dramatisation.
http://www.markevans.co.uk/television/a-car-is-reb...

Edited by SystemParanoia on Friday 27th January 11:41

NiceCupOfTea

25,313 posts

258 months

Friday 27th January 2017
quotequote all
SystemParanoia said:
Balmoral said:
TEKNOPUG said:
Another pointless premise car show with manufactured jeopardy.
I think there would be a market and an audience for a proper car restoration show, with things done seriously and with care to a good standard, and no false dramatisation.
http://www.markevans.co.uk/television/a-car-is-reborn-e-type/
Now I am a car nut, but that was such a geeky show there is no way they could sell that to TV channels, only a handful of people would watch.

Fuzz Townshend has recently started a car restoration business. Used to be a writer for Practical Classics too so I imagine he is very capable.

DonkeyApple

59,097 posts

176 months

Friday 27th January 2017
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SystemParanoia said:
His stuff is probably the best TV content for seeing the actual work. I watch car SOS but the contrived drama is for thickos as is that ghastly crap about always trying to conn and steal from suppliers.

davamer23

1,127 posts

161 months

Friday 27th January 2017
quotequote all
DonkeyApple said:
His stuff is probably the best TV content for seeing the actual work. I watch car SOS but the contrived drama is for thickos as is that ghastly crap about always trying to conn and steal from suppliers.
It'd be a much better show without Shaw.