Buying 818 in stages???

[mug23]

Hello,

I'm very interested in building the 818C but with a family of 4 with 2 toddlers and a mortgage, daycare... it's not possible for me to put up that amount at once. I'm also the only one with income so that pretty much makes it even near impossible.

I like to know if it's possible to purchase the kits in stages like getting the chassis first then the body later on. I have a 2005 STI with a brand new closed deck engine and fully rebuild heads, fully rebuild 6 speed trans and whatever stock parts needed as I have the complete car. All I need is the 818 kit.

If I can go this route, then this project is perhaps possible. I don't see why this cannot happen as this kit car is pretty much like a Lego where almost all piece can added later on.

[wallace18]

At this time only the 33 kit can be bought in stages.

[mug23]

I see. I do wish that FFR will or allow you to buy the 818 in stages as that will allow more people who wants to build the car but having trouble coming with the funds at once to own one of these beautiful cars. At the same time, I don't see why not?

[Canadian818]

IMO these cars can nickle and dime you broke. The worst thing is that until they're finished they'd be worth very little if you got into a bind financially. I'm not saying to not get one, just suggesting that its not a sound investment (as sound as any car build can be) unless you can afford to finish it before you start.

[STiPWRD]

Why not save up the $10k and work on gathering and freshening up the donor parts in the mean time? You could also make a bunch of money by selling unused parts from your sti - that should help you save up faster.

[shinn497]

Yeah I also don't see the point. Save the money. Instead of putting in the infrastructure to sell the kit individually, it wold make more sense for FFR to improve the product. That is my opinion.

BTW if you save, you can put your money in somehting that will generate interest (like bonds) and get your sum that much sooner.

[NevaLift2Shift]

Yeah I also don't see the point. Save the money. Instead of putting in the infrastructure to sell the kit individually, it wold make more sense for FFR to improve the product. That is my opinion.

BTW if you save, you can put your money in somehting that will generate interest (like bonds) and get your sum that much sooner.

This isn't a bad idea. If waiting is not something you want to do, I used a credit card for the chassis, bought the car with cash and expected it to take a year or more to build, time and cash permitting. Credit Unions have some great rates for credit cards, mine is under 8%. I just bought a house and new car, before I did this, because I knew it would not reflect good on my credit until it was paid off. It's also my only credit card debt, so it's more of a high interest car loan to me. I definitely did not want to take a serious chunk out of my savings account and not have the liquid assets if I needed them. You could also see what JJ Best offers on their kit car financing. Don't forget you have to pay for shipping if you aren't close enough to Factory Five's Factory. Shipping was around $1700 to Texas.

(Disclaimer: I am not a financial adviser, just really wanted to build a kit car)

[billjr212]

Keep in mind that FFR has a vested interest in not seeing a bunch of these wind up incomplete and on the discount shelf in the secondary market. Selling them to more "stretch" customers increases the likelihood of that happening. As mentioned above a few times, the "nickle and dime" items quickly add up during the build and can overwhelm any buyer, let alone someone who wasn't ready to save up for the full kit price in advance.

Also, they are selling them as quickly as they can build them. Based on this, it would seem counterproductive to try to create a lower price point "staged" build for the 818. Compared to the other kits in its portfolio, the 818 is already the bargain basement option.

Not trying to scare anyone off or insult you, but if you aren't in a financially secure enough position to pay up the $10k minimum entry price (plus shipping, options, taxes, 50 trips to the hardware store, etc), best bet is to wait a few years and save until you can. Also, comparing it to a lego project tells me you might not have thought this all the way through. Revisions to the chassis and body are happening regularly. Read up on the build threads, buy a copy of the manual (PDF and paper are both available last I checked), watch all the GRM build videos and be sure you know what you are getting in to.

Cheers and best of luck.