What is a Good kit car budget?

[Neils88]

Understand that you came onto a lamborghini replica site and asked "what is a good budget". We responded accordingly. For future reference, take the time to outline what you want to build, what your expectations are, performance, your skills, etc,etc. Kit car is the generic term that newbies use. It's meaningless. "What is a good kit car budget" is also completely meaningless.  The answer is $40k to $2.5M. An equally meaningless answer.

Take time to figure out what you want. Then find the correct site. Explain in detail what you are planning. Then and only then can you expect an appropriate answer. It may not be what you want, but art least at that point you can adjust your expectations. Don't come to a site and expect people to understand what you are asking when you don't give them anything to work with.... nor did you answer some of the basic questions which would have saved all this back and forth.

I hope you learn from this and follow some of this basic advice. If you can't, then you'll definitely want a different hobby..... because it gets a lot harder from here on!


(Also...."So I'm really considering building a replica from scratch.
Can I actually get sued from Audi Lamborghini from building a replica.
I know Ferrari will probably take you to court and all kinds of stuff.
But I'm not so sure. Audi and lamborghini.
Does anyone really have a real answer?"  This what you posted 3 weeks ago. So you definitely stated that you were considering a lamborghini replica.)

[ShockDaMonkey]

Yeah I know this  Is primarily a lamborghini replica form but you do have other builds as well. That's why this topic is in other topics. I think you're missing the point here like I said before
just Trying to see what a good budget is that's it

[Neils88]

Ummmm...... you do understand this is a Lamborghini replica forum? My apologies if that's not what you're after. Perhaps the best source would be the Factory Five guys.

[ShockDaMonkey]

Neils88 Well I do apologize and I did thought. You said it was ridiculous that was my fault. I do take the blame on that. I did misread that.

But on the other hand I thought I was pretty clear on the headlining of the post. I'm just trying to find what a good budget is.

And I never mentioned anything about a replica car. Again just trying to figure out what a good budget is.

[Neils88]

One other point based on your subject heading. Be clear, these are not "Kit" cars. There is no place you can go to buy a box of parts to be assembled. There are no instruction manuals. You'll spend hours researching every component and then buying square pegs to fit in round holes.... it'll be left to you to figure out how to make them fit.

[Neils88]

If you reread my earlier post, I said $50-60k is realistic NOT ridiculous. BUT.... continue to my previous post....

[Neils88]

But do you consider a badly fabricated part better than a mint condition oem used part? Replicas typically are less than 10% oem. What are your expectations for the other 90%? 

If you want perfection, with only new oem parts then your budget should be about $300k+

I have bought many used oem Aventador parts that appear mint condition but were half the price or less. I just ordered a couple of used switches...$150. If I'd bought the switches new it would have cost close to $750. These are "recycled" parts (bought through the supercar wrecker Eurospares in England). If you consider this unacceptable then honestly you will need to purchase a new car.

A replica car is built with mostly fabricated or recycled parts.

I don't want to beat the point to death, I just want to make sure that you are truly ready for what building a replica actually means. We're all here to guide people into one of the greatest projects of your life.... or save people lots of time, money, spouses

[ShockDaMonkey]

Neils88 I don't understand why you would say a $50k to $60k Budget is ridiculous
When there are builds that are Creeping up ok 50k
Using recycled parts and are not even completed.

Like I have said just trying to figure out what is a good budget is

[ShockDaMonkey]

Like I have said before i'm just trying to figure out a Decent budget amount and not using Recycled parts that's all.

[Neils88]

You didn't directly answer Nickmkk's question, but it sounds like you plan to build the replica yourself. There is nothing wrong with using parts from a crashed car. There are a number of parts that are really tough to replicate and a used oem part (if available) will be your best option. An example would be the Aventador headlights. A pair of new headlights will set you back about $15,000 (USD). If you are rolling in money then go for it. But most replica builders will either build them themselves or see if they can source used or broken headlights to rebuild.... which may come from a crashed car.

If you have the ability to fabricate parts or utilize used oem parts when necessary then (assuming you have the skills to do all the work yourself) a budget of $50-60k is realistic. If you only want to use new oem parts then the next question is how do you feel about fabricated parts? Eg do you want to fabricate a door hinge yourself, or do you have to have an new oem door hinge? Etc. How much of the car do you need to be new oem parts? Much more info is required to advise you on a budget.

[ShockDaMonkey]

I'm just trying to figure out What is a fair amount. And a good budget to stay in.

[ShockDaMonkey]

What I mean by recycled parts is a Donor car because most likely you're going to be using a crashed donor car.

So that's why I don't want to use any recycled parts. Which means they would be all new parts.

[Neils88]

Not sure what you mean by no recycled parts? We often have to find used oem parts to use and in some cases we find badly broken oem parts and then repair them to use. If oem parts aren't available... or more likely are out of reach because of the price, then non oem parts get modified for use. This all sounds like recycling to me.

[nickmkk]

Are you building it yourself, paying to have one built, or buying one already built?

If you're having someone build it just don't, you're going to get scammed.

If you're buying one already built be very careful, there is a lot of garbage cars out there. Make sure to inspect the chassis, suspension, body reinforcement & mounting, door hinges & glass, everything. Most "replicas" being sold are garbage that need a ton of work to fix.

If you,re building it yourself know that these cars are not easy to build, it takes an incredible amount of skill and time to do it right.  If you don't have much fabrication experience you're in for a tough time, be prepared for it to take many years and a lot of money to learn, even then you'll probably end up with garbage unless you have a really good mentor and a lot of patience.

As far as budget that depends on how good it is/you want to make it. Expect it to cost more than you think. But seriously if you're not a fabricator I recommend avoiding these cars all together.

[ShockDaMonkey]

what is a Decent budget for a Complete kit car $40k to $65k With no recycled parts ?