Tavarish recommends an affordable Japanese car as a first project

Asked what car would suit someone learning to work on cars, a participant who said his first car was a Nissan Maxima recommended Japanese models from the 1990s—especially Toyota, as well as Nissan or Honda. In his view, used Toyotas can be inexpensive and reliable, while Toyota's parts program and availability make mistakes less costly for beginners. He added that parts for some older Nissans can be harder to find and warned of rust problems in some Mitsubishi and Nissan models. He called Honda a good platform for getting a car running, though extracting a lot of power from a small engine can be expensive.

On choosing his own projects, he said he often acts on the sense that an opportunity may not come again: if he can afford a rare car, he would rather take it on and work out the project as he goes. As an example, he described scope creep on his McLaren P1 project. Instead of rebuilding the car, the team is, as he put it, building the fastest McLaren on Earth, removing the hybrid system and creating a bespoke engine and body with original designer Frank Stephenson. The project has become a top-speed car and, in his assessment, is far more difficult than a stock P1 build. He acknowledged that better planning could have limited the expanding scope.