Hello,
No need to use an analogy here. Also. The variables are endless. Tell us the specifics of the gear you want to buy and typically the group here will voice their opinions. My biggest concern is the caps. How old are they and if they were replaced then by whom and with what caps. The next thing if you buy vintage then have it checked out by a shop. One of the biggest things is setting the bias and using a Variac to slowly charge up the gear and caps in the gear. Usually this costs about $50-$75 per component. Believe me you don’t want to buy a vintage car that has value but can cost a fortune to fix unless you have it checked out. I hope this helps.