The problem with custom solutions I see is that they are usually awesome at the first iteration but when the customer comes back wanting new features each subse

The problem with custom solutions I see is that they are usually awesome at the first iteration but when the customer comes back wanting new features each subsequent version degrades. By degrades I mean that it takes longer, it is a little messier, a little hackier. I believe this is honestly true for most software. The longer something has been around the more hacks it will inevitably have in it. The projects I have seen that last the longest are the ones built with a solid, generic foundation capable of handling all types of requests with minimal user touch. I am not necessarily saying all out of the box solutions do this well but certainly, most if not all off the shelf parts have been iterated more to hammer out bugs, security issues, get the feel right, etc. than your homegrown bit ever could. I of course couldn't advocate that wordpress is the solution to everything but if it meets the customer's needs right now and will do so for the foreseeable future, I see no reason not to use a mature, existing framework.