Would any of you guys buy...

[jb666]

A car that's got this in the description:

Reconditioned Title from minor hit years prior


The reason I ask, is that a car the wife's looking at has this in the description. The guy (who owns a very successful body shop) says that it was hit in the parking lot and both air bags deployed (hence the title). People can make up any story they want, at the end of the day it's a salvage title.

I know this severely effects the resale value, but if the car was fixed properly, would you buy it?

[bakerhillpins]

Well, if it works anything like motorcycles then something as simple as falling over in the driveway can total it since the plastics can quickly eclipse half the value of a bike. How old is the car? If a bunch of airbags went off that really adds up fast but this car must be old/inexpensive if minor damage added up to half its value? 

Can you run the VIN or get a copy of the insurance company/police report that shows why it made salvage?

Guess there just isn't enough info in a few lines of text to really say one way or the other. In general it's not something that gives me a warm fuzzy.

[tan top]

price of air bags  & what ever was damaged in the bash + price of paint work ( probably metallic )  to value of the car at the time , insurance would not pay out to get it fixed for the owner ! so the  owner of the body shop  bought the car off the insurance or owner & fixed it him self   goes on all the time !!
 must of been a fair ole bash though    as for buying , depends what car  price ! etc etc  , plus giving it a good going over  
but i'm thinking in a parking lot !!  soo cant be bad , but have you seen some of them videos on youtube    
   

[jb666]

It's a 2003 Cobra. 40k miles. TONS of mods. Super clean. Custom paint.. But... The title......

[1969chargerrtse]

Yes. I bought and sold "reconditioned" cars for over 5 years when I had my own shop.  That's' all I bought, never a problem.  I always showed the customer what I did to fix it. They are totaled cars from insurance auctions.  You get them for a good price, fix them up, get them inspected and resell them. Make sure it's a good price though as you will have issues trying to resell it yourself if need be.

[bill440rt]

Something doesn't sound right. 

If it was hit while PARKED, the airbags should not have deployed.

[jb666]

According to him they were "in the parking lot on their way out on a test drive" when they were hit. The car was running..

[b5blue]

No! Why risk it! 

[mikepmcs]

Ask Chuck if he'll go with you to check it out maybe?? If Chuck or Blair give it their blessing, then i wouldn't be scared.

[Cooter]

NOPE! cause if the car was anything like he's describing, he'd keep that cheap newer car for himself...IT's a used car that has been put back together. You don't and will NEVER know the full extent of the repairs, or lack thereof...I see it too much at the shop now..People run that "Car fax" crap thinking they are covered...It ONLY WORKS IF THE ACCIDENT WAS REPORTED TO THE INSURANCE COMPANY! If "Joe Blow" fixed it off the record, then the Car Fax comes back CLEAN!

[jb666]

No! Why risk it! 

A savings of $15k+ (including mod $$)?

Ask Chuck if he'll go with you to check it out maybe?? If Chuck or Blair give it their blessing, then i wouldn't be scared.

Chuck offered.. It's quite a ways out of their way, but I'll bring it to them. A GTA I owned once had a salvage title. It was fixed right and drove perfectly...  The problem with it was when I went to re-sell it after modding the Hell out of it... I lost my shirt, much like this guy is.

[jb666]

NOPE! cause if the car was anything like he's describing, he'd keep that cheap newer car for himself...IT's a used car that has been put back together. You don't and will NEVER know the full extent of the repairs, or lack thereof...I see it too much at the shop now..People run that "Car fax" crap thinking they are covered...It ONLY WORKS IF THE ACCIDENT WAS REPORTED TO THE INSURANCE COMPNY! If "Joe Blow" fixed it ioff the record, then the Car Fax comes back CLEAN!

You nailed it here... A buddy of mine crashed his car 3 months after buying it. It was a $22k car with $18k damage.. The insurance company WOULD NOT TOTAL IT. They fixed it...

A year later I had a CarFax subscription.. I ran the #'s for the Hell of it.. It showed up perfectly clean.. So it was never reported...

This one was. The guy is being upfront about it.. The Carfax reports is the same way.. I think I'll stay away from it though, you are right, I'll never know EXACTLY what was done to it. 

[b5blue]

After all your wife put up with on the "LEE" ? (Is what I meant)  

[jb666]

After all your wife put up with on the "LEE" ? (Is what I meant)  

Oh God... That was funny! You have NO IDEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OK OK OK OK... If nothing else made sense here, THIS STATEMENT DID.. I get it!!! 

[Cooter]

 It took a "Light tap" that set off the air bag's? Yeah....right. While possible, it isn't likely. A simple "test Drive" in a 2003 COBRA is unlike any other simple test drive...That thing has been rode hard and put up wet..At least that's how I'd drive a Cobra with mods..They weren't put on there to look at 'em...I ran with the Mustang 5.0 croud for a while and if you wanted to buy a worn out, beat the hell out of car, then buy a used 5.0 liter car...

[jb666]

It took a "Light tap" that set off the air bag's? Yeah....right. While possible, it isn't likely. A simple "test Drive" in a 2003 COBRA is unlike any other simple test drive...That thing has been rode hard and put up wet..At least that's how I'd drive a Cobra with mods..They weren't put on there to look at 'em...I ran with the Mustang 5.0 croud for a while and if you wanted to buy a worn out, beat the hell out of car, then buy a used 5.0 liter car...

Which is exactly what she doesn't want... The car, in question, had super low miles.. Was known around town for ONLY going out on car-show nights.. It's adult owned (not that us ADULTS don't know how to kick the crap out of a car) and well taken care of...

As you said, it's unknown if the car was run over by a semi or hit by a shopping carriage... But it definitely had some damage..

[Khyron]

i know this sounds stupid, but get proof that new air bags are reinstalled

[elacruze]

If it's well-known around town, you shouldn't have much trouble finding the previous owner and asking what happened.

[BrianShaughnessy]

    My 00 Cherokee has a salvage title.  I don't really have a problem with it cause I bought it from the guy who fixed it after the deer hit.  The dude bought it at auction and got a few parts, etc from a boneyard he has an in with.   Looks fine (for what it is) and runs great and I got it really cheap.

   Only problem was that Esurance cancelled it day after I bought it and I had to go back to Travelers that I was trying to get away from.  Was told they don't insure salvage title cars.

   Other than that it's a tradeoff.   Do not pay a premium price for a salvage as you may run into problems with the paperwork or trying to unload the vehicle later.

[Tilar]

If it's well-known around town, you shouldn't have much trouble finding the previous owner and asking what happened.

Exactly, and the previous owner may have pics of it after it was wrecked. It really doesn't take a lot to set off air bags.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPlITw1YPj0

[NGC414]

I would go for it depending on what kind of price can you get it for. I have several friends that own newer cobras. They all have one thing in common, they pamper those things. Most svt cobras I see around are not thrashed at all, usually the opposit. As cars depreciatd and younger kids get ahold of them, they do get abused. But these cars are still bringing good money. I have never owned a newer cobra, but have owned probably 15 different 5.0 mustangs, and none have been "worn out". Some need more tlc than others, but there great cars for the money.

[Charger RT]

In 89 I bought an 84 plymouth with a reconstructed salvage title from a junk yard. I gave it to my wife to drive our new born around. It was a great car. We had it until 97 when I gave it to a buddy. My wife had a mini van by then and we had 2 more kids. Get the car checked by a differant shop and have the alignment checked as well before saying yes or no. Every state has differant laws or salvage titles. I haven't verified what I was told here in Florida but I was told you can't change a salvage title here to a reconstructed title. In PA where I bought my car you could. I helped a few people do this there by signing the papers for them. PA does like to reject paper work for this.
Tim

[jb666]

Well, we had some time to kill today, and found ourselves within 2 miles of the car's location, so we went to check it out...

PROS: Super clean. Excellent paint. The owner of this car was a nice guy and has been running a "hot rod resto" shop for many many years.. He knows his stuff and has built MANY incredible cars that make this look like a load. The wife loved the car. It was rock solid, tight and straight.

CONS: Not even willing to take $1 under his "asking price". Thought it was worth $2500 more even though it has a salvage title. I disagree. That KILLS resale value. For $2500 more, 3 miles away, there's a car 2 years newer, clean title and less miles...

DECISION: We thanked him for his time and told him what a great job he had done with the car. It just isn't something we got a good feeling about, and it wasn't just his lack of flexibility..Although, had he been open to offers we MAY have considered it after seeing it.



Thanks for all of your opinions. 

[b5blue]

  Now is a real good time for buyers to be pickier and drive a hard bargain.

[adauto]

I know this severely effects the resale value, but if the car was fixed properly, would you buy it?

As a recycler we've drivn' rebuilders for 25 years! Think of it this way, most guys MOPARS are rebuilder's of some sort!