[Gofishus]

What do you think of rebuilt cars? Are they a good deal for the money or should I stay away from them?

[90th.degree]

I wouldn't touch them. Something might still be wrong even after the rebuild.

[ChingGoo]

i think its cool to rebuild a car as a project, but i dont think you should buy rebuilt cars.

[jphase]

I wouldn't buy a rebuild card. possibly have frame damage which could be fatal when it comes to accidents..as in the frame not being strong or working as designed to absorb the impact and etc. also, if you bought it and have to sell it a few years down the road, you'll probably have a hard time selling it and won't get much for it..

does anybody know if a car with a rebuilt title costs more to insure? i would think so but dunno.

[Clix]

If you're going to buy a rebuilt titled car. Be sure to inspect every little detail, particularly frame damage, check for body filler, overspray areas around the wheel wells. You should know exactly why it's rebuilt, what was replaced and/or fixed.

[terrorist]

yes and no.

i would probably trust a rebuilt with the similar stock parts

if it's a non associated stock part, very skeptical.

[aubrei]

rebuilt body is sketchy.
definitely have it checked out by someone who REALLY knows their stuff.

rebuilt engine is more common, and not so bad..but always, be careful and have it inspected at a shop.

other than that, as long as it drives straight..............

[itzdatazn]

depends on the price... i mean...if you can get a "rebuilt" ae86 for like 2 or 3 grand...why not??

like if you realy want a old school car..compare how much you would have to spend rebuilding it your self....and how much their charging you for the car + likely problems (from test drive mechanics inspection etc...)

things to look out for....
- chassis and bent, dented or rusted bit of metal in the chassis
- body work, mainly rust...under the battery... under the interior fabrics, weatherstrips etc...
- engine gearbox etc etc, before you can get a mechanic to inspect it...try to hear and feel if theres anything wrong with it...rattling etc etc...
- breaks suspension, well...just see if they work properly

but most importantly.... do some research on the availability of parts, im restoring a 280zx at the moment costed me 2k to buy...but so far its already costed me 7grand for the body works...

and if the seller restored their car via a mechanic..they should hold somesort of certificate and even warranty from the mechanic that did the job..

enjoy

[vinn]

depends. i honestly would not touch one unless its dirt cheap and its gonna be my daily beater

[ZiGeNX77]

If it would be your sole source of transportation, I would think twice about obtaining one. Unless you know the shop well and it has a good reputation, don't risk it. Your steal of a deal might turn into a money pit.

[some-azn-guy]

there's a reason why we aren't allowed to rebuild with the intention to resell cars with salvage titles here in Canada.

but hey, your money.. your choice.

[switchlanez]

I went through the same exact thing you're going through on a couple cars which were salvage titles. I took it all the way to the point of finalizing prices with the sellers (this was after confirming the frames were good through painstaking inspections). That same day I STILL had doubts so I found an expert in vehicle identification. We exchanged a few emails and I ended up holding off until I found a clean title car. You should read through these facts he gave me (btw people mentioned you should have it thoroughly inspected by expert mechanics. Skip to #8 for an answer to this which I highlighted in bold):

When a car is declared salvage, it always remains a salvaged vehicle and that salvage title can never be changed back. This classification of salvage results in the following:

1. Because it is a salvage vehicle, the insurance company will not insure it for full fair market value, because it has already been declared salvage; This means that the car is worth much less than blue book, and in fact, there is no blue book on a salvage vehicle, as the value is only determined by what someone is willing to pay. If you pay $9,000 for it and you want to insure it, no insurance company will insure it for $9,000. They might insure it for $2,500-$4,000, but no more than that, even if they would insure it at all. Most insurance companies will not insure salvage vehicles for comprehensive coverage, only liability. Some insurance company has already paid a lot of money and made the determination that it was not worth rebuilding.

2. There is no warranty on a salvage vehicle, implied, stated or written because you cannot give a warranty on a vehicle with salvage title.

3. You are buying it "as is and where is," and when you buy it, you are saying that you understand that, and understand that you cannot sue anyone for lying to you about its condition because you bought it "As is-Where is with No warranty."

4. Because it is a salvage vehicle you have no, repeat NO recourse back against the person that sold it to you, so if it turns out that it was not repaired properly, etc, it is your problem because you bought it "as is and where is" with no warranty.

5. The real problem is that when a "salvage vehicle" is allegedly repaired, there is no way to inspect the car to determine if the air bags work, if all of the factory installed safety equipment works, such as energy absorbing bumpers, Federally mandated safety equipment works, that the car was repaired properly, and it is impossible for anyone to determine this because they would have to take the car completely apart to do it.

6. You are making an assumption that everyone involved in the purchase, sale at auction, purchase by some dealer, is telling the truth, or telling you all that they know, or that they know everything they need to know about the car. I have dealt with hundreds of cases like this and in every case, someone was lying about material facts. They either lied outright, or lied by omission in not telling the purchaser the truth, or the repairs that were done were not done completely or correctly.

7. You are betting your life that this car has been properly, and completely repaired, and that all of the safety equipment will work when you get into an accident. There is absolutely no way I would take that chance, or put my family or friends at risk of losing
their life because the car was not repaired correctly.

8. There is no one on this earth, at the California Highway Patrol, or the dealership, or an expert, that can verify this vehicle has been safely repaired. I am a recognized expert in vehicle identification, in VIN verification, and am very mechanically inclined, and have over 40 years experience in verifying vehicles, and I could not and would not examine this car and tell you that it is a safe vehicle. All any law enforcement VIN officer can tell you is that the VIN on the car is the True Vin, and that the VIN has not been altered or switched from a wrecked vehicle onto a stolen vehicle to conceal the fact that the car was stolen.

9. Do yourself a big favor, pass on this car and buy one locally, from a dealer or private party that you can check up on and verify what they say. There is no such thing as "getting a good deal on a salvage vehicle" unless you are an auto wrecker and can sell parts off of the rest of the wrecked vehicle.


Total Loss Salvage Vehicle

544. "Total loss salvage vehicle" means either of the following:

[a] A vehicle, other than a nonrepairable vehicle, of a type subject to registration that has been wrecked, destroyed, or damaged, to the extent that the owner, leasing company, financial institution, or the insurance company that insured or is responsible for repair of the vehicle, considers it uneconomical to repair the vehicle and because of this, the vehicle is not repaired by or for the person who owned the vehicle at the time of the event resulting in damage.

[b] A vehicle that was determined to be uneconomical to repair, for which a total loss payment has been made by an insurer, whether or not the vehicle is subsequently repaired, if prior to or upon making the payment to the claimant, the insurer obtains the agreement of the claimant to the amount of the total loss settlement, and informs the client that, pursuant to subdivision [a] or [b] of Section 11515, the total loss settlement must be reported to the Department of Motor Vehicles, which will issue a salvage certificate for the vehicle.

Amended Ch.1008, Stats. 1994. Effective January 1, 1995. Operative July 1, 1995.
Amended Sec. 4, Ch. 451, Stats. 2003. Effective January 1, 2004.

[Gofishus]

Thanks for all the replies (most of them telling me to stay away), but the previous owner already driven it for 4 years and 100,000 km without any trouble so I went ahead and bought it. Since then, the car has given me no problems at all. It came certified, e-tested. ^ contrary to above, I got full insurance coverage for it. The car is a 2002 Acura RSX which had been in an accident on the right back passenger side. The insurance decided they would rather write it off, but its not as bad as getting the car completely scrapped (I checked Carfax and there's no history of total loss or airbag deployment, just the accident the seller described). The blue book value is $6950 CAD (yes the Ministry of transportation did give this car a blue book value, contrary to above ^) and I got it for $5500. I know that I'm not going to resell this car and I hope it can last me till the end. =)

[CTRGirl]

Sounds like you got a great deal is it a type-s? Pics?

[Gofishus]

It's the base. I'll post pics in the pics sections later =).