Un-Totaling a vehicle

[Minten]

Well, after much thought and time... I am no longer pleased with my vehicle. I drive a 2007 Chevy Equinox. It has all the trim and crap I don't need or should have but I'm getting about 14 - 15 miles to the gallon. On the long trips (SoCal) I get about 19 or 20. I feel like that isn't cutting it. At all. My driving is pretty laid back too. It's not typical teenage kid style.

I was looking around for something more sporty and still had decent mileage. And then I stumbled upon this.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Niss...Cars_Trucks&hash=item2ec5dccf83#ht_500wt_1182

Blah blah GTR. Too much car for a kid. Stupid expensive. Rental. List goes on and on for why I shouldn't get it.

That's not the point.
I was wondering if anyone has gone through the process of piecing a car back together after a major accident.

I would like some input on if it's really worth the time and money to do.

And I'm also accepting donations for a new car.

 

[polaris dude]

So, basically there was no point to you posting the link?

Well in my limited experience with totaled cars unless you own a machine shop/junk'd car yard with the parts you need you will probably pay about the same as a car in similar condition(minus labor). The one big way to save I have found is to find a vehicle with aesthetic damage only(hail damage, scratches ect that can be easily pulled out or buffed out/paint repairs). Anything that has had its airbags go off I would avoid because depending on the car it can cost 2k-5k to repack them and I would wonder about the structural integrity from such an impact.

My finest example of such a find is my sled which had some scratches and a big ol' patch of rubber cement/zipties back in '09. It had 300 miles and it was perfect. I pulled all of my money out of the market/piggy bank and I had a total of 5grand which bought the sled(can't say enough good things about crockett128 for selling an awesome sled to a 15 y/o kid). Now I have an awesome sled with a nicely polished tunnel, painted in scratches, and a big ol' patch of rubber cement/zipties which can hardly be seen.

 

[Himark]

I have built cars for over 20 years. There used to be good money in builders selling and just saving to drive cheaper. Not so much anymore. There still is some deals but dont think you will find them on Copart or IAAi. They allow public bidders and they bid stupid on those sales now. Not saying you cant find a deal but you better be a veteran and know your market or you will likely pay to much.

I have found the best deals are wrecked from private party. The guy that didnt have ins. on his 2010 car for what ever reason....(mostly dui's) or self insured companies. ie, Hertz, Enterprise clean titles and great deals minor damages.

As for air bags they are expensive NEW but used they are CHEAP. INs. companies cant allow used ones due to the liabilities. Makes a 3000 $ set of new bags and associated parts worth 4-500 for same thing used.

I prefer to buy with bags blown as it helps the total loss get reached easier. ie, a 2007 buick with 50k miles needs minor body damage...Hood, bumper, headlights, will be NOT totalled. Same car, same damage blew bags=totaled. <----sweet for you. NIce car cheap. Now if your looking for a 2012 diesel truck you wont find one at the sale totaled unless its REALLY screwed up. You just cant pass the ACV without substantial damage with those. Anyway good luck.

*BTW, already fixed are great just know what you are looking at or know who fixed them. Lots of good reputable shops do great work but there is a huge surge of Russians out there hacking with duct tape super glue and 55 drums of bondo just to look good on ebay to only be a total POS when you get there. Step cautiously.

 

[snowmobiler]

go new...

 

[89sandman]

i'd buy one with a totalled title that has already been fixed. unless your a body guy you have no idea what your getting into. just remember you'll have to pay cash. i don't know of any bank that will loan on a salvaged title vehicle. i know the 2 i deal with won't. i have bought several. you can save up to half when looking at a more expensive car.

himark funny you should mention the russians. i bought a newer element from some up in portland. they did a nice job but they did glue the broken headlights back together. made a couple grand off that one when i sold it.

 

[Mountain Boy]

I currently have an 2002 F259 Superduty that was a theft recovery. It came with a salvaged title. I bought it knowing what it was and with pictures of it before it was put together. My bank has no issues with loaning on vehicles like this. My banker said that as long as it runs and drives there are no issues with them loaning. I also have full coverage insurance and it didn't matter to them either that it came with a salvage title. I asked what would happen if I totaled it again. Would I only recieve partial payment due to the title. They said I would get full value of the vehicle. I don't know why my bank would have no issue nor my insurance company yet in other states its diffrent.

 

[89sandman]

i have state farm here in oregon and asked them if i put full coverage on the element i bought if they would give me full price they said yes until i wanted them to put it in writing, they wouldn't, so i just put liability on it.

 

[Ak nitro]

I have two Jeeps I have rebuilt from salvage, and a 2010 ram 2500 I bought hail damaged, which saved me $20,000 on that truck alone. Most people do not even notice the damage unless I point it out. I have tried to repair some of the panels on the truck,looking for replacement panels are outrageous, so I have been using heat and dry ice to make the dents smaller and then body filler to fill the rest of the hole. Body work is really difficult, and takes much trial and error, getting matching paint is also hard depending on the year of the vehicle, paint and clear coat is also very expensive. My truck is dirty most of the time so I have given up for the time being. One of my jeeps is pure off road rock crawler on 42s and one ton truck axles, so i don't care about the airbags. It is also way cheaper than taking a perfectly fine jeep and chopping it up. My other Jeep I bought from a copart auction for $3200, it is an 06 with a 4.0 and an automatic, I drive it to work every day. I have had to replace the hood and fender, everything else I could fix with body filler.

For me it is kind of a hobby, I am learing how to paint and get better at body filler and sheet metal repair. Buying salved vehicle is a great way to save money, and if you like to do your own repairs kind of fun too. As far as being expensive, it is as expensive as you want to make it, weather you can live with paint imperfections or you want to re paint and repair the entire vehicle. If you are interested I would look to Copart more than ebay, there are still some good deals on there.

 

[milehighassassin]

Gas is too expensive and my car doesn't get good enough fuel economy so I'm going to buy a sport car that was totaled and rebuild it. Seems like a great way to save money and get better economy. Why didn't I think of that?


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[cowboy181d]

buying builder's is a fine line art....most who buy them just to save some money usually end up with more project than ability...(not knocking anyone but it has been my experience) And the other half who buy them is body shop owners such as my self whom use them as filler to bridge expenses for the shop....When looking at builders unless you have been playing the collision game for a long time look in person not online.Can't stress that enough, it is hard to see a tweaked frame in pictures unless you a damn good at reading panel gaps etc.... Go for theft recoveries or air bag deployed cars as mentioned above, leave the bent mashed up ones for the body guys....(we generally like a challange) also the newer cars are not like old pickups cant pull a rail with a chain and tractor to get it "stright" nowadays...lol Oh and never never never buy from rental companies!!!!!!! as they are self insured they can somehow eek by the salvage laws in some states! As in when a big flood happens somewhere they will take the cars to another state dry them out and sell them as good used cars!(hurtz is famous for this)

I buy and drive mostly builders, and use them as a write off. Buy it fix it use it for shop truck sell at a profit/expense write off.use profit to buy next builder...etc If you are good at buying them right at auctions you can make money(especially if you live in rancher country...these boys could care less if a title is branded)

just my .2 on your post, but If you gotta ask you might want to rethink your options(no offence meant to you, just don't want to see you spend hard earned cash on a big headache...