John Welsch indicated you guys might want to follow along with this journey / process, so here we go: I drug home a 2012 Chevy Malibu I purchased from IAAI online auctions. My sole interest in this car is to flip it and turn a profit on it. Enough words, here's some pics:
Leather interior
Dragging it home
I looked closely at the auction pics and suspected it was a deer hit. (Air bags and windshield intact)
Proof my suspensions were correct, once I saw it "in the flesh"
So ask any questions you have and I'll try to share it all, just in case you would like to do something similar.
Car has an Indiana Salvage title, but only 89,428 miles. So I'm hoping it'll be desirable as basic transportation for someone after it's repaired, inspected and rebuilt title issued.
Here's where I'm at on it so far:
Plus a $101.20 fee for buying it using PayPal.
They call it a "Cash discount forfeited"
So that's $2,346.06 total spent so far.
Looking forward to following along. I always enjoyed John Welsh's insurance auction rebuild threads.
In reply to untchabl :
The last couple of cars I purchased from them, I paid to have them delivered, (cost was $87.40 each) but I decided to pick this one up myself. Partly because I now own a tow dolly, and partly because I'm trying to maximum profit.
I like that you are including the costs you paid.
Do you have a final sale price target?
How did the delivery process go in the past?
Easy? Did they deliver right to your house?
Looks like a great starting point. Around here if it runs and drives with a good sticker it'll bring a min $3k.
From what I can see from here. I am at $580.92 in basic parts from CarPart.com 
Sand,seal,paint and blend the door. Assemble. I do not know how bad the area that the headlight mounts too is. Or the if the condenser for the A/C is damaged. I thought about maybe hinges too while your in there. Also used parts from a Pick and Pull(?) might be alot cheaper. Plus matching color (fingers crossed) :0)
Somebeach (Forum Supporter) said:I like that you are including the costs you paid.
Do you have a final sale price target?
How did the delivery process go in the past?
Easy? Did they deliver right to your house?
Thanks for your interest. If I recall correctly, you've purchased a couple of cars from auction sites too. Let me answer each one of your questions separately:
"Do you have a final sale price target?" On this one, yes, it was a "Buy it Now" option that I pulled the trigger on.
"How did the delivery process go in the past?" Super easy.
"Did they deliver right to your house?" Yes, and the one I was home for, even put it right where I asked them to.
"Easy?" Absolutely. I just hit the "quote delivery" button, and then added that line item to the invoice when paying for it online.
I've been driving to the location to pick up my titles after delivery on each car anyways, so on this one, I decided I'd just do it all in one trip.
johndej said:Looks like a great starting point. Around here if it runs and drives with a good sticker it'll bring a min $3k.
That's kind of what I'm hoping for. This is a low mileage car. Not exciting or an enthusiast's car, but good solid transportation. It should appeal to a wide variety of buyers. I'm planning to list the car at ~7k and land the final sales price (as high as possible). But realistically it'll probably be about ~6k.
In reply to MyMiatas :
Thanks for doing all that leg work for me. I haven't done a thorough inspection yet, but it looks like the hood latch is good, and I think the hinges are useable too. It's going to need a hood strut on the passenger side, however.
For panels, my plan it buy used panels in the correct matching color: I'm not a body and paint guy. My preliminary research shows a yard (an hour and a half away) that has the parts I need in the color I need. I plan to call them today to confirm.
A/C condensor is undamaged! Hurray ! 
I'm not sure about headlight mounting area, but I will probably be able to manipulate the metal back there to where it needs to go.
Excited to follow along!
Is there enough meat on the bone to flip a 12 year old Malibu that cost $2400 with a salvage title?
In reply to Patrick :
I think so with the low mileage. We're going to find out if it was a brilliant idea, or just a waste of my time, effort and money.
Indy - Guy said:In reply to Patrick :
I think so with the low mileage. We're going to find out if it was a brilliant idea, or just a waste of my time, effort and money.
I'm hoping it works, but not sure low miles matters with the rebuilt title. A quick glance shows 2012 with under 100k miles are selling for $5-7k without the rebuilt.
Like this one for $5500 at a dealer with 97k miles. That being said, what's the worse case, you only make $500 and have the experience?
Interesting - I though IAAI was certified check only.
In reply to Steve_Jones :
The market will decide it's selling price, and that's an interesting data point to consider.
Kendall_Jones said:Interesting - I though IAAI was certified check only.
Nope. They will accept cash (but as far as I can tell, only $500 per day), Wire Transfer, PayPal (obviously) and if you have one year or more track record in good standing, they will also accept Credit Card payment.
In reply to Indy - Guy :
Cash isn't really for buying cars there unless the car you buy is less than $500 all in and I'm not sure staying under $500 can be done with the fee structure.
Credit Card and PayPal has a huge fee added on.
I always paid with Cert Check and they now charge a BS $20 fee to hand them a check.
No BS fee for wire transfer but on the car I recently bought I paid that way and my bank charged me $25 for the transfer.
All of these fees are backed up by the threat of $40 or $50 per day if not paid in 2 days. My Tuesday auctions end about noon and have to be paid by end of day Thursday.
Further more, wire transfer is a two step process. 1. You wire to IAA with your bidder number. The dollars then go on your account but for second step you have to get on the computer and assign those dollars to which specific vin you want the dollars applied to.
I image this is designed considering pro buyers buying multiple cars per day/week. But, failure to assign to your car, even if you just buy one will result in a late fee ($40 or $50)
It's such a whore's game!
IMO Take pictures of the damage and repair to give a future buyer some explanation of why it was a salvage.
In reply to John Welsh :
Thanks for your input on the wire transfer. I haven't used that option yet. (I'm bought this one on credit).
With regards to the cash thing. I interpreted the cash wording to mean that you could buy a $2500 car with cash, but you had better stop in at the office (ahead of time) and deposit $500 / per day into your account. Then apply those funds in your account to the purchased VIN number. Kinda like the wire transfer route you described. I assume this $500/day limit keeps them below the thresh hold for IRS reporting. But I also might not understand it correctly.
I called the junk yard today on my lunch break today. Here's the picture on there website:
Fender and hood are available, but the important bumper cover isn't. They want $100 for the fender, and $75 for the hood. he said the hood had three small dents in it near the passenger side rear, but I can't see them in the picture. Anyway, I asked him to go ahead and pull them for me.
Now I just need to find the bumper cover in the correct color.
In reply to MyMiatas :
That's my plan. Full disclosure on title status (it'll be rebuilt title, not current salvage) and show all the documenting pictures. Technically, the car would be 100% drivable today with only the addition of a working headlight. It wouldn't be pretty, but it would be functional. The replacement body panels will help with the appearance and are necessary to pass the state inspection for the assignment of a rebuilt title. A potential buyer will probably be able to see past the title status given all the information in front of them. But only time will tell.
In reply to Indy - Guy :
Maybe, but if you give them $500 per day you might hit late pay fees for not having it paid off in two days.
John Welsh said:In reply to Indy - Guy :
Maybe, but if you give them $500 per day you might hit late pay fees for not having it paid off in two days.
Yes, but what I was describing, was building up a balance of $2500 in your IAAI buyers account before you purchased a $2500 car. Again, I have no idea if I even understand it correctly.
You'll need to log in to post.
