In GA, there is a difference between a salvage title and a rebuilt title.
As I understand it, a salvage title can not be driven on the streets. A rebuilt one can.
In GA, there is a difference between a salvage title and a rebuilt title.
As I understand it, a salvage title can not be driven on the streets. A rebuilt one can.
The owner of the title of the salvage tub is the insurance company. They are not gonna apply for a reissue title.
Nor allow it.
I say 3 or 4. Due to title issues I think you have to fix yours using parts from the tub. I personally could be interested in option 3. I'd love to have a quick Exocet.
A salvage title can be rebuilt and used on the street again, I have done it a couple times. But if all you have to start with is the tub, that would be far more complicated than what I did. Not sure how practical it would be to use a salvage title tub.
After removing all the bolt on bent parts, how bad is the core structure of the car? If the core structure is only minor damage, harbor freight has a neat hydraulic tool that is also fairly cheap. Or you could see if a body shop can fix the damage.
If you collect all the parts required, you could save some money, most of it doesn't need to be new parts. If you don't want to try doing the paint work, collecting all the parts can save some money. But check with the body shop you plan to use, make sure they are willing to use parts you collected.
In reply to AnthonyGS (Forum Supporter) :
The idea has crossed my mind of replacing the firewall on the clean tub with the firewall from my clean title car...
The piece of firewall with the VIN is weldable steel, but that's a legal thing. Then again, most Exocets are registered with the donor VIN illegally...
Maybe keep looking for a clean title tub? I'd drop Kevin at Exocet a message or start cruising the Exo FB groups. A lot of those guys start with cars better than yours and they may have an option. We had a clean MSM tub a few years ago that was really hard to get rid of, there's no demand. I'm pretty sure we gave it away and the new "owner" took it straight to the scrap metal dealer.
Have you had a frame guy look at the damage to see if it can be pulled straight?
How would GA know anything about this cars title status?
I had seen something had happened, but missed any of the other threads. Glad ya got it in one place now.
I did the same thing to the truck that my wife inherited from her dad, sadly. I was blessed by not getting hurt at all, but totaled an awesome truck.
I hope your body faired well. The old adage of "any landing you can walk away from..."
In reply to Keith Tanner :
No frame guy yet.
Turns out my tub wasn't perfect. There was rust in front of the shock towers, and the frame horns bent sideways forward of the towers.
There was also rust in the rockers hidden under the side skirts.
The rear has a lot of sheet metal damage outside the core structure.
The glass on the doors now clips the back corner of the roof at the B pillar. It may mean the A pillars have been pushed back, but I don't think so.
My windshield is broken, and the tub has a good one.
Bottom line... my car had some issues which would be solved with the new tub.
Well all the vin tags should match, there are several, not sure how practical that is. Might be some sort of legal issues there, you could mix together a stolen car and a cheap fire damaged car and create a "new" car, they want to prevent that sort of thing.
I would remove as many damaged parts as needed and then inspect what is left. From there two options, cut off damage back to good straight material and cut off replacement parts from the tub and weld, or straighten what you have.
You should be able to find a diagram of measurements, that would be very helpful.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
Legal thing...
I'm wondering how much you can replace and still be legal.
Obviously, you could replace an entire front or rear cut.
Changing the VIN is illegal, but how much of the tub can you replace AROUND the VIN? I know that's kinda a semantics game, but in this case I'm serious. BOTH cars are legally owned, and the salvage title car will NEVER be returned to the street. If the entire car was rebuilt around the original VIN plate, is that legal?
Find a solid complete replacement car and part out/sell what you replace with your bits.
This will be pricey but is a right answer to the situation. The bug question is do you want to do months of work and min 4-6k to have the same car you wanted to sell before? The Miata forums pay pretty good money for good parts. You'd likely be better off parting it if it is just a dollars and cents thing.
In reply to 84FSP :
That's fair.
SV reX said:In reply to Keith Tanner :
Legal thing...
I'm wondering how much you can replace and still be legal.
Obviously, you could replace an entire front or rear cut.
Changing the VIN is illegal, but how much of the tub can you replace AROUND the VIN? I know that's kinda a semantics game, but in this case I'm serious. BOTH cars are legally owned, and the salvage title car will NEVER be returned to the street. If the entire car was rebuilt around the original VIN plate, is that legal?
I seem to recall that back in the day, the UK had a rule that if you changed any combo of two of the following, you'd have a new car. Frame, engine and rear axle. There is undoubtedly a GA law that defines it but it's fair to expect that your car will not fit through a loophole.
From the pictures, it doesn't look that bad, but kind of hard to tell. You would have to search for a lot of parts, hard to tell what that could cost.
This sort of thing real is about cost and time, how much would it cost to just replace the car? How much time and money do you want to spend fixing the current car? It always will cost more than you plan on....
It's not a super rare car, so you could find a replacement, same or similar. Or you could buy something different.
What are completed Exocets worth?
I just looked around a little and it seems like between $12-$18K. Keep in mind I don't play in that pool so that is just what I see for pricing online and a couple of auctions.
Turbo Exos usually go for more than $20k, IIRC. Like all kit cars, execution matters. I don't think you'd make much per hour versus parting the car or selling it as-is for an Exo build.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
I don't think it would be about what I would make per hour.
It would be about a project I would enjoy, and a car I would enjoy for a short while, then be able to sell later to get my money out.
I've always wanted to build a good kit, but I am honest with myself that the joy of owning one would wane after a season or 2.
If you go Exocet, are you prepared for this?
Part it out. Sucks, but you have some really good parts. That's the most complete recovery you're going to see.
I like the Exocet route.
SV reX said:In reply to Keith Tanner :
I don't think it would be about what I would make per hour.
It would be about a project I would enjoy, and a car I would enjoy for a short while, then be able to sell later to get my money out.
I've always wanted to build a good kit, but I am honest with myself that the joy of owning one would wane after a season or 2.
Nothing wrong with that if it's what you have in mind at the start! If you want to build an Exocet, you have a great opportunity. And there is a good market for completed ones for when you're done playing with it.
Good to hear that you are doing okay.
A rebuild of the existing chassis has it's own problems. The accident will most likely appear in it's history. That looks like a pretty hard hit, and I'd be surprised if the frame isn't tweaked. For pure fun, the Exocet option sounds great, but I'd treat it as more of a toy for autocross/track than a viable street car. Swapping parts over to another clean title Miata sounds like the best option to me.
I took my MSM out a couple of weeks ago and slid around a corner on cold hard (and old) tires. The turbo comes on harder and later than my Fiesta ST and I just wasn't ready for it. Slowing reaction time is a thing, even at 57.
In reply to JoeTR6 :
The accident won't show in its history. There was no police report, and no insurance claim.
The exocet idea has merit. You have good parts that would make a high dollar exocet.
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