Just bought my $2013 Challenger for $483

Almost back to pre-deer state, should be awesome at the Challenge next year!

Do you get to start over on your budget because you clipped a deer and re-bought the car? If so, that's a HELLUVA nice loophole for ya.

Purchasing a vehicle is the change of ownership for a given price. I have the documentation to show. Yes it is a loophole, but a very unfortunate one at that :-/ I'd hate to tell you how many hours of work I have tied up in this thing.... I'm hoping to have it inspected in the next 2 weeks and get my title back (now an R-title, but i don't care because I have absolutely no plans to sell it) and get it running to 100% of its potential

So wreck it every year and keep buying it back until you've dumped fifty grand into it.

No way I'd be like that, I'll return it to DD/summer driver and bring the KLZE car to the '14 Challenge...

Glad to see it back almost in one piece. I will need to start looking for my next challenge car soon. Look forward to seeing you again next year

Same to you Jeremy! Your the perfect example of what the Challenge event is all about! I appreciate you taking me to the parts store! God I must tell myself at least once a week, I'm ready to go again already!!! Lol

It needs it's eyeballs back! Looks awesome, that's turning lemons into lemonade! They didn't make you get a salvage title, did they?

So you're now into it for $2,496?

In reply to accordionfolder:

Unfortunately they did total it, which warrants a R-title. The dama!ge was quite minor but being a '92 it didnt take much to total it..... But. I did get close to 4k out of it

Sounds awfully close to violating rule 23: "Past Challenge cars and their parts cannot be sold and repurchased in an effort to depreciate their value for budget purposes."

Ehhhh its a grey line. It wasnt done for that purpose, just happened that way.

But if I had bought it, I would have a 483$ challenge car.

mndsm wrote: But if I had bought it, I would have a 483$ challenge car.

Unless you built it for $2013, then wrecked it and "bought it" back for $483, at which point, you'd have spent $2,496. I don't take issue with replacing stuff that was broken in a wreck and not taking a budget hit, but to say "Oh wow! I've suddenly got a free $1500 left in my budget!" would be kind of a dick move, imho.

Now if YOU, having not already spent $2k on the car had bought it for $483, then hell yeah, that makes sense.

Maybe I'm missing something though. I'm just working on context clues here.

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: Ehhhh its a grey line. It wasnt done for that purpose, just happened that way.

^this, if it is ok for someone else; it is ok for him.

I see it as very grey. Most of us could buy a car at an insurance auction for less than market value which means the deal is available to everyone. The flip side is most of us wouldn't know exactly what was on the car and you get first shot at purchase at a predicted auction value before it actually goes to auction. That type of inside information makes it a special deal not available to everyone. I say you get the right to make it to the condition it was before it was wrecked and wherever your budget stood before the wreck is where your budget stands after the repairs.

I guess my question would be, where do you draw the line? Now that he bought it back for only $483, lets say he puts on a turbo kit and a $1400 set of hoosiers, etc, etc. Car is in another accident, it's totaled again, he buys it back again for $500. "Oh, now I have an even greater car, and it's only $500! Now I have $1500 to spend again!"

The other potential issue to raise here is rule 20:

"Cars that are purchased at nonpublic, dealer-only auctions must be valued at fair market retail pricing."

I realize that this isn't a dealer-only auction, but this is a nonpublic sale that's only available to him because it's his car. If this car went to public auction and he re-bought the car there, then that would be ok, I guess.

Honestly, I don't think it matters much, but I'm a stickler for the rules.

In reply to MrJoshua:

That's what I would do with the budget if it were my project.

The purchase of the vehicle or parts must be available to everyone or else FMV rule applies. If the offer to purchase is to the owner exclusively, I suggest that it would not comply with the rule and only replacement of the damaged parts would be allowed.

My 0.02c

I say you get the right to make it to the condition it was before it was wrecked and wherever your budget stood before the wreck is where your budget stands after the repairs.

Exactly.

Back in May 2009 I had a rock ledge at my old apartment give way and damage my Miata. I had basic insurance on the car since the car was not driven much and was just sitting for the winter. Insurance would not cover the damage so I ended up suing the apartment complex and won $2,340.00 which was the estimate to fix the hardtop, hood, windshield, fenders, and windshield frame.

Since I wanted to bring the car back for 2009 I was told that I can fix the damage on the car to bring it back to the same condition it was in before the rocks fell on it. I spent about $100 on paint and body filler then $200 for a new windshield. Even though I ended up with a free Miata, on paper the budget was still $2000 for the challenge car.

I paid close to 7k for my 944 turbo. Totalled it and bought it back for $350 (seriously) and drove it home. Thought about bringing it to the challenge so asked here....answer was yes it's okay and as opposed to people giving me crap for it I got congrats for buying it back so cheap.

Cotton wrote: I paid close to 7k for my 944 turbo. Totalled it and bought it back for $350 (seriously) and drove it home. Thought about bringing it to the challenge so asked here....answer was yes it's okay and as opposed to people giving me crap for it I got congrats for buying it back so cheap.

Then you put $1600 worth of parts on it and brought it to the challenge, right?

In reply to poopshovel:

lol no I never made it. I have a different potential challenger now.

In reply to JohnyHachi6:

The car is rather well worked over already, and I'm not one to break/bend the rules. It's being repaired to predamage status, and I only plan to further tweek my existing setup. I realize some would try to show up with a $1400 set of Hoosiers and stuff, but honestly I don't have the funds to blow on such items. Hell the biggest purchase for this thing was something I never even used, hopefully I can get it sorted next year though (Megasquirt). I wasn't trying to come off as cheat or anything, as I'm definately not like that! Just showing that I got it back (legally with paperwork) as they took my title and i won't get back til i get it inspected by the DMV. Still waiting for the shop to pull it... a month later Grrrr...