Salvage Miata...How bad is it?

Saw this pop up and am intrigued, but am a bit leery and by no means an expert on bodywork either...Might this be worth pursuing at the right price, or should I just run far and fast?

Repaired into this, which aside from the wrong year bumper, seems pretty straight from the outside. 

It looks to me like the bent support should be able to have been straightened pretty easily, in addition to the replaced bumper cover and hood, but is there anything else that I should be looking for in a more detailed set of 'repaired' pics to determine the quality and acceptability of repairs?...Or am I overall better off just walking away now.

Its all in the price ...

If you do buy it, it's going to be difficult to sell later unless really cheap.

In reply to Slippery :

A better understanding for identifying the safety and integrity of the repairs is my first concern,  but I'll certainly welcome additional input on 'right' pricing as well. Obviously though, it has to be priced rather aggressively to cover the inevitable low residual value on the back side.

Driven5 said:

It looks to me like the bent support should be able to have been straightened pretty easily

IMHO if you think what you're looking at is easy then I'd run the other way. 

this is going to be involved because you shouldn't be just bending the core support back. you should have to drill out multiple welded sections of the core support and replace them at a minimum. 

that's my take  just because I think you're possibly going to get very deep into this financially and it sounds like you're not prepared for that if you're asking the hive here. I'd pick a cheaper platform to try this on first before just saying you're ready to try and do it here. 

This is my take based upon the way you're talking and the age of the car.  

In reply to spacecadet :

Maybe I wasn't clear enough. I have zero desire to bring such a car back into service myself. The repairs, in one form or another, have already been completed. I'm just contemplating buying and driving it. So if I'm wrong that seemingly minor sheet metal repairs are easy for an actual 'body man', then so be it.

I'm mainly looking at how to identify right from wrong on the repairs, if/when I can get more detailed pics of them, or if what's shown there is beyond even a quality repair professionals ability to safely return to service.

If I understand you correctly, that the metal core support piece itself needs replaced to be 'properly' repaired, then I may already have my answer. 

That looks like a Club model.

$5000, tops- and that $5000 better include a dedicated set of autocross tires on a separate set of wheels.

Driven5 said:

In reply to spacecadet :

Maybe I wasn't clear enough. I have zero desire to bring such a car back into service myself. The repairs, in one form or another, have already been completed. I'm just contemplating buying and driving it. So if I'm wrong that seemingly minor sheet metal repairs are easy for an actual 'body man', then so be it.

I'm mainly looking at how to identify right from wrong on the repairs, if/when I can get more detailed pics of them, or if what's shown there is beyond even a quality repair professionals ability to safely return to service.

If I understand you correctly, that the metal core support piece itself needs replaced to be 'properly' repaired, then I may already have my answer. 

GOTCHA, I thought it was a grammatical mistake in your wording and that photo was another similar car.  I wouldn't buy it without a proper core support replacement. I think Brett has the right idea on price. you need to be in the nicer NB/ early NC price range where track day people would buy this even knowing the history, and you can safely get into this without fully loosing your ass later.  

Floating Doc said:

If you do buy it, it's going to be difficult to sell later unless really cheap.

We live in a disposable society now.  No one repairs things anymore and doing so, even a great job, has a perceived highly negative association.  

Speaking of a disposable society, that would have been the goal. Buy for a price that when I'm done with it I could light it on fire and roll it off a cliff and be no worse off than having bought the same unblemished and with a clean title now.

Alas, the answer I got back on the core support was not an acceptable one (nothing done as it went back together ok as-is) for my purposes.

If its 40% the price of one with a clean history its a deal, otherwise hard pass.

Driven5 said:

Speaking of a disposable society, that would have been the goal. Buy for a price that when I'm done with it I could light it on fire and roll it off a cliff and be no worse off than having bought the same unblemished and with a clean title now.

Alas, the answer I got back on the core support was not an acceptable one (nothing done as it went back together ok as-is) for my purposes.

This is very likely why my 00 Boxster will live a hard life.  I could buy something newer and faster but I’d worry about it.  If I’m hooning the boxster and it goes boom, we had a great ride and I can easily find a used engine.

Chances are the car would have served you admirably and if resale was not an issue, then you would be good to go.

Not sure why the rad support was the hill to die on? Not like it is the main structural member in the car?  If I were contemplating such a project, what would matter is that the chassis datum points for the suspension  were where they are meant to be, and that means going on the rack to check and/or correct. The rest is just make-up on the pig.

I am assuming that airbags were intact?

Some insurance companies won’t insure a totaled out car. And I would be checking every single place the fenders, hood, and bumpers and light connect to. Half the time, when I check these, there is a new hole drilled because panels no longer line up, or a zip tie has been used. 

From a structural perspective, that doesn't look terrible.  To answer Nohome's question: The rad support ties into the "apron" on unibody cars, which is the structural area that runs to the left and right of the motor. If the rad support is tweaked, typically you're looking for aftermarket welds where it was rewelded back into the apron. Will it affect driveability/alignment/reliability? That's on a case by case basis.

From a financial perspective, cars with title brands are almost never cheap enough to actually be enticing. At the absolute maximum, you want to be paying 50% of what a clean title car is worth. 

Source: 10+ year and roughly 30,000 vehicle inspections

NOHOME said:

Not sure why the rad support was the hill to die on?

Because unrepaired (compromised) panels in a modern unibody (crash) structure changes the value proposition for me.  It's not totally off the table yet, but I doubt the guy will be willing to bring the value back to where I would need it.