I've been looking at a truck with a FL rebuilt title.
I can see the issues (panel alignment), but overall the truck looks and runs good.
I will put a LOT of miles on it, so it's resale value doesn't mean a lot to me.
But how much should it affect the purchase price? 20%? 30%? 50%?
In reply to SV reX :
You're a better judge than we are. My opinion? Panel misalignment is like an iceberg. Most of the danger is hidden.
50% is the general rule of thumb, but frankly it depends a lot on what caused it to be rebuilt (flood, horrible accident, vehicle is really old and minor damage was worth more than the car). Bear in mind totalling a car out is a financial decision the insurance company makes, not a safety decision.
Even the "i'll never sell this car" folks tend to underestimate how difficult it is to get rid of a branded title car, when the time comes. Most private party buyers won't even entertain it, and a high mileage salvage unit is a $100 car at trade-in time.
If it matters make sure you can get financing (Again if you need it). And if you find a bank that will do financing on a branded title, find out what their guidelines are.
Personally unless it was a commonly rebuilt enthusiast model (Lotus Elise for example), I would need to see at least 40% discount before I would be wanting to deal with that.
My biggest concern (depending on the truck) is that you won't be able to recoup your costs. I'm not talking about selling it, I'm talking about accidents, theft, etc, because insurance won't offer you anything but liability coverage.
It's not just the risk of not being able to sell it, it's that it's worthless to an insurance company. For that reason I tend to think of salvage vehicle value as being 0% of the asking price because there is a risk that it will vanish and I can't get compensated for it.
Now, if it's a cheap/junky enough truck that you would only have liability anyway, go for it.
In reply to calteg :
I hear you. I drove my last truck to 250,000 miles, and the previous one to 650,000, so I have a pretty good understanding of what happens with mileage based depreciation.
I drive 1000 miles a week. Nothing is gonna change the fact that anything I drive will be worth zero pretty quickly.
In reply to nocones :
Nope. No financing.
In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :
I hear you.
When my F250 was y to stalled it had 650K on it. Insurance offered me $3500. I successfully argued them up to $12,500 (which made me happy).
im not afraid of that.
I bought my Golf with a salvage title here in NH. It was about $6k less than what a non-salvaged one was going for, but it has about $8-10k of after market on it. I was just in an accident and it was repaired again to the tune of $6k+, insured as a regular Golf R.
I feel like if it is a good vehicle that has been repaired very well they are worth buying. I may have paid a premium for the car I bought maybe, but I made out. My $6k less would have shown as ~33% forgiving the modifications.
Typical is a 20% from clean if you cant visually tell that its been in a wreck. In this case I'd say 30-40% off at best. You wont believe what stuff is selling for on COPART and IAAI these days. Progressive will insure a rebuilt title with comp/collision, so will Amica based on my past experiences. As you mentioned you will burn thru miles on it and if done right financially it makes a good decision. Sounds like you plan to get to a couple hundred thousand miles....at that point resale is meaningless so the lower cost of entry makes it worth it.
I have bought two cars with branded titles. One was a rebuilt title. The other was a manufacturer's buy back title. I honestly didn't think they where hard to sell. This may have been due to the fact that they both were over ten years old and weren't worth a lot of money though. $4500 and $2300, or 4.5 and 2.3 Steve's.
SV reX said:In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :
I hear you.
When my F250 was y to stalled it had 650K on it. Insurance offered me $3500. I successfully argued them up to $12,500 (which made me happy).
im not afraid of that.
You argued them up because you had full coverage. You won't have that option on this truck. If someone hits you next week, that money is gone. Most insurance companies will not pay out on it. That's the risk.
Can you see what caused the branded title? Pics, info, etc? That would help me make a decision. For example, I hate front end collision damage because too many other variables(headlights, condensers, radiators, etc). - rear end or curbed suspension is sometimes easier to fix, check and has less other parts that go with it.
Google search the 17digits of the trucks vin. You might be surprised what the return hits are. I've had it bring me to old auction photos showing the previous damage. I've even had it return contact info to previous owner who I contacted and confirmed the story.
Steve_Jones said:SV reX said:In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :
I hear you.
When my F250 was y to stalled it had 650K on it. Insurance offered me $3500. I successfully argued them up to $12,500 (which made me happy).
im not afraid of that.
You argued them up because you had full coverage. You won't have that option on this truck. If someone hits you next week, that money is gone. Most insurance companies will not pay out on it. That's the risk.
Exactly. You are purchasing a vehicle that cannot be protected from loss. You get liability only, which covers the other guy, but not you. My wife had a salvage Tercel. She wrecked it hard. Liability only. I showed up to the accident site with the title in my hand and gave it to the tow truck driver after yanking the good stereo out of the dash. Bye bye Tercel. The only call I made to the insurance company was to cancel the policy. I can't make a claim on coverage I don't have.
Steve_Jones said:SV reX said:In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :
I hear you.
When my F250 was y to stalled it had 650K on it. Insurance offered me $3500. I successfully argued them up to $12,500 (which made me happy).
im not afraid of that.
You argued them up because you had full coverage. You won't have that option on this truck. If someone hits you next week, that money is gone. Most insurance companies will not pay out on it. That's the risk.
No sir. I had NO coverage. Liability only.
It was the other guy's insurance.
I argued it up because I was able to prove that their number was BS. Mileage meant nothing. I had plenty of comps to prove it.
Trucks sell for more than book value all the time.
In reply to SV reX :
If you can justify the number, then great. This is different. My insurance company will not pay you on a rebuilt title even if it is my fault. That's what we are trying to tell you. That vin has been deemed as a total loss vehicle, it has a 0 value to the insurance company, mine or yours. You're at the risk of an accident, even one that is not your fault, causing you to lose all of the money you paid for the truck. You might not be worried about resale because you're going to mile it out, but what if that accident happens next week? You'll care then.
When you click rebuilt on KBB.com you get the following. There's a reason
You drive 1000 miles a week!!?? Why would you buy a POS? Buy a Maverick or something similar. Sure you have a payment but I would think that you would save money over time doing that. You know gas, repairs, gas, towing because it broke, gas, oil because it burns or leaks. And you have a toy that you can build.
Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:Steve_Jones said:SV reX said:In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :
I hear you.
When my F250 was y to stalled it had 650K on it. Insurance offered me $3500. I successfully argued them up to $12,500 (which made me happy).
im not afraid of that.
You argued them up because you had full coverage. You won't have that option on this truck. If someone hits you next week, that money is gone. Most insurance companies will not pay out on it. That's the risk.
Exactly. You are purchasing a vehicle that cannot be protected from loss. You get liability only, which covers the other guy, but not you. My wife had a salvage Tercel. She wrecked it hard. Liability only. I showed up to the accident site with the title in my hand and gave it to the tow truck driver after yanking the good stereo out of the dash. Bye bye Tercel. The only call I made to the insurance company was to cancel the policy. I can't make a claim on coverage I don't have.
And this is exactly why branded titles are so commonplace nowadays. It forces you to get a new car with higher rates, more interest, longer term loans.... it's almost like there are greedy people out there that don't understand cars at all.
Everyone saying that an insurance company places 0 value on a rebuilt vehicle is flat out wrong. Some will not provide comp/collision on a rebuilt vehicle (Amica/Progressive do in KY).
If you get hit in your rebuilt vehicle you'll get paid out by the other insurance, but yes as a lower rate that can be argued much like any other claim.
Not that I'd want to get hit by someone but I'd love to have another insurance company value my rebuilt car as 0. It would be like hitting the lottery as that's bad faith and some pretty hefty damages.
Insurance companies make a financial decision to total a car. Some is based on what they expect to recoup at auction and is always about minimizing their loss while making you or the other party "whole"
MyMiatas said:You drive 1000 miles a week!!?? Why would you buy a POS? Buy a Maverick or something similar. Sure you have a payment but I would think that you would save money over time doing that. You know gas, repairs, gas, towing because it broke, gas, oil because it burns or leaks. And you have a toy that you can build.
Pretty hard to tow a 9000 lb trailer with a 2.0L
I have no interest in a POS. The whole point here is that THIS truck is a low mileage very good condition truck.
In reply to SV reX :
It is not a very good condition truck. It's the opposite of that.
eebasist said:Everyone saying that an insurance company places 0 value on a rebuilt vehicle is flat out wrong. Some will not provide comp/collision on a rebuilt vehicle (Amica/Progressive do in KY).
He's right. Most of the keyboard experts here are wrong, but with the caveat that every insurer and rules in a particular state are different.
My employer allows full coverage on reconstructed title vehicles. I know, because I've paid the claims on them. They pay full price for insurance but the car winds up being worth about 30-40% less than a clean title one.
In reply to Steve_Jones :
Please stop Steve. You've made your point. And you are not helping now.
If you feel the truck is worth it, pull the trigger. Case in point. I bought a 2004 Jaguar XJ8, rebuilt title, at a very good price. The repairs were well done (a tree fell on the hood). The car was totaled because of the price of parts, not necessarily the damage. Geico (NY) insured it with comprehensive. I have had this car for 2 years, and would trust it to go anywhere. As always YMMV.
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