Would you buy a previously stolen car? Even if it was just gone for one day?

I'm looking at this 2011 Flex and it's what I want spec wise, has low miles, and had great records. Except it was stolen for one day back in July. The manager said he'd make me a killer deal. What say the hive?

I did. I bought a pickup and the dealer said no declarations but found after I had put down a deposit that it had been stolen and recovered. I expect it lowered my resale but it had no effect on the truck. They gave me the option to back out but I kept it.

I wouldn't worry, way better than being a rental

Just knock on all the doors to make sure nothing is stuffed in them and buy it at a huge discount. 

Nope.

Fentanyl can kill you if you touch it.

Drugs that don't belong to you that were left in the car can send you to PMITA prison.

Not as if they didn't make plenty of other cars that you could buy.

I would simply not buy a Ford Flex.

I lived with one for a year. It was big. It's good at being big, and that's the only nice thing that I can say about it. Everything else about it was pretty miserable, and I had very little confidence in its long term reliability.

But, it was big.

wearymicrobe said:

Just knock on all the doors to make sure SOMETHING YOU CAN SELL ON THE STREET FOR BIG BUCKS is stuffed in them and buy it at a huge discount. 

FTFY.

I have owned two salvage-title vehicles.  One was my own Tercel that got totaled by a hail storm.  It was incredibly mild damage to two pieces of glass, but the problem was that it hit every panel with at least a couple dimples.  It would have been basically a full-body repair with every panel needing work and a full repaint.  I bought it back for pennies with a salvage title and fixed the glass.  When it came time to sell it, no amount of proof that the salvage title came from these little dents, no amount of anything I did would let anyone open up a wallet for any money.  After three months, I had one kid come look at it and told me all about how he was going to put a V8 in it and make it rear wheel drive.  He never called back.  After two months at $250 and zero phone calls, I drove it to the junkyard and signed the title.  People see a branded title, and stop reading.  There are 500 other cars just like it that don't have a salvage title, so it's an instant pass.

The other one I bought knowing it was salvage.  A body shop bought a ZQ8 Sonoma at an insurance auction to flip.  I saw it while it was still damaged.  Pretty simple sideswipe.  They replaced the three panels on the side, painted it, and sold it to me cheap.  When I went to sell it (a 100% rust-free TX car that I had taken to PA) with only 68k on it, I had to wait almost a year to find someone who was willing to even consider it, I had to sweeten the deal by driving it 3 hours to OH, and I only ended up getting a small fraction of what I paid.

If you want it and trust it, go for it.  Just don't ever expect to sell it without losing three shirts.  YOU know it's a good bet, but convincing the next person that it's a good bet is completely pointless, or at least narrows down your potential buyer pool to about 2% of people shopping for your car.

Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:

wearymicrobe said:

Just knock on all the doors to make sure SOMETHING YOU CAN SELL ON THE STREET FOR BIG BUCKS is stuffed in them and buy it at a huge discount. 

FTFY.

Has anyone achieved max challenge recoup via selling drugs/weapons found in the car? 

If the deal is good enough that if/when you go to sell it you won't be underwater on it then go for it. Brand titles can be a pain to sell as others have posted. 
 

we see a lot of cars stolen for joy rides or in the winter, actual rides as in they see a car running and rather then walk they steal it and dump it by their destination. 

Stolen Flex? Flex from sleazy dealer. What is it with you and questionable Flex?

ProDarwin said:

Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:

wearymicrobe said:

Just knock on all the doors to make sure SOMETHING YOU CAN SELL ON THE STREET FOR BIG BUCKS is stuffed in them and buy it at a huge discount. 

FTFY.

Has anyone achieved max challenge recoup via selling drugs/weapons found in the car? 

And if they did, would they have Internet access from their current place of residence?

vwcorvette (Forum Supporter) said:

Stolen Flex? Flex from sleazy dealer. What is it with you and questionable Flex?

It was apparently a "domestic disagreement" and it has a clean title.

All dealers all sleazy.

vwcorvette (Forum Supporter) said:

Stolen Flex? Flex from sleazy dealer. What is it with you and questionable Flex?

That was my thought also. While I'm a sucker for a bargain, this seems to be a bit too close of a relative of the last Flex experience.

Javelin (Forum Supporter) said:

vwcorvette (Forum Supporter) said:

Stolen Flex? Flex from sleazy dealer. What is it with you and questionable Flex?

It was apparently a "domestic disagreement" and it has a clean title.

That would beg the question as to how this would either show up somewhere or why the dealer found it necessary to mention it?

All dealers all sleazy.

There are various degrees of sleazy, though. In general the closer to the bottom of the market, the sleazier.

The car does have a very good history of dealer service on the CarFax given in the ad!  

For the heck of it, I googled the VIN and returned back this which I have screen shot...  

It's always best to speak directly to the previous owner and I'll be damned, this gives name, address, phone.  

Strangely, when I click on the link, the site gives me even less info but returns a business name,  and email but different phone number.

Patrick (Forum Supporter) said:

I wouldn't worry, way better than being a rental

Oh the bad things I have done to rentals

In reply to John Welsh (Moderate Supporter) :

I should do a court records search on the guy to see if I can find the stolen car report.

I think I'm gonna go look at it this evening.

In reply to Javelin (Forum Supporter) :

I'd just call the gentleman directly and in a "folksy" tone, I'd just explain that I came across his name attached to the car and wondered if he could fill me in on the history.  Present yourself as an honest and hard working family man who can not afford to get burnt by a bad car.  He's got to reason to not be forth-coming.  Compliment the car's condition and compliment the gentleman for his dilligenece of taking care of the car.  

That is exactly what I did with the salvage/stolen Chevy Sonic I bought, detailed in the 2nd to last post of this thread.

I did similar with my salvage Montero too as detailed mid page of this thread

Rental car:  Driven like it was stolen for every day of its rental life.

Car stolen for one day:  Driven like it was stolen for one day.

I wouldn't let the fact that it was stolen influence my buying decision.

No.  You're not shopping for a rare, hard to find car.  There are plenty of them out there with no stories.  Buy one of those.

is the hard to resell because it was stolen or because it now has a salvage title ?

I normally buy my work vans with the plan to drive them until they leave on the side of the road a couple times , 

or they are just worn out and they go to pick a part or Mexico . 

And anymore it takes so little damage to total a good car , 

Its also a little harder to get full insurance on a salvage title .

In reply to californiamilleghia :

It has a clean title.

I think it’d have to be a hell of a deal.  Sounds like this isn’t as likely to be as problematic as other stolen cars might be, but without knowing the details of the dispute, I’d still go over it with a fine toothed comb.

And while Flexes aren’t ultra common, I’d hope there are enough out there to not have to settle.

eastsideTim said:

And while Flexes aren’t ultra common, I’d hope there are enough out there to not have to settle.

The EcoBoost AWD ones, especially with the factory tow package, are pretty thin on the ground. Owners tend to keep them, so the only ones really out there are around 150K miles already.

I thought you hated your Flex. Why would you buy another one?