Has anyone else thought of buying a salvage rig?

[slither]

I recently came across three different rebuildable/salvage rigs. One was an 08 TT with under 500 miles on it. It was a roll job and had some extensive roof damage. It went for $17K on E-Bay. I just came across another one 2 hours away that looks like it struck a piece of I beam with the passenger(right) front corner. The whole nose needed to be replaced(both fenders, hood, radiator support, all attached plastics, light's etc.)Plus some rear end damage with 9K on it. They're looking to get almost $17K for that as well. I found another one about 2 hours north of me. Front fenders, bumper, lights all removed already. It has about 20K on it and again they're looking for almost $17K for it. You could see from the pics that the inner fender was a mess. I could do most of the repair myself. I'd probably use AP bumpers front and rear , Icon suspension and some other after market goodies but I can also buy a rig with under 30K on it with no damage for around $22K. Do you think it's worth the effort and how motivated are these salvage yards on price? I would be curious to know what an insurance buy back costs. Any 02 from insurance or salvage savvy members would be appreciated.

[1 Bored Clerk]

I've not thought about it as I have enough headaches to deal with! I'm not skilled enough to know what has been 'fixed' properly or what is too far gone to save. All I see is many $$$$ going out the window for something that I will ultimately deem worthless.

Just buy a used one with a clean title and low mileage and be done with it. It's worth the few grand more, I think. You never know what type of damage might crop up in the future with a wrecked rig. Plus, you will have something that you can sell later...and you will want to sell at some point. Why narrow your market down to just a few people when you can have several thousand or more?

[pokerDawg]

I've had my share of salvage vehicles. They can be a massive headache for repairs. I saw one FJC for $10k salvaged. It would've made a great project car.

Project car = yes
Daily Driver = no


You could be lucky like my brother-in-law. He bought a low mile salvaged '98 Maxima years ago and has put over 100k of miles on it. No problems what so ever.

"Salvage" doesn't always mean the car was in a collision. Sometimes, a previously stripped vehicle is marked "salvaged".

[man in a bottle]

parting out a vic is sometimes better than driving it . the cat on a car can go for $200 or more the rad a little less etc so some times not worth rebuild

[slither]

pokerDawg previously said:

I've had my share of salvage vehicles. They can be a massive headache for repairs. I saw one FJC for $10k salvaged. It would've made a great project car.
"Salvage" doesn't always mean the car was in a collision. Sometimes, a previously stripped vehicle is marked "salvaged".

Yeah I was just thinking if I was going to mod it up it would be easier to start at the front end stripped state. But with the amount of incidentals(misc body clips, plastics(fender flares and inner liners) and parts(hood, hindges,radiator support, front apron, ETC) the cost adds up to where it would almost be a wash. Plus like you stated it's that shaken up misc. stuff that takes awhile to show up that'll kill the value of the project. I don't think I'd buy a rollover but I found a front end shot that's looks very repairable but even still I wouldn't pay $17K for something that's going to bring me right back up to a used vehicle price. It's a double edged sword.

[slither]

man in a bottle previously said:

parting out a vic is sometimes better than driving it . the cat on a car can go for $200 or more the rad a little less etc so some times not worth rebuild

That probably would have been the way to go with the TT I saw on E-Bay. The roof was trashed to the point where I don't thing the best body guy could have gotten things to ever line up properly. IE the windshield and doors. It only had like 456 miles on it.

[Briman42487]

if i were buying strictly a trail rig that i was going to dismantle pretty much anyway, i would consider one. but in a jeep or something like that, it is a lot easier to spot all the repair work.

[DoWork]

i wanted to buy that TT so that I could make a convertible. I would have taken a sawzall to the roof, rhino lined the interior and then driven it every day

[Sean K.]

Getting it titled and re-registered after having a salvage title can be very hard to do. Check your state laws before diving in.

If you are good with auto body and mechanical repair....pretty much anything is salvageable, provided your state will allow you to re-title it....and you have all the necessary tools.

This is a GREAT way to get a cool trail only rig, but is a lot more complicated for a DD.

HTH,
Sean

[jeshua]

17 seems high for a totaled FJ.

But i think it is a great way to go, but I would look for a roll over before a crashed rig sinse I would cut the roof off any way.