Really? You believe that safety has been compromised? What leads you to think this?

Agreed. Depending on the year, options, mileage and documentation - that might be a bit high. There may be room for negotiation. I'd have a good look at it first and then see where it "comes in".

Google the VIN and look for pictures. Another good source is autoauctions.io. I bought an inexpensive membership recently when I bought a BMW X5 for my daughter. I suspected it was a previous auction car since it only came with one key. On their site, it will show auction history such as Copart or IAAI. Samcrac on YouTube has a good video in autoauctions.io where he was looking at cars that had been "enhanced". He was able to see pictures of the original damage.

On a nother note, a "rebuilt" title is more valuable than a "salvage" title. In South Carolina, to get a rebuilt title, you have to take the car to the DMV to have it inspected before repairs are started. The DMV takes note of the signficant damage and re-inspects after repairs are complete. This way you get a rebuilt title as opposed to salvage.

I wouldn't be opposed to buying a car with a rebuilt, or even salvage title, but I would want pictures if the repairs.

If it's a car you really want and can't afford otherwise, or it's a car that is in short supply - like a Supra or a pagoda roadster or a factory-turbo Z - then sometimes it makes sense to go with a salvage title.

Same for track cars, winter beaters - you're going to demolish the value anyway, so who cares?

Unless you have substantially deep pockets, don't pick up a salvage car with dreams of returning it to its former glory. Craigslist is full of other people's half-done train wrecks...

I would also keep in mind that it does not take much damage to "total" a 996 these days. High factory parts prices combined with relatively low resale values can lead to a totaled car with pretty minor damage.

I had a very minor fender bender last year that resulted in a new passenger fender, litronic headlight, bumper cover, AC condenser, radiator, associated trim and plastic, and partial respray that came out to an insurance covered $11K - with absolutely no frame damage. It was literally a 3 mph impact at the front passenger corner. At the time the insurance value on my '99 was about $19.5. The adjuster said if the repairs had gotten close to 75% of that, they would just have totaled the car and I would have certainly bought it back and fixed it because it is otherwise a perfectly nice and well maintained car. It could also have been fixed for a fraction of that price by sourcing parts online, doing some of the disassembly and prep myself, etc.

As posted previously, if you can find documentation of what was repaired - preferably with photos, that would go a long way. Also, "story" cars are always hard to sell - even when they are cheap. So I would not get it if I was looking for one to drive for a year and flip it because you'll just be dealing with the same headache of selling a car with a branded title.

But if you plan to keep it for a few years and enjoy it, it would be worth considering if the price is right.

Why is it a hard no? There are lots of ways to total out a car; not all of them render it unsafe to drive.

The original post said there was damage to the rear quarter and front bumper. Modern cars are designed to crumple in a controlled fashion, in order to protect the occupants. Once.
There's really no way to predict what will happen if the car's hit again.
That's way out of my comfort zone, and to me relegates it to a parts car or track toy.

Ah, I thought you were indicating that any salvage title is a hard "no."

The upper rear "fenders" on the 996 are not separate sheet metal - everything from the B pillar backward is a single pressing. My understanding is that damage requiring welding in this area would also require completely re-treating that panel, which isn't possible/practical.

5CHNELL, although it comes as one piece way originally, the parts fiche does show separate repair panels.

http://www.autoatlanta.com/porsche-p..._911_parts.php

16.5k Seems a little high for one with a salvage title. You do not mention other details like mileage, condition, has the IMS been replaced etc. I see them with salvage titles all day long for 10-12k. usually around 80k in miles and in need of a really good detail.

The title itself would be of little concern to me if my goal was long term ownership, a clean PPI would be much more important.

Just my 2 cents here. I have owned 2 rebuilt titled cars and have no regrets. The most important thing is to inspect the car and the damaged area. If the repair seems quality and the car drives nice, then why not. My first rebuilt car was a 2004 Jetta GLI with 2K miles on it. Bought it, but I did have to work out a couple of bugs after I got it. No warranty from the factory or any recalls. So be aware of that. I put 60K trouble free miles on that Jetta and sold it for $2K less than I paid for it. Probably one of the best purchases I ever made. Then acquired an E36 M3 a couple years ago that was rebuilt. Had pictures of all the body work and the car looked like the day it was made by BMW. Had some trouble getting people out to look at it because of the title, but the first buyer that came out was so impressed he bought it right there no negotiating. Probably took about 10% less than market value, but I was happy and he has a great car. Still see it on the street near me and I kinda miss it. So if the car checks out and you like it why not.

Good info, thanks!

Definitely Consider them and here's why
 

Interesting that someone brought this up. I am new to Arizona recently moved here from New England. I am a licensed dealer here in Arizona not exactly your typical car salesman. I buy vehicles I'm interested in, build,modify,have fun then sell them. Any way so since I moved out here I too have seen tons of cars with rebuilt/repaired titles and it does not add up at all. Recently there was a 2013 911 4s with 71k that was vandalized, it was "keyed" up one side and down the other. This was a one owner car, the original owners ex had a melt down, his insurance company totaled it, and he bought it back not sure for how much and had it painted, he had the documentation and pictures car fax shows zero accidents. He was asking 25k. This is one example of many I have seen since I moved here.On the east coast the vehicles damage repairs had to exceed the value of the vehicle before they would total it. That definitely is not the case here I see. Anyone in insurance shed some light on this? Are they taking dealer pricing only? Or how does this work? I know if you ask a dealer for a few 996 parts you'll be over the market value in no time. But I am seeing newer vehicles. There was a 2014 BMW 5 series with very minimal hail damage, to the point I'm 99% paintless dent removal would take care most of them. That car booked out at 14k it was totaled, absolutely nothing wrong but a few dimples. No where near 14k in damage. I dont thinking would be more than 1k . I have yet to buy anything only because I always resell my vehicles, and banks dont like to finance repaired titles,and people think you're hiding something. But if I see something I really want peraonally and its half price you better believe I'll get it. I'm just at awe as to why vehicles are all of the sudden being declared a loss?

In the state of Illinois where I live the threshold for a salvage title is 33% of the market value so when the cost of repair exceeds 33% of the market value of the car it it gets a salvage title. With the low prices of used 996’s in the market and the high cost of parts and labor for body shops, etc. it really does not take much damage for a car’s title to have a mark on it. And once the car is fixed it gets a rebuilt title and you see many cars with such titles in the state. As with elsewhere having documentation of what the damages and repairs were is very important.

Some good info here...

https://www.mwl-law.com/wp-content/u...OLDS-CHART.pdf