Mikelly

Hahahahahahahaha!!!!

theporscheguy

For a 38K mile car it looks rough. The wheels and the marks on the hood would lead me to believe that this car has much more hiding under the surface and waiting to rear its ugly head.

ltc

A salvage title is like depreciation...it only matters if/when you decide to sell the car.

If this car fits your needs/requirements and passes a thorough PPI and you intend to keep the car, then buy it.

larry47us

A salvage title is a large flag placed in front of any buyer - compliments of the state government. In the days before CarFax, this was the State's way of warning people of potential issues. There are also some issues with regard to insurance, since an insurance company may not want to insure a car that they have already totaled out.

But once that warning is given to you, then it's up to you to decide.

Is the price reduction offered to me by the seller sufficient to "pay me" for buying a salvage car?

Given the salvage situation, what additional inspection will be desired by the PPI to make sure that I'm not buying a big problem that's going to bite me in the a$$ down the road?

If I decide to sell the car down the road (and I would guess that 90% of people end up selling their cars - down the road) how much of a price discount am I going to have to give to get people interested in buying a car that was "salvaged?"

It's your call, your purchase, your car. For me? I have passed on cars that I found out were on a salvaged title. In one particularly weird situation, I found a nice car in Pennsylvania that had a considerable amount of work done on it. Looked good, priced right. Got the CarFax. The car started out in California, went to Wyoming, then Colorado, where it was involved in an accident, and given a salvage title. The car then went to Texas, where the state of Texas gave it a "clean" title. (I found out later that Texas has a tendency to "wash" salvage titles.) The buyer in Pennsylvania bought it unaware of the earlier salvage situation. I wouldn't buy the car, but I passed on my findings to the seller. He was really pi$$ed, but it goes to show that you need to do your homework.

If the price discount makes the salvage title not an issue for you, then go do it. It's your money, your car, your decision.

larry

Macster

This car falls under too good to be true category. It received sufficent damage from a fire to get a salvage title yet the seller claims he bought it and fixed it properly and is now of course offering it for sale, at a discount from a comparable car that is sans the burden of a salvage title. As I tried to show in an earlier post for a car of this class to be declared a total loss and assigned a salvage title suggests the damage was substantial otherwise the car would have been not have been declared a total loss. It would have been repaired.

Anyhow, let's assume the seller is telling the truth.

Still, you owe it to yourself to as best you can confirm this.

You need an independent evaluation of the car to build sufficient confidence that the car is worth owning.

Also, it occurs to me that the shop that did the repairs might have taken pics of the car *before* the repairs were made (many shops do this to build up a portfolio of cars) and if so from the pics you should be better able to judge the extent of the fire's reach and severity of the fire and then be in a better position to evaluate the car.

Then the inspection confirms the car has been properly repaired.

In short this car requires extra effort to properly evaluate the car is suitable for owning. This evaluation is hard enough for a car with no salvage title hanging over it but with the salvage title...

If one has a car repaired due to an accident or some other incident (like a fire) in CA the body/paint shop that does the repair must stand behind the repairs for as long as you own the car.

If you buy the car and take it to Germany and the car develops any problems arising from missed damaged from the fire or damage that was not addressed properly, or even arises from a defective factory part or labor that was part of the repair, I'm not sure how much you can rely upon this repair shop standing behind the car and paying some shop in Germany to fix the car. You would be wise to arrange to get something in writing from this shop that clearly states it is aware you are taking the car out of the country and will still honor whatever warranty CA law requires of it while the the car is in Germany.

(One wonders too if Germany will allow the import into Germany a car that has a salvage title. I'd be darn sure I was sure I could bring this car into Germany and drive it legally *before* I bought the car.)

All I can say of course is it is up to you what you want to do to what extent you want to go to, to how much confidence you want in the car before you can decide to buy it or give it a miss.

Almost always though the outcome of these too good to be true car deals just reinforces the too good to be true results. The web is plastered with stories of those that fought the odds and lost.

But best of luck. I'm sure you'll make the right decision for you.

Sincerely,

Macster

kkswow12

probably pass on it...i too know the 'too good' tale, personally, i would rather just drive and when i'm goin 200+ (km's, i;m not stoopid) i want to feel confident in what i'm in...the search continues

TrackDays247.com

Sure would like to see the post-fire pics....cetainly would be a REQUIREMENT for me.