SpeedyD

Sometimes I find that my OCD behavior about keeping my car pristine / safe means that in some instances, having my car detracts from an experience... not wanting to drive down bad / rough roads, not wanting to park in certain spots / areas / street park, etc...

I've always been very careful with my cars -- I unwind the engine when appropriate, but try and take really good care of them. I sometimes wonder if getting a runabout 911 might be fun ... one (in addition to my car) that I can feel okay with street parking, taking down a dirt road, etc... because it is already "tainted" by the fact it has that salvage title.

I wouldn't want a car that is mechanically not sound, but perhaps a salvage title car (nothing where safety / mechanicals are sketchy) with high mileage would be fun to have. Anyone else ever feel this way or have gone down this path?

Just curious on perspectives from others.

BIG smoke

I had a ford explorer for a few days before I gave it to a friend in need up north.
It had 29o,ooo kms on it. Air blew cold, four new tires, brakes, cv joints. Just had $4ooo service 4 months earlier. I drove it for a week. A wonderfully zen period in my automotive life. I paid $240 for the truck.
My friend still has it, now with 365,ooo on it. She just put brakes and tire on it again.

Para82

I personally wouldn't do it but read about the guy on the 991 forum who did it...great story.

Carmichael

I, too, was tempted by a wrecked car.

It was a Carrera White 2013 981 Cayman S with less than 5k miles and all the right options - for $30k.

All it looked like it needed was a driver front fender, headlight, and a driver door. And an airbag for the seat and the steering wheel.

I could have fixed it up ... But a salvage title meant that financing would have been difficult at best. Sure was tempting though.

If I were going to buy a salvage title Porsche, I'd buy a beat to hell 986 or a 996 and fix it up myself.

rjshar

I almost bought a 2009 C4S Cab that had been in a small rear end accident that caused the rear quarter panel to need a little work. It was essentially $10k off of market value, but my mechanic urged me not to touch it. It wasn't that it wasn't mechanically sounds, but he said that in that instance, with a repair made to the rear quarter panel, it would have rendered the factory galvanization process useless and ultimately would have lead to rust on the vehicle. The car was pristine and felt amazing to drive... I couldn't even tell that it had been in an accident, but the seller disclosed the accident to me and ultimately, I think I saved a ton of money in the long run.

I think buying a high mileage 996 with some road rash would better suit your purpose of parking anxiety relieft and driving down a dirt road. You could probably get a really well used one for under $20k!

Rick-A-Shay

I pursched a salvage title 356 that was stolen, written off, then later, found. No damage but a pain to sell in the end due to the "title". Banks will not loan on a salvage title, so one must come up with a personal loan or cash. If you never plan to sell, who cares??

myw

imho re salvage cars

- you either have to be very mechanically inclined and/or have access to someone that is who will THOROUGHLY inspect the car
- must have potentials funds/means to fix up the car to proper specs in case you end up with a car with 'surprises' your inspection didn't see… this could end up being a nightmare …. or sometimes you have nothing to worry about.
- not all salvage titles mean the car was in a horrible wreck. i.e. theft recovery so you could get a mechanically sound car for a great price.

- for the price discount you'll need the cash in full in most cases as banks rarely (almost never) touch a car with a branded title.
- from what i've seen the entire resale process will be extremely difficult whether the car was in a wreck previous or if it was salvaged due to theft recovery. it'll carry that eternal stigma.

best case scenario is if you plan to keep the car forever; and have the ability/funds to look over and fix the car back to 100% (or better)… all while paying significantly less then market value overall.

johnireland

I looked at two salvaged/rebuilt 993s. One with accident damage to the left front corner. The car was in Texas and the seller sent me all the pictures I asked for...but the more he sent the worse it looked to me. Plus he had done a horrible job putting new poorly fitting covers on the seats. I could have had it for $25k...but I just felt the seller didn't know what he was doing.

The second car is still for sale up in Oregon. I'm tied up in LA and can't get up to see it. However a RL member who has seen the car and knows its history suggested I pass. On top of it the dealer is asking way to much...$34k. To me it is a $20k tops because if it starts to fall apart, it can be parted out for the $20k.

A theft without mechanical damage would be the best of all worlds. The title doesn't worry me (if bought at an intelligent price) because I'd be buying it as a daily beater to play with and along the way fix it up for the fun of it.

SpeedyD

thanks for input. I kinda figure that buying salvage at deep discount means I'd expect to just sell at deep discount, but probably would just run the car until it stopped running.

Agreed that theft title impact is best... but I wonder if the discount is enough to use as a daily beater?

I'd definitely do this cash, so financing considerations don't matter. Biggest problem for me (personally) is living in a city without ability to work on the car myself...

993 salvage / rebuilt would be interesting but I imagine the prices are over-inflated at this time...

Carmichael

Last I checked, a clean, somewhat high-mileage 993 can be had in the mid-to-high 30s, depending on options.

I was thinking about buying a clean, base-model '95 with close to 75k miles for $36k before I found my 997.

SpeedyD

Those prices aren't bad. I'm guessing it will be a while before I add a runabout 911... if ever. I think the idea of it is great but my personality probably means I'd end up working to restore its faults and then be even more personally invested in keeping it nice, even if higher mileage.

Carmichael

http://desmoines.craigslist.org/ctd/4986172338.html

http://nmi.craigslist.org/cto/4976587719.html

http://columbus.craigslist.org/cto/5009264549.html

They're all MTs, too ...

I'm sure you could haggle these guys down. Then there was that guy Matt Farrah interviewed in California who got a 996 with 180k miles for $9k.

SpeedyD

Yeah, I saw that video. And totally agree w/the takeaway that it's hard to argue against driving a Porsche, any running/decent Porsche, at that price really. At some point you can just part out the cars if the engine gives out.

BBA

For the correct discount, I say why not? If repaired well there's really no difference. As you noted, a well maintained higher mileage Porsche would provide the same sort of discount experience.

andy92782

the one thing that scares me about salvage cars are counterfeit airbags. if the airbags were replaced either due to deployment or theft recovery you need to be absolutely certain the replacements were purchased from an authorized source, ie, not eBay or Craigslist. Too many fake parts out there and too many stories of the fake ones exploding in shrapnel.