buying damaged vehicles?

[junk]

Frame damage doesn't bother me, but you need to have a good frame guy to pull things. I've got a guy I really trust, but he's now about 4 hours away since I moved. It's hard to find a vehicle that is wrecked and doesn't need at least a little bit of pulling.

[James M]

I agree that mild to moderate frame damage doesn't bother me either. Front end hits can be a real bugger though if the K-fame/engine cradle is tweaked. I have also seen several front end hits with light frame damage but enough to crack the bell housing the front wheel drive transmissions. (another reason to never buy off the internet or a printed "wheeler-dealer" magazine without personally going over that damaged vehicle with a professional bodyman if you are not a pro bodyman yourself.

[keith5064]

http://erepairables.com/salvage-auct...er-300-1679134 whats your input on something like this?... if the price stays relatively low it shouldnt take much to get it back on the road

[junk]

The miles is the biggest detriment in my opinion. Because of miles and salvage title I'd be looking to get it for 50% of book once I had it fixed. I'm cheap so I would probably try to buy it really cheap drive as is and plan on throwing it away when done.

[keith5064]

This is probably unrealistic but id only pry pay 2-3k, get it on the road and leave the hail damge otherwise there would be absolutely NO money to be made....

[junk]

I agree with your plan but agree it will probably go for more than that.

[James M]

http://erepairables.com/salvage-auct...er-300-1679134 whats your input on something like this?... if the price stays relatively low it shouldnt take much to get it back on the road

There are several issues with that car that would automatically cause me to ignore that ad/car. PRIMARY damage is hail damage ( what other damage is there not listed ? Mileage is too high for resale. Was the car wrecked and repaired resulting in a salvage title BEFORE the hail damage. "price to be determined" would by itself cause me to move on to something else. If it can be bought really cheap then it might be a driver to keep a drive for a while and hope you get your money back out of it.

[James M]

I came up with a basic formula a while back thats works for me. I never pay more than 1/3 of the retail selling price on any car that has damage. My formula is 1/3 for the vehicle, 1/3 for repairs and 1/3 for profit. And even then you can still get burned in process. On the older cars I break down the type of repairs the car needs by 1/3's also but in a different way. I break each vehicle down into bodywork, mechanical work or interior. I will never buy a car that has more than one of the three problems. In other words if it has mechanical issues and needs bodywork I pass on it. If it needs bodywork and paint work I pass. etc etc. Naturally that formula does not apply to potentially valuable collector cars like say I '67 Mustang Fastback GT or Shelby. I'm talking daily drivers.

I came to the conclusion a long time ago that if I can't make a reasonable profit on buying a repairable car then I won't get involved. In order to make a reasonable profit you need to cover you ass money wise BEFORE you make the purchase of a repairable. KNOW exactly what you're buying. Too many lesser experienced people look at a repairable with rose colored glasses and have no real idea of all the ways they can lose a bunch of money on that vehicle. All they see is "WOW!" I can get that car with a little damage for 3/4 of what it would sell for on a car lot. Like I said in a previous post -- that really good deal needing "easy repairs" usually ends up costing them more than if they went to a car lot and paid retail for a car that was never damaged.

Here is another pearl of wisdom that will never let you down --- Expect the worst and hope for the best.

If you expect the worst and base your initial cost on that premise then in most cases you won't get hurt. Never assume anything, KNOW what you're buying before you make the purchase.

[James M]

I just sold an '05 Honda Civic EX Special Edition car that I picked up about 3 months ago with 125K miles on it. I got a good deal on the car to start with and it was too good of a deal to pass up. Needed NO work, bright red ( "resale red" as they say in the business, hehehe) and the body and the interior looked like the day it rolled off the showroom floor, good exhaust, good tires etc. I did notice a slight humming noise in the front end which told me it had a wheel bearing starting to go, I personally replaced both wheel bearing, front brake rotors and new premium brake pads. That was the only work I put into the car. I drove it for about three months and decided I don't like little cars (been driving F150 4x4 trucks for the last 30+ years). The Kelley Blue Book (private party) price on the car is $ 8,400.00. I put an ad on craigslist close to a week ago to sell the car for $7,500 expecting to go down two or three hundred dollars to clinch the sale. That ad ran for three days and not a single call. So I drop the price to $6,800 and the phone rings off the hook. Sold it the next day for $6,800. (I still made a decent profit on the car).

There is a reason why I posted that information. If you base buying a repairable car in selling it for KBB retail or private party price then you're going to get screwed and lose money. I normally expect to sell a car for somewhere around half way between wholesale and retail. Wholesale/trade in price on the Honda car was $4,500 and retail (private party) was $8,400 and $6,800 was a little more than half way in between. EXPECT that selling price range on any car you buy for resale which of course does NOT include salvage titles. NO SALVAGE/REBUILT TITLES unless you plan on keeping the car and driving it for the rest of your life.

[style]

I just sold an '05 Honda Civic EX Special Edition car that I picked up about 3 months ago with 125K miles on it. I got a good deal on the car to start with and it was too good of a deal to pass up. Needed NO work, bright red ( "resale red" as they say in the business, hehehe) and the body and the interior looked like the day it rolled off the showroom floor, good exhaust, good tires etc. I did notice a slight humming noise in the front end which told me it had a wheel bearing starting to go, I personally replaced both wheel bearing, front brake rotors and new premium brake pads. That was the only work I put into the car. I drove it for about three months and decided I don't like little cars (been driving F150 4x4 trucks for the last 30+ years). The Kelley Blue Book (private party) price on the car is $ 8,400.00. I put an ad on craigslist close to a week ago to sell the car for $7,500 expecting to go down two or three hundred dollars to clinch the sale. That ad ran for three days and not a single call. So I drop the price to $6,800 and the phone rings off the hook. Sold it the next day for $6,800. (I still made a decent profit on the car).

There is a reason why I posted that information. If you base buying a repairable car in selling it for KBB retail or private party price then you're going to get screwed and lose money. I normally expect to sell a car for somewhere around half way between wholesale and retail. Wholesale/trade in price on the Honda car was $4,500 and retail (private party) was $8,400 and $6,800 was a little more than half way in between. EXPECT that selling price range on any car you buy for resale which of course does NOT include salvage titles. NO SALVAGE/REBUILT TITLES unless you plan on keeping the car and driving it for the rest of your life.

oh yea phil clean titles are so much better..
https://www.iaai.com/Vehicles/Vehicl...&RowNumber=200

[tomsteve]

you may want to check dealerships. some wont put a trade in under a certain $$ on their lot and have a set value for em to go to auction, then the others get scrapped. theres some pretty good vehicles dealerships scrap out.