[Rex Raider]

Would you buy a car with a rebuilt title?

Something that an insurance company once declared a write-off that someone else decided to fix?

If someone spent the time, energy, etc.. fixing something, and cosmetically it looks the way it should, what would be wrong with it?

Is it really any different from buying a "regular" used car?

 

[PontiacJ8]

I don't see anything wrong with buying a car with a rebuilders title, but I would probably want to see pictures of it before it was fixed to see exactly how bad the damage was.
My Dad bought our Trans Am with a salvage title, and it wasn't wrecked that bad either...just cosmetic damage:

Before-

After-

Most of the time too with cars that have a rebuilt title you can buy them cheap

 

[Mr_Pringle]

My '94 Beretta had a rebuilt title. It's no thang though, I was just buying to drive it into the dirt--- as I did.

 

[paul8488]

my dad owned a body shop. he worked near the quebec border, and often saw cars that had been written off in quebec and were sold to people in ontario. he had one car in (mighta been a tercel) that looked fine... but was eating front tires like crazy. my dad put it on the rack and determined he wasn't able to fix it. it was so outta whack that it wasn't worth reparing. the engine cradle was all warped, and someone had put significant energy into making all the exterior parts line up and look good. probably as much work as fixing it properly!

so i'd guess that a rebuilt title car has a higher liklihood of being a dud. though at the same time it doesn't take much to write off a car these days... so i suppose if the damage was mostly cosmetic (like pontiacj8's) one might be okay.

 

[Ming]

Agree with Paul here. If the structural damage is severe, don't waste your time on it. Some unscrupulous folks will buy a wrecked Camry, repair some structural damage, and repair all of the cosmetic damage and try to sell the 1999 Camry or whatever for a "fair" condition price. Same goes for formerly flooded vehicles.

Local news did a report on this practice a while back. Some very unhappy customers.

But if you know what you are getting and you are cool with it, why not? Sometimes just having the front and rear bumpers damaged and the air bags going off is enough for an insurance company to declare the car a total loss.

 

[paul8488]

Originally posted by Ming@Mar 26 2004, 07:53 PM
But if you know what you are getting and you are cool with it, why not? Sometimes just having the front and rear bumpers damaged and the air bags going off is enough for an insurance company to declare the car a total loss.

ah... that makes me wonder... do airbags have to be repaired if they blow? i'd guess any vehicle has to have all original equipment safety devices in working order, right? but i'd hate to buy a 10 year old car and have to spend the cash to get the popped airbags reset. the cost'd make reparing any airbag-popped vehicle much more expensive.