A local guy here in Marion buys his own personal cars from a salvage title place in Cleveland. In 2003 he bought a 2002 WRX with like 3k miles on it, it was fucking totalled beyond "repairable". He bought it for like 6K I think(not to mention it came with all the parts to fix it(side and rear clip)), like 4 months later he got it running, couldn't even tell. He also did the same thing with a 2004 cobra. I paid like 18K for it, this was in 2005. Both cars are in great shape, can't tell they were wrecked at all, and the both ride like any other Cobra or WRX I have ever driven/ridden in.
It has worked for him.
Jackson