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Whos owned a rebuilt titled car&my opinion


Mace1647545504

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A buddy of mine drives nothing but rebuilt titled cars.

So I thought I'd give it a try.

In Feb 2009 I took a bus to Romeo Mich, and looked at a 2005 Nissan 350Z.

Car drove and stopped fine, everything was great.

On my drive home,(75S) an 80s turbo 280 came up on me and started messing with me.

The front tires were not that good but I got tired of it pissing around with me, so off we went.

We got up to 110mph before I decided to back off.

When I got home I bought new tires for it and drove(well my wife drove it most the time)

for just over 2 years.

In those 2 years the only thing I replaced was the battery..what a PITA to do.

Anyway, I would buy a 'branded titled' car again.

I laugh when I hear never to buy them.

Opinions??

Mace

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A buddy of mine drives nothing but rebuilt titled cars.

So I thought I'd give it a try.

In Feb 2009 I took a bus to Romeo Mich, and looked at a 2005 Nissan 350Z.

Car drove and stopped fine, everything was great.

On my drive home,(75S) an 80s turbo 280 came up on me and started messing with me.

The front tires were not that good but I got tired of it pissing around with me, so off we went.

We got up to 110mph before I decided to back off.

When I got home I bought new tires for it and drove(well my wife drove it most the time)

for just over 2 years.

In those 2 years the only thing I replaced was the battery..what a PITA to do.

Anyway, I would buy a 'branded titled' car again.

I laugh when I hear never to buy them.

Opinions??

Mace

 

I have and would own one again. Look them over very closely, don't expect lots of resale value, and never look back.

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Me and a guy I work with drove down to KY to get an F150 that has been hit in the front quarter. Old guy redid the whole damaged area, and it seems to be a good truck so far.

 

He didnt pay book for it, so cant complain there. I think it takes a hit on the value, but thats a way to get a potential good deal

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My opinion is that you need to do your homework. I have bought totalled cars and have rebuilt them and then drove them for awhile and then sold them. The key is that you need to buy them for dirt cheap. The problem now is that you can't buy anything needing repair on the cheap side.
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My 03 Cobra was my first rebuilt car. It was cleaner and tighter than most of the clear titled Mustangs I'd seen with similar miles (25-30k). I was shopping for average miles Mach 1's at the time and the Cobra popped up about 20 minutes away and in my range so I looked at it and was amazed at how nice it was. If it didn't have the rebuilt title there's no way I would've been able to get into it. I only put around 3k miles on it, which were completely trouble free. I put it up for sale about 2 weeks ago for more than I paid for it and I couldn't believe the response I got. I had hesitated to list it a couple times because of the "dreaded" r-title. I listed it on a Friday, answered a ton of emails, texts, and pm's over the weekend, the buyer went to his bank Monday morning and drove 4 hours to pick it up Tuesday. In hindsight I wish I would've listed it another grand higher because there was no negotiation from any of the serious buyers. Lol

 

On the other end of the spectrum, my brother-in-law bought a built 2000 Lightning last year with 106k on the chassis and paid too much for it. In January he totaled it, and insurance gave him 6k for it while he still owed over twice that. He still would've been screwed even if it was a clear title, but not nearly as much.

 

I'd have no problem at all buying another rebuilt vehicle if it's been repaired right, but from this point on it'd only be a cheaper daily driver that's bought with cash and no loans just to prevent any situation like my brother-in-law is dealing with.

 

For what it's worth, the only reason I sold my car was to get into a C5 Z06.

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I bought my '92 Camaro with a salvage title from a minor accident. The damage was very slight and purely cosmetic (front bumper, fender, door, rear bumper got a little banged up). I've had the car since 2005, done nothing but basic maintenance and a fuel pump, and it has always run like a champ (210k miles and counting).

 

Like mentioned above, do your homework on the car and buy it dirt cheap.

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People crack me up with this topic. ANY used car needs to be inspected 100%. Cars can get a branded title for many reasons that don't include any real damage. Other cars with 'clean' titles can be major POS with serious damage/repair.

 

I've had a 'rebuilt' title car that was hit and re-totaled. The insurance company paid me full (retail) value for the car and I purchased it back to part out. I have no issue with used cars with titles of any kind. I spend good time looking each one over and make my decision from there.

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I couldn't agree more, I've bought new cars that were a pos from the go, and I've bought $100 vehicle that ran a ton

 

mace

People crack me up with this topic. ANY used car needs to be inspected 100%. Cars can get a branded title for many reasons that don't include any real damage. Other cars with 'clean' titles can be major POS with serious damage/repair.

 

I've had a 'rebuilt' title car that was hit and re-totaled. The insurance company paid me full (retail) value for the car and I purchased it back to part out. I have no issue with used cars with titles of any kind. I spend good time looking each one over and make my decision from there.

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I would purchase a rebuilt titled car, assuming it was done correctly, and not just rebuilt.

 

That said, don't pay nearly what a clean title car would go for. Honestly, I would pay nor more than half of the clear title value. A rebuilt title will haunt that car forever. It takes away a large percentage of potential buyers (regardless of price), and those interested are only interested due to a lower price.

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Interesting......I'm looking into a car right now with a salvage title, a guy purchased the car and said the only thing wrong with it was pass door damage and front bumper damage which he replaced. I've gone and looked at the car and drove it and it drove nice, it was just mainly dirty ( which surprises me the amount of people who are selling a car and don't bother to clean it up). Anyway

 

I called my ins agent and he stated the thing with salvage cars is not everyone can get ins on them. Ins. companies have really cracked down on who they insure on these cars, he also said if something would happen to the car Ins will only pay 50% of the value of the car.....so you need to buy them right and not get in over your head. The car I'm looking into is an 05 with 112K miles it's retailed at 5K the guy wanted 3450 and he's down to 2800 so far. I offered 2500. So we'll see.

 

I also stated I wanted to take it to a dealer to have them inspect it to make sure theirs no frame damage. He was alright with that.

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2yrs ago i bought a supercharged 99 regal gs with 140k and a salvage title. had some damage to passg rear door/quarter. was clean as hell, no rust anywhere. paid $300 to have it fixed, had it inspected, and kept it for about 4 months, put about 9k miles on it. Had a gtp up for sale, and a guy came to check it out and ended up offering me 2900 for the regal. needless to say i took it. ive been kinda pissed ever since because i cant find one that clean for a good deal. one of my fav dd's ive had. i would DEF buy another rebuilt/salvage titled car for a good price.
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I would purchase a rebuilt titled car, assuming it was done correctly, and not just rebuilt.

 

That said, don't pay nearly what a clean title car would go for. Honestly, I would pay nor more than half of the clear title value. A rebuilt title will haunt that car forever. It takes away a large percentage of potential buyers (regardless of price), and those interested are only interested due to a lower price.

 

this, normally I wouldn't even look at a rebuilt/salvage car. and I LOL at people who think they can get close to blue book value for a car thats branded.

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People crack me up with this topic. ANY used car needs to be inspected 100%. Cars can get a branded title for many reasons that don't include any real damage. Other cars with 'clean' titles can be major POS with serious damage/repair.

 

I've had a 'rebuilt' title car that was hit and re-totaled. The insurance company paid me full (retail) value for the car and I purchased it back to part out. I have no issue with used cars with titles of any kind. I spend good time looking each one over and make my decision from there.

 

Yes. I was a dumbass and didn't have the car inspected. It was in Chicago and I was in Phoenix. I should have searched around more or went to check the car out in person. But either way I don't think I'd ever buy another rebuilt titled luxury car unless I got it for under 2k depending on the car.

 

Joe

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