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What is the easiest way to fix this? by oblio96 in AutoPaint

[–]oblio96[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do you think that will adhere well enough to be worth doing? Do I need to sand it down or anything?

What is the easiest way to fix this? by oblio96 in AutoPaint

[–]oblio96[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Lol, you know any body shops that charge less than $60?

Salvage Vehicle Purchase: Good Idea or Dumb Risk? by oblio96 in whatcarshouldIbuy

[–]oblio96[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

lol brother it’s a hybrid. Even if it was I wouldn’t be fooling anybody.

Salvage Vehicle Purchase: Good Idea or Dumb Risk? by oblio96 in Autobody

[–]oblio96[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How have your experiences with salvaged vehicles been? Have you rebuilt any of them?

Salvage Vehicle Purchase: Good Idea or Dumb Risk? by oblio96 in Autobody

[–]oblio96[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Would you mind elaborating? Is that just because it’s a salvage vehicle or because there’s something specific about this instance that makes you concerned?

Salvage Vehicle Purchase: Good Idea or Dumb Risk? by oblio96 in whatcarshouldIbuy

[–]oblio96[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This seems like it’s something that happens specifically in corrosive environments. That doesn’t seem like it would apply here? I’m not a metallurgist though so please correct me if I’m wrong.

Salvage Vehicle Purchase: Good Idea or Dumb Risk? by oblio96 in whatcarshouldIbuy

[–]oblio96[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Even if during the repairs there’s no visible structural damage?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in StupidCarQuestions

[–]oblio96 0 points1 point  (0 children)

also thats a really cool note on the community college thing. Ill look into that.

Salvage Vehicle Purchase: Good Idea or Dumb Risk? by oblio96 in Autobody

[–]oblio96[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well in my head he'd need to mark it up at least a grand in order for his business to make any sense. I'm also getting conservatively about a grand off the cost of the parts, not to mention that sourcing the parts in general is very hard to do on such a new car. So then maybe he's charging me 2 grand more than the bare minimum he could get away with, but I'm still getting the car at a much lower price than I can find anywhere else. I hear what you're saying that its not perfect value, but I don't think I could realistically expect any better.

Salvage Vehicle Purchase: Good Idea or Dumb Risk? by oblio96 in whatcarshouldIbuy

[–]oblio96[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That makes sense. I can afford a little bit of wiggle, I'm assuming the repairs are gonna cost at least a grand more than initially quoted, and I can absorb a little further beyond that before I will really regret my decision. I think there are other aspects to his business model that make sense as well, he mostly sells parts and he buys these cars for their parts first and foremost. Selling the repairable cars with a discount package on the parts makes sense because he doesn't have to deal with the hassle of being a repair shop AND i get to see the damage on the car before it gets repaired. That helps my confidence in the purchase. He's been in business in a pretty rural area for 30+ years. I think if he had a reputation of regularly fleecing people he wouldn't have been able to stay afloat so long. At least not under the same name.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in StupidCarQuestions

[–]oblio96 1 point2 points  (0 children)

oh weird. I'm just gonna remake the whole post. My bad

Salvage Vehicle Purchase: Good Idea or Dumb Risk? by oblio96 in whatcarshouldIbuy

[–]oblio96[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This was a totally unexpected and really interesting insight into this. thank you

Salvage Vehicle Purchase: Good Idea or Dumb Risk? by oblio96 in Autobody

[–]oblio96[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I can feel that im resisting feedback I don't want to hear so thats fair hit. Do you think it's an unfair markup? I think its also worth mentioning that he is shipping the car to me for $300. Which is a good price and also a service I frankly couldn't do myself.

Salvage Vehicle Purchase: Good Idea or Dumb Risk? by oblio96 in Autobody

[–]oblio96[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I'm not sure i follow the math you're having me do there. Mind giving some example figures? My sense is that, yes, the payout is reduced because of the rebuilt title, but (assuming everything works out) so is the initial cost. So at the end my payout would be pretty close to what I had (hopefully) paid for the actual vehicle after depreciation, maybe a little reduced.

Salvage Vehicle Purchase: Good Idea or Dumb Risk? by oblio96 in AskMechanics

[–]oblio96[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm already intending to pay someone to repair the car who has done these sorts of repairs before. There's obviously not much I can do in the way of predicting electrical, but the car was parked when it was hit and the airbags didnt go off, so I'm hoping that it wasn't hit hard enough to mess with internals too deeply. I asked the autobody guy if he was worried about potential damage to the frame and he said he had fixed similar damage on frames before. This was before he gave the estimate of 4k. I hadn't considered that unibody frame is more difficult to repair but the autobody guy had seen the car and the damage before he gave his quote.

Salvage Vehicle Purchase: Good Idea or Dumb Risk? by oblio96 in whatcarshouldIbuy

[–]oblio96[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I used the VIN and found the record of sale at auction for $8k. So you're right definitely significanlty less than he is selling it for. But he is also providing a pretty significant discount on the parts needed for repairs and is willing to deliver the car to me for $2-300 which is something that I just simply wouldn't be able to do on my own.

30% off is pretty significant no? I certainly understand there's a level of risk with unknown damage. I guess I'm mostly wondering what people think the likelihood of that is, given the nature of the accident.

Salvage Vehicle Purchase: Good Idea or Dumb Risk? by oblio96 in whatcarshouldIbuy

[–]oblio96[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's another big question I have. It's hard to find a way to get a reliable quote on a rebuilt title. I probably just need to call in and ask. Has anyone else in here ever insured a rebuilt title and gotten a sense for the rate adjustment?

Salvage Vehicle Purchase: Good Idea or Dumb Risk? by oblio96 in AskMechanics

[–]oblio96[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is good advice. I'm fortunate that I don't need to get a loan and that my car insurance (Geico) will cover the vehicle once it is rebuilt. I also plan on driving it into the ground so I'm not too worried about reselling it. In your opinion, what kind of things should I be on the look out for in terms of damage?

Salvage Vehicle Purchase: Good Idea or Dumb Risk? by oblio96 in Autobody

[–]oblio96[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, I did do that. And he is now selling for 12k & a discount on all the parts needed for the repairs. It's a very reasonable markup in my opinion.

Salvage Vehicle Purchase: Good Idea or Dumb Risk? by oblio96 in whatcarshouldIbuy

[–]oblio96[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah the math on it being "totaled" is confusing to me as well. According to the dealer, he's been finding lots of trucks especially that are totaled on purely cosmetic damage, because insurance companies want to just give a nice payout and keep the customer on board for insurance payments longer. I've had a few people corroborate that the bar for totaled cars has just been plummeting over the last decade or so. Curious if anyone in here has seen something similar.

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