PDA

View Full Version : What it means if a used car is in rebuild status?



winson2001
07-09-2011, 08:55 PM
What should I know and/or beware of before I buy a used car in rebuild status? What it really means anyway?

shadowz
07-09-2011, 09:20 PM
If he vehicle has either been in a accident where the insurance company felt that the vehicle needed to be written off, or flooding another example. Someone has put the time into purchasing the car and fixing it which will give it a repaired status

Offroad
07-09-2011, 09:21 PM
Any manufacter recalls after its rebuilt are void so no more free factory screw up fixes

tom_9109
07-09-2011, 09:29 PM
Beware that it has had enough damage that it was not economically viable to repair. Stay away on newer vehicles, check older vehicles out very carefully but should prob stay away too.

Team_Mclaren
07-09-2011, 09:32 PM
Originally posted by winson2001
What should I know and/or beware of before I buy a used car in rebuild status?

dont buy it

winson2001
07-09-2011, 10:53 PM
so rebuild = write-off... I've heard many of horror stories on about flooded cars, is there a way I can see if the car has been flooded? if the car is mechanically working, then i think its less of a concern to me... or am i wrong?

navdeep
07-09-2011, 10:56 PM
ive had a couple of rebuild cars,
some can have a rebuild status if they been stolen and recovered i dont think flood damaged cars can be ever put back on the road

Jetta-2.0
07-09-2011, 11:00 PM
OP ask the selling for pics before and after pics of the damage if the car has been in a crash, also ask them where they got it fixed and what shop and records if they have any

corsvette
07-09-2011, 11:03 PM
If a car get flooded its gets branded as Non repaiable and can be used only for parts.

winson2001
07-09-2011, 11:43 PM
navdeep - any bad exp u like to share?

Jetta-2.0 - what should i b looking for if i do get the info from selling?

Kloubek
07-09-2011, 11:54 PM
You should have pictures of the damage, and any repair bills the owner might have. You're trying to establish that a) The damage wasn't super severe, and b) The fix was done properly and by a reputable place.

At the end of the day, you better be getting a *smoking* deal to consider a rebuilt.

spikerS
07-10-2011, 01:08 AM
My current truck is a rebuilt status truck.

I was able to find out where the damage was, and able to find the welds on the front right corner of it. I had it quickly checked in a frame shop, and inspected the rest myself, and in the end, felt that the truck was repaired properly, so I had no issues with buying it.

I however did use that info to knock the price down quite a bit, and am pretty happy with my truck otherwise.

Jetta-2.0
07-10-2011, 01:17 AM
i have had 3 cars soo far 2 where salvage tittle and one wasnt. the one that wasnt gave me the most probs lol

sevewone
07-10-2011, 01:33 AM
It will be be suuuper hard for you to sell if you dont have the documentation from the before and after. Like everyone else said, gets as much info as possible!

For example I was looking at a 03 TDI jetta, mint 120xxx, he was asking 6500$ and told me he would sell it to me for 4500$ over the phone because it was rebuild. I passed on it and then found out after talking to him on the phone for a while he said it had been so hard to sell pretty much based on the fact that he had no paper work of the damage.

tom_9109
07-10-2011, 06:53 AM
Originally posted by corsvette
If a car get flooded its gets branded as Non repaiable and can be used only for parts.


Flood Damaged cars are branded 'non repairable' only if the water reaches the bottom of the dash. If that condition isn't met then the car could be branded 'salvage' and then if repaired and certified would be 'rebuilt'.

Stolen and then recovered vehicles will only be branded if they are damaged while they are stolen. Depending on if the insured was already paid out or not that damage could be minimal or could be severe to the point where it would have been a write off due to damage.

Maxt
07-10-2011, 08:43 AM
It can be a good deal if the damage was minor. Some cars resale value is so low that a minor accident writes it off.. One of my FC's was a write off, it had 600.00 worth of damage.

euro_racer
07-10-2011, 09:53 AM
If it looks like its fixed right and the alignment checks out then go for it. I've seen cars written off for damages next to nothing, some body shops when they write estimates look for every little thing on the car that is bent or broken and change the parts never do they even try to fix stuff, small stuff like that adds up quick especially these days when new car parts are priced high (ie. a small badge or nameplate on a car can range from $50-150 which body shops always change never do they re glue them on)

The way i look at is, at least 70-80% cars on the road these days were involved in at least one fender bender, about 30-40% of those have not being reported to the insurance company, i've seen cars fixed and welded in half (i mean the rear end was cut off one car and the front end off another) and did not have any records of being in a accident. Plus all the other cars fixed poorly due to them not having to get the vehicle re certified to be put back on the road.

At least with write offs you have to fix them then take it to a inspection where they perform a wheel alignment and do a full through out search on the body panels, if something doesn't line up or is not road safe the car will have a automatic fail.

And cars that are/were folded in water are a automatic non-repairable status and will never see the highway again, legally lol

Good luck and hopefully you find something good.

Darell_n
07-10-2011, 11:59 AM
I purchased a rebuilt '08 WRX a few weeks ago for a heavy discount. I know the shop well that did the rebuild and I am happy with the quality of work on the damaged area of the car. If it was involved in an accident that deployed the airbags then I wouldn't consider it, but this would likely result in non-repairable status.

spacerz
07-10-2011, 12:20 PM
Originally posted by Darell_n
If it was involved in an accident that deployed the airbags then I wouldn't consider it, but this would likely result in non-repairable status.

Wrong. My car (rebiult status) still has the original rad support/radiator/ac condensor/etc. untouched and the airbags went off in the collission. The only things that needed replacing was the bumper cover, hood, foam absorber and bumper....cars are reallly sensitive these days with airbags.

I would have to agree with Euro_racer. As long as the car drives straight (the key thing with written off cars) and there wasn't any frame damage in the collision I wouldn't mind purchasing it (so long as it was discounted accordingly). If you do not know anything about cars I would highly suggest having a reputable shop check it out before you purchase it.

Edit: Again, agreeing with Euro_racer, the salvage inspection is probably the hardest auto inspection that a vehicle will ever go through. If it has passed this, chances are....it is not a dangerous vehicle to drive.

ragu
07-10-2011, 01:11 PM
Make sure that you have pictures if the damage, if the seller doesn't have pictures, don't buy it! As far as getting repaired by a reputable place goes, I had G35 coupe that got in an accident and wasn't deemed to be written off. I had it repaired at maranellos and car squeeked and it just wasn't the same. Damage was only $5000 and everyone here would recommend maranellos but repair was crappy.

If you are spending over $5000, try not to get a rebuilt car!

2Legit2Quit
07-11-2011, 08:20 AM
I'm not fully against rebuilt cars, but if you're going to buy one then be comfortable with tons of people using it as an excuse to get it for dirt cheap when you go to sell it. Resale value takes a ding for sure.

Rebuilt cars are to be judged on a case by case basis in regards to if you know what actually happened to the car, and any carfax/carproof reports helping out as well. But if the price is right, the circumstances are crazy and owning the car for a while is good to go, then why not.

winson2001
07-11-2011, 12:55 PM
Thank you all for the helpful inputs, but i think the seller had backed off ... maybe due to i asked too much stuff lol, anyway, at least i dont have to worry about it now :D