ZGadson

I'm debating on putting in a bid on this. Anyone know a good source for body parts? I think I can find reasonably priced bumpers and headlights on ebay, but it seems like it'd be hard to ship a tailgate although there are a handfull listed on ebay.

And any thoughts or suggestions fpr purchasing an auctioned vehicle? I've never done it before but the facility that has the vehicle is local and will let me inspect and drive it before I commit to entering a bid. And with a moderate amount of damage, how much should I expect to pay for this RX?

carguy07

Does it still have a clean title?

sktn77a

iTrader: (2)

Well, it's a salvage car - it's worth half of their "ACV", at best.

ZGadson

It says "GA certificate of title - salvage" so I'd assume no. Salvaged title - which I know nothing about or how they work. What I do know is that you cannot register a vehicle with a salvaged title. It has to be changed to "reconstructed" before it is considered road-legal.

ZGadson

Was just reading about titles. Apparently next to an identical vehicle with a clean title, the salvaged value is generally thousands less.

Long story short, I wrecked my Infiniti I35 a few weeks ago and my insurance company is trying to sue me for insurance fraud because no other vehicles were involved. Until the dust settles, my budget for a new vehicle is $1500 or less and if I can get something nice for that price at auction, even if it needs work, I'll be one hell of a happy camper. If the bidding goes over $1500 I'm out.

defo

iTrader: (6)

I would agree with sktn77a, a "salvaged" vehicle is typically worth half that of a "clean" titled vehicle. Also, you will probably need to have the vehicle inspected at a state motor vehicle location to reclassify the title....which means additional costs to you in fees.

Repairs will probably total about $2500 to $3000, (that is doing a lot of purchasing and work yourself). The retail cost to repair that damage at an auto shop would probably exceed $5000.
The expensive items will be the lift-gate, and the unibody subframe looks damaged at the rear right side. The cheaper items, a headlight and both bumper covers, you can pick up for $300 to $400.

defo

iTrader: (6)

There is one lift-gate shell listed on Ebay for $250 with free shipping, but transferring everything over will be a pain in the a$$.

Call them and ask if they have a reserve on the bid sale.....I can assure you they paid more than $1500 for it.

ZGadson

Does anyone know about salvage titles? I've been reading about it all morning but I'm still confused and it seems like a lot of work once the vehicle has actually been purchased. Between the title application to remove the salvage title and the multitude of inspections required by the DMV, I'm not even sure where to start.

It's also my understanding that I cannot do the repair work mysely - only a certified rebuild and repair shop can. My question is; can I just have a shop repair the frame/bumper support and have the car pass inspection? Everything else seems like it would fall under an aesthetic repair rather than the necessary repairs to make the car safe again. Sure the tailgate is bashed in, but I've seen tons of cars like that still on the road.

ZGadson

And no, there is no reserve. There is currently another RX auction in progress that ends tomorrow at noon, but it's got a clean title and only a small bash in the front bumper (that will probably never be fixed because it's so minor) so the bidding is currently up to $3000.

sktn77a

iTrader: (2)

"Salvage Title" means the insurance company totalled the car. This, in turn, means it would cost them more to repair, at current negotiated flat rates, than the car was worth (probably $8000-$10000 in repairs - yes, it would cost that much). You can get the car fixed for less but, at flat rate bodyshop prices, it wasn't worth it to them to fix.