Civicnoobie

Just found out my car was a salvage in 2009 and was rebuilt title. Not sure exactly the details but apparently it was a front end collision, bit more towards the right cause i notice the paint on that fender is new. What are the chances they put a new engine and trans in my car, cause for a car to be salvaged and written off, it has to be undrivable right.

GreenMachineDX

Well, he bullshitted u man.. He sold u the car that has been hit and how much did u pay it.. How many miles.. I tell u if its worth it.. And no it doesn't mean they put new parts in it.. They just fixed the damage... But, how???. Thats the problem

marccayen

Well If it was salvaged I would atleast think its because the engine was still good. I dont think there would be a point in salavging a 7th gen civic if the engine was gone plus body work unless they were going to throw in a bigger engine in it.

And no the car doesn't have to be undrivable just the value of the car vs the damages done.

When I recently gotten into a collision my car was valued at 10,000 and the damages were 9,000 so they just fixed it vs to writing it off and paying me cash.

BlueEM2

iTrader: (1)

Engines generally survive the impact but suffer later on unfortunatly. It doesnt take much to write the car off nowadays, basically two fenders, a hood, bumper, some door/suspension damage = write off. Just hope for no frame damage but I'll almost guarantee you the engine is original. Take the car back and leave it there. That is something he absolutely MUST tell you when you buy it. The only way you can get screwed here is if you bought it private.

Civicnoobie

It has 85,000miles and i paid $4900. I got it inspected before buying it and they told me about the hit on the front but said it was rebuilt immaculately well and the frame was perfect.


How do engines suffer lately on usually? I had a compression test done and it turned out perfect. Yes I bought it private. Turns out I bought it from a curber, but he said it was his wifes car so i believed him. But its wierd cause when i when to the licence registry to check the vin it came out clean and when i ran the carfax before it came out clean. It mentioned nothing about rebuilt status. Oh well, too late now. Ill just have to take care of it well.

Lopes101

May i butt in and ask what a curber is?

lowlife9

that sucks man the resale value on your car just flew out the window. and you basically got ripped off on the price you paid for it.

Civicnoobie

ya only option i have now is to drive it til it dies. Then hand it off to my niece or something.

I called him up one night from his ad, went to his place to drive it cause hes close to me and drove it for 10 minutes then made him an offer and told him its sold. Got home, ran carfax, came clean. Went back the day after to pay him, then we went to the registry and i got it inspected after.

BlueEM2

iTrader: (1)

Welll... I'll tell you what happened to someone I knew... She got into an accident and the other car hit her directly on the wheel. Her car was okay besides some suspension damage. The transmission continued to function for a few months after the repairs were done. Then it went, it was caused by the accident I'm totally sure of it but there was no way to prove it. Tons of stuff could happen to an engine in an accident that doesnt get discovered until much later.

lowlife9

when did you purchase the car ?? do you have lemon laws in your state maybe you can take legal action if the statue of limitation has not passed.

Civicnoobie

Oh i see....but ya like you said we dont know how bad it was and going by how i see the front hood and how it was fixed, i dont think it was very deep. I emailed carfax to see if they can find out exactly for me details on the collision and what was replaced because they had a option "ask us what you want to know about the car"

heres the car i put new rims and headlights on






i bought it a year ago and has been working flawless. Been changing the oil every 3000 miles with lucas where it puts the honeycomb layer on top.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

im in the same situation. but i bought the car new and had someone plow into the rear and cause $8k in damages (car was worth $10k at the time so they fixed it). still has salvage title and yes nobody will buy it now but i have too much work and parts in it that i wouldnt sell anyway. even in good shape its still only worth around $5k or so. i dont even think its worth selling after 10 yrs. the value just drops too low. if its in good working order thats all that matters. not worth worrying about that stuff because in the end its a hunk of metal on wheels that gets you around town lol.

BlueEM2

iTrader: (1)

That's a great looking car man... It's hard to tell but is that OEM paint? I know there was a red but I didn't think it was quite like that.

GreenMachineDX

Well, i think for 85k miles for 4.9k is a ok deal.. U should gotten it for 3.9k...

lowlife9

idk 2001 lx with 85,000 miles with a clean title should have been around 5 grand from a private seller.

GreenMachineDX

Well, yea i got mines salvage title and it had 65k, i got it for 4k plus parts came out 5k flat.. U got to be really careful when u buy damaged vehicles.. U see mines just rolled 121k, never done anything to it except change oil.. Now this cat is my first problem i ever had in this car..

And if u buying a car for urself and never sell it then salvage is for u, if u know how to test the car out before buying it.. But, to sell salvage title cars its not a good thing to do cuz u prolly can make more money by selling parts off of it, rather than selling the whole car..

But, what i would do, if i was in ur place, i would ask the guy to show me a pics when the car was damaged..

amamdani15

how could it have been hit/savaged and not show up on the carfax? was the carfax just not updated by the time you checked it? im just curious, maybe next time i buy a car ill put it in the contract, "if i find out that the carfax updated AFTER i buy the car and the seller doesn't tell me about the issue then i have the right to take the car back."

also, that was a horrible deal. id try to take that guy to court. i bought a salvage 04 VP last year with rear end damage that had been fixed (whole new axle was put in and everything) and i paid 3.8k, imo even that was a little high but i could have easily resold it the next day for 5k in my area.

Civicnoobie

Yep OeM.

I did bring him down 600 and didnt bother with more because when i saw it i fell in love with it and was too caught up in the excitement. Bad move.

GreenMachineDX

Just let its be ur lesson.. Next time u go buy the car..

Now just check the bolts and for any cracks on the side of ur car where u think its been hit.. And check bolts is it missing any... Then after that just change ur oil every 3k...

jono237

i dont know the limitations but im pretty sure that carfax has a buyback so technically they'd buy the car back from you because they didn't catch the salvage/rebuild title but i dont know if theres a time frame you'd have to do it in but worth a check. good luck id just drive it til it dies personally if theres nothing wrong with it now.

BlueEM2

iTrader: (1)

Check to make sure your air bags are intact.. That's usually one thing that gets "skipped" during a rebuild.

GreenMachineDX

Like, i said check for any missing parts, The best way to do this is jack ur car up and check under...

SpeedDownZone

I think almost 5k for a 01 lx is kind of steep. I recently bought a 07 gli with 26k on it for 3.5k no frame damage only needed two doors for about $500(ebay) a rear view mirror which cost about another $500 from the dealership because it was auto dim and rain sensor. And a seat airbag and overhead airbag(ebay also). Oh and paper work which was about $450 so it kind of adds up quick for the person who is fixing it. I still have the airbag light on so that is another $400 for that when ever i decide to fix that. Only reason i bought the car was because I liked the 08 gli my buddy had but he sold it by the time i had the money. And the people who did the paper work form penndot valued it at $16,500.

It all depends on how bad the accident is. And most importantly who is fixing it. But listen its your car only you know your cars problems if any and if your happy with your car forget about it and enjoy it. Just take this time to learn from experience thats all. Only time this will affect you is if you want to sell it.

mocagold

Just to help you out in the future because i see people selling and buying rebuilt or "branded title" cars all the time now days. If done right it can be a good deal but unfortunately the guy you purchased from didn't know. He should have because he or the bank needed to have the title which would say it's rebuilt. That's something they wouldn't have missed so the carfax excuse seems really thin. It's illegal to sell a branded title and not disclose it.

but what i wanted to say was, i know some of the auto makes (i don't know if all do) they stamp the vin onto all the parts of the vehicle. So if the hood, bumper, door, engine don't match up you know it's been replaced, that's what the people over at www.autosourcemotors.net explained. They might be able to give you more information for you situation since they specialize in rebuilt title cars, so i bet thy know a lot more then most people. I would really see what you could do about it though even if you are planning to keep it

green01civic

Here's an idea for anyone else shopping for a car now or in the future...

Use AutoCheck instead of CarFax while car hunting (they offer Unlimited searches for 30 days, unlike CarFax), and then get their Title Insurance immediately when you buy the car you want (it covers you as long as you own the car if/when you find out something happened, and is transferable for 120 days). This way, if you find out later the title was messed around with, you're covered.

BUT CarFax has a buyback guarantee too (just not unlimited searches, so I don't like them as much), you just have to register the car within 90 days of your CarFax. Details here: http://www.carfax.com/manifest/bbg/termsConditions.cfx (It's good for 1 year from registration, and also transferable).

If you are really paranoid, you could always use AutoCheck for their unlimited searches, get a CarFax to double check when you're really sure about a car, then get the AutoCheck Title Insurance when you buy it.