I grew up in Southern Michigan, I & many of my friends, neighbors, and relatives worked in the various auto plants in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Believe me when I say... quality was NOT "job one"! When the buzzer sounds, handfulls of screws were dumped in quarter panels. Poor body panel alignment. Missing fasteners. One guy in town bought a new car and found the side marker light held in with masking tape... no screws at all. It`s hard for me to believe that the Corvette plant was a lot different than all the others in that respect.
Doesn`t the Corvette Restoration Guide even point out that poor fit, runs & orange peel in the paint, and poor coverage on the lower portions of body panels was "normal"?

 

 

Most people know good restoration are better than factory assembly, factory plant workers even will say it,

Jim started his project on a car many would have said run from, yet the title was clean and clear,
Now he has a jewel, people do make jewels from all kinds of starting points,
That one guy on here built a stunning bb car from a burnt up car, i am still amazed at

And i love a nice survivor i like them in many cases more than restorations but i see each unbised for what they are...and arent...

 

So more on point to the OP question.... as some have mentioned, a salvage or rebuilt title MAY not mean much. You`d have to know the individual circumstances of that particular vehicle. Most here who would shy away seem to be concerned more about re-sale value, whereas it may have value to others as a "builder / driver" that they intend to keep.
I personally still can`t help seeing a "flood" car as much more than parts only though.

 

Jim,
I get mistaken or what i say taken out of context

I agree with pretty much everyone who wouldnt want a blem title, as far as I respect their reasons if legit but it gets a bit grey and fuzzy for me when then a few want to write off a blem title as the car automatically being junk or sub standard cut in stone only because of that title blem when we all know that there are some horrible c3s that will never be more than parts cars with non blem titles, the blem title doesnt in and of itself automatically mean anything past the car had something happen to it and can be bought cheaper so it will have to be sold cheaper.
Inspections and research are needed.

A great example is a custom 68 i would like to own,
Now the entire rear suspension is spray bombed silver, rubber bushing and all,
Who knows why but most all would call that hack job,
It likely has zero to do with the blemished title the car has,
But when the price doesn't reflect that or the blem title the car doesnt sell,

Flood damage is one reason a title could be blemished but i cant help but believe that a flood car would be pretty apparent even to the less car savvy,

I believe the thing i might have been vauge on is what would keep me from buying a c3 wouldnt be a blem title it would be the condition of said car and price and since it had a blem title the price needs to reflect that,

You wouldnt have paid 25k for your car the way it sat when you towed it home? the condition had to be reflected in price,

The black blem title 80 posted, 8500, not with a blem title, try 3k
Sad but true.....then someone got a great price on a car to go drive.

A blem title doesnt make a car junk the car, its condition makes it junk or nice...exception, no matter how nice the car is to some guys they would say alans or vbs 69 are junk to them IF those cars had blem titles...so i get it,

 

Close for review

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Thread cleaned and reopened. Try to stay away from conflict guys. If you aren’t interested in the thread, go on to a different one.

 

Why? A full wiring harness is cheap. Carpets cheap. I'd buy an old flooded car with minimal electrics before I'd buy one that been wrecked.

 

The best reply in a single sentence was.

paraphrasing

"a rebuilt title car is the exact opposite of a no excuses car"

Let that sink in

 

You may need to buy new door panels and seat upholstery as well. Possibly gauges, they could rust internally? The car could be salvaged but may be rather expensive.

In the end, given the stigma attached to these cars, you may find a small pool of buyers who will take the chance of buying without fear of being stuck with the car. Doesn't give you much of a budget to work with.

 

I just put all new wiring front to rear, not what I`d consider cheap. And as BB says, when you add wiring to everything else, it adds up quick.

 

Cheaper to buy, less money when selling..a push.
The caveat is cheaper or not (as witnessed here), there will be less potential buyers.

For a late model DD anything, it wouldn't bother me, providing it passes my inspection, and my intention was to keep it for 10 yrs plus.

 

When I took my Corvette for a test drive it rattled like a bucket of bolts. It really put me off and I almost didn't buy it. After getting it home and replacing a broken driver's side door handle we found several pieces of metal in the driver's door. We removed those and all the rattles and squeaks were gone.

A few months prior to buying that car I spoke to a guy about his 78 he was selling for 7000. What I liked about it was the colour changing purple to blue paint job which is pretty pricey. The owner told me it had a rebuilt title because it had been stolen and recovered. The title didn't concern me. When I asked the owner if the car had A/C he said he didn't know despite having owned the car for a few years and living in Arizona. That seemed very strange and spooked me from further considering the car. If it hadn't been for that I would have been very interested in that car.

 

I've bought cars with rebuilt titles. Depends on the shape of the car and how bad you want it. You can get some really good deals on rebuilt titles. If you're a car person and know the ins and outs of an automobile you can tell whether the car is worth the effort. I read once that insurance companies determine whether to salvage a car or not by how much spare parts are worth. It's said that if parts come to 75% of the cost of the car they will salvage it. If you're buying one for a quick flip, rebuilt titles wouldn't be for you.