I was just e-bay surfing and found this car. I am not interested in it. But someone else may. If the frames not tweaked it would probably be a decent car if the price stays down.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/04-Z0...QQcmdZViewItem

 

Caveat Emptor ......

The seller says it is "light all around accident damage" .... so how come the insurance company declared the vehicle a "total loss" and paid it off ??? Something's not right with this story .....

 

Thanks for the post. Buyer beware. My Z had way less visible damage when it got hit in the rear at 10mph. The metal bumper under the rear cover was smashed, and the trunk pan was cracked. To replace the trunk pan the roof had to come off. It was over 10K in damages. If you're doing it yourself thats great, but if you're paying someone else be prepared to spend some money. I'm guestimating in the 20K range to fix. Also the tailpipes on that car have been pushed, indicating either a new muffler(titanium) or pipe damage, the rear 1/4 panels etc...The nose, hood( which is carbon fiber$$$) and front 1/4 panels need to replace also, under the 1/4panels it looks like the wheel wells are cracked also. Just be careful.

 

I would never in a million years buy that car. It's at 14k and reserve is not met, I mean, how much does this person thinks it's going to take to fix. Easily 20k to fix and thats puts you at 34k assuming the reserve was already met which is not. Not to mention, you'll have a total loss on your carfax forever. With 34k you will find very nice clean z's around with no prior accidents. If the reserve is met, someone will be in for some serious cash loss unless of course he has all the parts sitting in his garage and can do the work himself.

 

I wouldn't do it, especially after reading the posts above

 

A rare 04 CF hood damaged

 

To total this car the damage had to be in excess of 20K, as George said. You can poke holes in fiberglass and it doesn't look too bad but all of the supporting frame bend and stay bent. The carbon fiber hood can't be fixed and it takes a hell of a shot to set off an air bag. After fixing all the problems, even if you can do it yourself, you have a car with a salvage title. That won't be a problem if you plan to be burried in it but if you think that you will ever sell it... forget it. That said, this is a good car to part out, if your in that business.

 

My first thought was that it might be worth it to someone to part it out. The going bid is over $12k, so I doubt you'd be able to get that out of it. I'll bid $24.72, and I'll cover shipping. Anyone have the number to UPS?

 

WHAT IS A 04 Z06, (5K MILES AND LIKE NEW), CF HOOD WORTH ?

 

off a Z16? hard to say. Not many of them pop up for sale used.

I'd be interested in one though.

 

Car would be a great track car candidate

 

It doesn't look that bad to me. What's most important is 1) is there any frame damage whatsoever? Add just says what "appears" to be 2) What are the things that need to be done to make this street legal?

If I could have bought a Z like this for $14k with a certified undamaged frame, already completely street legal, I would buy it and drive it that way. Put a front bumper on it and drive for $15k or so. Makes a nice track car. Of course, a good corvette mechanic in my employ would have to agree and independently access the frame & mechanical condtion.

It can't go for much more than high teens because of resale--even if you fix it, it always has a salvage title.

 

one nice thing about it. You can park up front in store parking lots and not worry about someones door or shopping carts hitting it and scratching it. We park ours in the back forty at stores to avoid the rash. Its a bit of a pain.

 

This is what I was thinking..... not good for resale but to cut up as a all out race car it could be a great starting platform.

 

the cracked wheel well sets off all the red flags for me. with no impact damage on the front right of the car, the only way that could have happened is if the wheel went right up into it. such as nailing a curb at highway speed. I would expect to see a twisted frame on this car. what a shame

 

YES OFF OF #1558, Z16, I HAVE NOT DECIDED TO KEEP OR SELL YET. I INSTALLED A MAGGIE WITH A MCM CF HOOD.

 

Arrrrggghh.. those pics just make me twitch..

Gotta wonder wtf he hit, or hit him.. or if he had fun doing it .. whatever it was, it hit hard on the PS fender ..

I dunno if the CF hood is repairable, reasonably anyway.

 

Based on the location of the car it may be Contemporary Corvettes selling the car. They advertise each month in both Vette and Corvette Fever and are an excellent supplier of used parts. They also specialize in rebuildable corvettes. You really need to assess the car correctly (see it in person and have a knowledgeable body repair person with you) to know how much to pay for it.

As for why the insurance company totaled the car maybe the owner insisted on it. He would have been in the command position if another driver was responsible for the accident.

Bill

 

Bill, don't know about your policy, but mine allows no provision for me to decide when to total the car.

The car in the ad (before the accident) is worth at least $30,000 and insurance companies "total" a car when the repair cost is more than 80 percent of the car's value. In this case, the insurance company had to have decided the cost of repairs is MORE THAN $24,000 ....

My girlfriend recently "totaled" her Pontiac, so I'm quite familiar with how the insurance companies deal with this. I was surprised initially that it was "totalled", but after talking to the body shop guys, quickly came to understand that, for example, the body shop's in my area's rule of thumb is $5,000 JUST for the two airbags and SDM ... which includes labor, dashboard damage, steering wheel cover (and other parts in it) damage, often a cracked windshield ... turns what looks like "no big deal" into an expensive one pretty quickly. Another example ... the car in the ad posted above is gonna need a full repaint with all that body work ... another $5,000 (or more) right there .... so we're at $10k and haven't even started to repair the actual damage.

If I damage my $30,000 car, and say the damage is $5,000 .... the insurance company will NOT "total" the car, no matter how much I insist. At best, they'll give me a check for the $5,000 and if I'm not happy with the car, it is up to me to sell it, repaired or not. NO WAY an insurance company is gonna "total" a car with, say, $5,000 in damage to it when the car is worth $30,000, they understand the issues involved in a salvage title and what that does to the re-sale value. They're not gonna take the hit ... they'll pay you for the damage and walk.

Again, maybe your policy allows you to control when the vehicle is a "write-off" ... but I'm not sure I'd like to be paying your premiums ....