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i am new to the forum and have started searching for my first corvette. I have looked at an 01 C5Z that is immaculent in and out with 75K miles. The problem is it has a rebuilt title from a mild damage to the side. No frame damage or panels replace.
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
C5 of Year Winner (performance mods) 2019
personally I would never buy a car with a salvage title unless it was intended to be used for a race car only... the resale value drops significantly in case you ever intended to sell it and you likely wouldn't get much help from the insurance company if you ever had to file a claim
Personally, I would never buy an R title car unless it was for a race car only purpose. I banged up a car once and it was never the same. If you bought the car and needed/wanted to sell it later on, I think you may have a difficult time selling it. I have no personal experience with this but I have read/heard it can be difficult to obtain insurance on an R title car.
Where are you located? It is easier to register a car with a salvage title in some states but in places like NY...you better have every single piece of paperwork and detailed documentation of every step of the repair or you're fucked. This guy in my neighborhood bought a salvage titled WS6 from PA a while back. It had no paperwork. After about a year of trying (and failing) to get it registered he finally dumped it.
It all would depend on what you plan to do with it if you buy it. How much below market is it priced for starters. if you are one to buy something and sell it within a year or two, I'd stay away from it. if you keep your cars and your available cash is low, might be worth a chance on it. Some states force a rebuild/salvage title based on dollar cost of damage. Other force Carfax entries for any damage over $500(MO) With our cars even a light tap is over $500!!! Good luck- great idea to ask others like this before making any decisions
all depends on the price. if you can get in it cheap AND the car is otherwise nice, this last part is the usual disclaimer. many salvage titles have some kind of issue. either in the repair or how they were treated. if it's the rare clean one they usually fetch about 60-70 cents on the dollar vs clean
the only similar car i have seen trade was also an 01z with a salvage title and 90k miles which went for 10k. i never inspected the car so i have no idea on it's condition. in most cases you're FAR better off paying for a well maintained garaged car that needs little to no work. better resale and much cheaper in the long run. parts are expensive
personally I would never buy a car with a salvage title unless it was intended to be used for a race car only... the resale value drops significantly in case you ever intended to sell it and you likely wouldn't get much help from the insurance company if you ever had to file a claim
Agreed. Would be a good buy for a dedicated track car, that you intend to put a cage in, weight reduction etc. I would never buy a salvage title for a driver.
I'm kind of against the grain here. Back many years ago when 350z's were selling for 13-17k I bought a fully loaded touring model for $8000 with a rebuilt title. 3 years of driving the **** out of it I sold it for 7500 despite third gear starting to grind.
Most at people are terrified of losing resale value, but fail to realize that the person who wrecked the car takes the big hit on resale, then all future owners aren't really impacted aside from getting a cheaper car (assuming proper repair.)
i would say I made out better than my friend, who bought one for $14k at the same time, then sold it for $9k a few years later.
I'm kind of against the grain here. Back many years ago when 350z's were selling for 13-17k I bought a fully loaded touring model for $8000 with a rebuilt title. 3 years of driving the **** out of it I sold it for 7500 despite third gear starting to grind.
Most at people are terrified of losing resale value, but fail to realize that the person who wrecked the car takes the big hit on resale, then all future owners aren't really impacted aside from getting a cheaper car (assuming proper repair.)
i would say I made out better than my friend, who bought one for $14k at the same time, then sold it for $9k a few years later.
that's IF you can get that deal. if the OP could get this z06 for 8-9k and it was in fairly decent shape..sure. that makes sense. most the c5's and c6s that are salvage that i have seen are priced way too high and only a couple grand off clean. those are what i would push people to run from.
yet another issue with the c5 is most get totaled when wrecked to the point you have a title change so when they are hit hard enough to salvage a guy wonders if it was backyard repaired and by who
flood and theft recovery cars are two of the more common on the market, each has it's own issue
i still think the single smartest c5 thing i ever did was pay more for a nice well maintained car to start with. it's been easy to own and drive, easy to maintain, no issues.
a cheap car can be the most expensive thing you ever own
You guys seriously need to get out of this "I have always heard this, so this must be true." Rut that you're in.
Getting a rebuilt car insured is as easy as calling insurance and putting the car on your insurance. The nicest foxbody mustang I've ever seen is salvaged, and currently sits with $20,000 agreed value unlimited miles.
Dont just flat out run away, make an informed decision. OP clearly stated no frame damage, if everything checks out the car will likely be as reliable as any c5.
I didnt want a salvage title c5z, and I refused to buy one when I was buying mine. This is because when I bought mine, spending 6-10k more wasn't an issue so I bought the best car I could find.
Too many potential issues to be dealt with, not worth the risk. I clearly do not understand why someone would encourage the purchase, when there so many other issue free z's out there. But, in the end it's your money. Spend it wisely...
Too many potential issues to be dealt with, not worth the risk. I clearly do not understand why someone would encourage the purchase, when there so many other issue free z's out there. But, in the end it's your money. Spend it wisely...
Once again, you're in the "I was always told not to buy if car had accident/rebuilt title so i will not ever buy if accident or rebuilt title or rained on or more than 1000 miles." club. This is fine, but keep in mind that not everyone is you.
Reread my story about my 350z and tell me that I made a mistake by buying that rebuilt car, while my friend made the correct decision by buying a clean title car. I've got news for you: neither one of us made a mistake. I spent substantially less money for the same car, and when I sold it I took a much smaller loss in depreciation. My car was proven to be just as quick around a track, and actually had fewer repairs up until third gear started to grind at 135k hard miles.
A rebuilt car CAN BE as good or more reliable than a clean car while saving a person a ton of money. That isn't arguable, once again refer to my 350z tale. Keep in mind my z was also the touring model, while his was the enthusiast (just above base)
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2001 Z06 question
when there so many other issue free z's out there. But, in the end it's your money. Spend it wisely...
