Hey guys, i got a question about cars with rebuilt titles. Most of the Z's im looking at have rebuilt titles but does that always mean that theyve been totaled or majorly damaged or can it just be from like a fender bender?

This guy has a great car that im very interested in buying but it has a rebuilt title but he said it was only because he was hit and the front left fender was hit and he went ahead and replaced the whole front and he said there was no engine damage or any internal damage and the car runs smooth and perfect. He said he had just taken a vacation to new york in it and it drives like a champ, opinions? is he telling the truth or am i missing something here? I live in florida btw

 

Rebuilt or salvage titles usually mean the insurance company totaled the car.

 

Do you mean the insurance company filed it as total, but the car wasnt actually totaled or that the car was completely totaled.. Because everyone ive talked to said that rebuilt doesnt always mean the car was totaled and it could have been some ******** that the insurance filed it as.

 

My car was totaled by flooding. Insurance company gave me a bundle of money & were going to send the car to an auction. I liked my car & it was never in an accident so I bought it before the auction. Had the car rewired & the car now runs great. Since it was fresh water, the car has no sign of it ever being under water.

Now when you buy a car that was totaled by an accident, you got to be much more carefull. The owner should have pictures of the car after an accident. Have the photos & car checked by professional body shops. A few might be worth buying, most I would't touch. Never buy a salt water flooded car. Good luck..

 

IMHO, at the rate that Z's are depreciating you can find some 03's starting in the 6's... Might as well get one of those.

 

I agree here…but if you can find a salvaged Z for a ridiculous low price, you don't mind the salvaged title(meaning you arent going to sell it for any profit) and you know the history then I don't see why not.

 

Generally speaking, if the repairs are more than 80% of the car's value, the insurance company totals the car.

 

Rebuilt title can happen for a few things.
A few main ones are if the car gets repoed, car damages are more than half the cars KBB worth, or if it's been totaled.
If it's been totaled, steer clear. Frame damage is never a good thing.
If it's the fact that the damages were more than half, it's a good deal. Because you get salvaged price for a normal car lol. For example, if you get your entire car keyed and they have to repaint the entire car, of course you want it done as professional as possible. Your cost is gonna be around $4,000-5,000. If your car is KBBed at $8,500, you get a rebuilt title.
If it's just been repoed buy the car no questions, best deal you can get haha
Make sure you check with carfax tho because it'll have the cars history on why it's a rebuilt title

 

The state the car was insured in makes a difference as well. Without looking it up exactly, I believe that NC requires repairs in excess of 75% of the total value of the car to be totaled/salvage/rebuilt, PA on the other hand requires something like only 25%. Learned this little quirk when a tree fell on a NC truck in PA. The body shop was quite surprised it wasn't totaled out.

 

Nothing bad with rebuilt title. Just look at everything 3x.

 

Thanks a lot, everyones been very helpful. Hopefully ill get to drive this car sunday

 

one more thing you need to look into before you buy a rebuilt/salvage title.
if you want full coverage... not many insurance will offer it. but if they do, it will be a lot of money.

from my experience... i had a 350z rebuilt title.
frame damaged... got it straighten... drove pass 145mph+ no problem.

as other stated above... know what was wrong and done with the car before you take over some1's headache. don't be hasty.

good luck OP.

 

It seems that the sales documents are missing some necessary information.

 

And ten years from now, we still won't know if it was purchased.

Nor care ten years since he asked.