I wanted this 98 S14, but it had a salvage title

[twelve]

Hi. I've spent the past week browsing and reading through the forum and have become more and more convinced to get a 240sx. Been looking for a car since my old 90 Mazda MX-6 got hit and totaled while I was PARKED on the street...

Anyway, to the point: I found this 98 S14 for sale, SE, ~40k miles, mostly stock I think, for $8000. Seemed like a VERY good deal to me so I went to take a look, test drive, etc. Well, I was falling more and in love with the car when I found out the catch: it's a rebuilt vehicle, has had salvage title. The seller assures me that it was minor damage to the left rear of the car and it had no structural damage. I don't know much more detail than that, unfortunately. Well, it looked REAL GOOD to me, the test drive felt good too, but I very much a newbie and wouldn't be able to tell if anything was wrong, so I pretty much feel resigned to not buying the car because of the salvage.

So anyway, I came back here to the forums, and looked through the old posts -- one in particular made me feel even less interested in the car, Daunttless (the "King" I've learnt to "hail to") says the 240sx doesn't take too well to minor damage (threadid=3731). Still, there seem to be quite a few of you who buy wrecked cars and fix them up, but less has been said about buying rebuilt cars from dealers.

So I just wanted to see what people thought about salvage cars in general, and whether the price $8000 is reasonable... Sorry for the long post.

[blink0r]

I'm not totally sure, but here's my opinion.

Buying a wrecked car and fixing it yourself will save you money and will most likely be a better rebuilt car than one you buy from a dealership.

Most dealerships cut corners in rebuilding to earn the biggest possible profit.

I'd stay away from it, sadly enough. Unless you want to take it to a legit, government run body shop (SGI here in saskatchewan) to get it looked at.

[ninjak84]

I too would stay away from it.The reason is the frame of the car is probably damaged, and theres so many things wrong with that.

[MaineExport]

I'd stay away from it, sadly enough. Unless you want to take it to a legit, government run body shop (SGI here in saskatchewan) to get it looked at.

You have government run body shops in Canada!!! WOW, you learn something new everyday. What the hell are they for? Why does the government have a hand in the auto repair business??

[AZhitman]

Add to that the fact that you can't get full (collision) coverage on a salvage car and it's a bad idea. Plus, I think the price is WAY too high considering its history. Minor (or major) alignment problems are highly likely and won't show up until it's too late.

Remember, it was TOTALLED. Which means the damage EXCEEDED the value of the car (so the seller LIED - not minor damage).

[PalmerWMD]

Take it to a good alignment and/or body shop and see what they say.

Many states employ a fixed # of dollars by which they consider a vehicle a salvage (not alwasy the same as a total).That number can be as low as $3000.

Considering the prices of some parts it ,may not take all that much to make a car a "salvage" title.

Certainly he has to come down on his price tho for you to consider it.The value of the vehicle is certainly very much reduced.

Fred...

[UncleBen]

it seriously seems like too good of a car to pass up, just because of the low miles, etc. etc. but since the 240 is notorious for wasy frame damage in collisions, if it was totaled, almost guaranteed frame damage. just like all the other guys said, take it to a good body shop that you would trust to not lie to you or anything, and see what they say about it. sounds like a nice car