My friend just recently purchased a brand new $50k BMW for $18k from an insurance auction. It was marked for flood damage with the level marker at the floorboards. I was apprehensive that this would be a huge risk, but ended up being only one computer wire that needed re-attaching and he got it serviced at BMW for nothing because the low mileage put it under warranty (of course, he didn’t tell them how he purchased).
This got me thinking why aren’t more people doing this in the current market? Seems like it could be a good solution. Curious to know if anyone else has experience buying this way and what was the outcome longterm?
First of all, not all car auctions allow entry to the general public. My neighbor has a dealer’s license so he gets to go to dealers only auctions in MA
Second of all, I am not even sure if a bank will finance a car with a salvage title.
Aside from the obvious issues with a flooded car or wrecked car with a salvage title. Even without a salvage title they could be written off by insurance and the cars becomes worth about what you pay for it. So if you go this route its your car for a long time until you find another sucker.
I am currently chasing a stolen salvage trackhawk.
Exactly the right question. And the answer is “because it is not that easy.” If it were, do you really think insurance companies would be taking a bath on them just for kicks?
The warranty probably isn’t applicable, my assumption is that all the data from the insurance company to the CLUE report to the interface with BMW probably hasn’t made its way through the full system yet. If it has and wasn’t picked up then congrats to the OP.
I’m currently a happy owner of an ‘08 Ls460 with rebuilt title. Bought the car for $13k close to 6 years ago (89k miles) and we’re currently at ~180k. Couple minor issues along the way, but nothing out of the ordinary. Heck, even the famous brake actuator is holding up (now that I mentioned it, it’ll probably crap out). The key? Bought it from a cousin who has a body shop and saw the damage BEFORE repairs (no airbag deployment). The car is probably worth more as a parts car at this moment, but we’ll probably keep driving it until the wheels fall off. Over the years, I’ve had many cars with rebuilt titles and only one turned out to be a complete junk (coincidently bought it off the street - I was young and stupid).
This is a good example of how you knew what you were doing, how to do it, and had realistic expectations. I’m sure you had your growing/learning pains… but won’t you say working with salvage/rebuilt vehicles are not for the general populace?
As long as you know what you’re getting yourself into (by buying a rebuilt titled car), you should be ok. No, there is no manufacturer warranty (unless you get lucky and the “paperwork” doesn’t get processed quickly enough). No, your car is not worth anywhere close to what the same clean titled car is worth (but hopefully you paid substantially less for it). No, you can’t just trade it in when you get bored with it - no sane dealer is going to take it in on a trade (or if he does, he’ll give you 10 cents on a dollar). Generally, you buy one and drive it for a very long time, preferably till the proverbial wheels fall off.
