Auto body repair & detailing: VW GLI Repair, occupant safety, salvage title


Question
I'm thinking of purchasing a damaged car at a local auction site. It's on their
website, and shows a small picture of the damage. It's a 2006 VW jetta GLI
(w/ opt. pck. 2) The site claims it has front end damage due to theft. I'm
wondering if I were to purchase this car, which would auction off for probably
around $6,000, what I can expect to pay for VW parts/repairs. I know it wont
be the cheapest car to rebuild, but do you have any idea what it would be? I
also am sorry for not knowing exactly what's damaged and what's not. I
copied the small pictures address, so maybe you can look at it and tell from
the picture - I can only see it's mostly the driver's side that's gone.

Picture Link:

https://www.iaai-bid.com/getimage.aspx?imagetype=1&imageid=27500660

Thank you.

Answer
There is a reason that this car was totaled- the cost of repairs exceeds 3/4 of the value of the car. That makes  having this repaired a costly, foolish endeavor- unless you are a certified body man, and can do all the repairs yourself. Those are the people who make money on repairing totals-  the general public almost never buy and pay to have totals repaired. This car obviously needs unibody repair, as well as having had both air bags deployed. I don't do online estimates, if you read my bios- especially from a 1 inch by 1 inch photo. Just a wild guess? 5,000.00 to 15,000.00. Don't make a costly mistake, and purchase a car if you have no clue what it takes to repair it. A vehicle with a salvage title  has a book value of about half of one that has never been rebuilt. Lastly, salvaged cars are also void of any warranties from the factory, or even eligible for a warranty by independent warranty companies. If there is ever any sort of recall, your car will not be included, and the factory will be under no obligation to ever do any recall work, no matter what it is- bad trannies, fire hazards, occupant safety- nothing. Buyer beware, my friend. Bill