Question I'm currently in the market for a VW GTI that is 2003 or newer. I have come across a seller who has a 2003 20th anniversary edition gti with 58,000 miles on it. He is only asking for $10.5k which is a good $4k or so lower than KBB (from what I can find). However, the catch is that it was in an accident and after being repaired had to get a rebuild title in California. I believe he did a lot of the work himself with the help of his father who owns a garage and has worked with VW's for 30 years. The car has no front end damage and airbags did not deploy. Just the axle bent, control arm, rim, fender, grille had to be fixed. He has pictures of before and after repair to show damage. The car is now in perfect condition from what I can tell and he is willing to get it reinspected for me before I buy. He isn't sketchy about the car and is willing to do whatever I would like to prove the quality of the rebuild.
I am a college student with limited funds so a car like this that falls into my price range is very tempting. I would like to know what sort of things I can do to make sure that this car is tip-top-as-good-as-new shape. I don't know if I'll be able to check the car personally before buying (I'm not local to CA) so how does that come into play. Also how does a rebuilt title affect trade-in value. I'm just wondering what hoops I should jump through to make sure this is a good buy. Thanks
Answer1) Kelley Blue Book (KBB) prices are optimistically high to start. Try getting a value on the car through Edmunds.com; their numbers are far more realistic.
2) With a bent axle and control arm on a VW, keep in mind that you'll most likely NEVER get a true alignment on this car. Even if it tracks straight and true down the road, you'll probably have uneven tire wear (not to mention premature wear on related suspension parts) for the life of the car.
3) If the car's in California and you're not, then you need to find someone in CA to look the car over for you. As nice as it may look in the photos, I can't imagine buying ANY car without looking at it first. Any friends or family in CA that are familiar enough with cars that can check it out for you?
4) Although there's no set percentage as to how much the "rebuilt" title will affect the cars value, it will be significant. Every website/ author/ magazine/ expert out there tells the general public to NEVER buy a car with a rebuilt or salvage title.
The fact that the owner has before-and-after photos of the damage/repair, and is upfront about it is good, even unusual. But buying a car like this is still a risk. How do you know that the photos aren't from ANOTHER accident, and that a far more serious crash resulted in the rebuilt title? And if this guy and his dad did the work themselves, then how did CA motor vehicles find out about the accident in the first place? I've seen several cars with serious damage that were repaired this way (by the owner, with no reports to any government agencies), and nothing about rebuilt or salvage ever appeared on the title.
