QuestionI am thinking of buying a 2005 ford Focus (37K) that has a rebuilt title for $5,000. The seller does not know what happened to the vehicle prior to his owning it (or he does not want to tell me)but claims it has given him no problems. If I have it checked out by a mechanic and it passes his inspection, would you recommend buying it?
AnswerRobert,
Thanks for your question. I appreciate the opportunity to help you make this decision.
I would caution you to two things before you make your decison. I will give you my advice, but ultimately the decision is yours and should be made after some thorough investigation on your part.
The first option you need pursue is pulling a carfax report at carfax.com. This report will cost you very little money, but give you very valuable information. The carfax report will tell you exactly what is wrong with the vehicle to cause it to have a rebuilt title. More than likely the vehicle was involved in a collison where the insurance company totaled the vehicle. It was then sold for salvage or an indivdual or a company bought it and did all of the body work and mechanical work to make the vehicle saleable. This would present two problems to you. First a vehicle is NEVER the same after a substancial wreck has been repaired. You will encounter problems with it, although they may not be serious problems, you need to enter the process expecting problems. Remember the old saying, expect the worse, hope for the best. The second problem that it would create for you is that the vehicle is pratically worthless. I am not sure where you are located, but I can assure that a 2005 Ford Focus with 37K in miles is barely worth more than $5000 without the rebuilt/salvage title. I would say that the vehicle is worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $8000 to $10000 depending on the vehicles condition. Do you think that a rebuilt/salvage title only de-values a vehicle $3000 to $5000? I personally don't think so. I think the vehicle is worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $4000 with that rebuilt/salvage title.
The second thing that I would caution you on is what the seller is telling you. Remember the seller is trying to sell something to you. Unfortunatley we have some dishonest people in this world, and they will do anything to make a sale. I find it hard to believe that this seller doesn't know the history of this vehicle. Where did he buy it from? Did he not ask any questions when he bought it? The seller obviously isn't the orignial owner because they would deffinetly know what the situation is. That would concern me if I was the one purchasing the vehicle. Knowledge is power, and before spending that kind of money I would want to know the whole story.
Having your mechanic check it out is always something I recommend even if you purchase the vehicle from a dealer. Anytime you purchase a pre-owned vehicle, I certainly always would have a mechanic check it out.
As to whether or not you should buy it, well that is obviously up to you. I would ask what your intentions are with the vehicle. Are you buying it just as an inexpensive commuter car, or a primary vehicle. Do you plan on re-selling it sometime in the near future, being 2 to 3 years. If that is the case, then expect not to get your money back out of it. If you plan on keeping it, just make sure that you have money set up to replace something should something break. You more than likely will not be able to get an extended warranty on the vehicle, or it won't cover anything if you do. Read the fine print if you are choosing to get one, because I can almost gurantee you that somewhere in there it will not cover a vehicle that has been salvaged or rebuilt.
Ultimaltly it is your decision. If you do your research and you feel comfortable about it, then go for it. I would consider the alternatives as well though. You have $5000 and can find a good dependable vehicle that isn't salvaged/rebuilt for that kind of money, or a little more.
I hope this kind of answers your question. I know it was long, but I wanted to you to be very clear of the dangers that you are POTENTIALLY getting into here.
I thank you for your question, and if you have any more, please feel free to ask again.
Thanks -
Jeremy
