more good news with my car(sarcasim)

[Dave]

Salvage titles are a bunch of bulshit.

My mothers 95 M3 has a branded title "Previous damage in the state of California"

Some previous owner rearended someone (how do you manage to do that with those M binders?) anyways... the bumper cover, bumper, both fenders, and hood are new DOT-R replacements. The nose panel is the original one! I don't see how that is worthy of a branded title... the only damage beyond that is the front bumper carriers (that extend off the frame) were crumpled back about 6 inches. They were pulled out properly and are now mint.

A lot of cars get them that should not. Looking at the CarFax on 318Driver's car, it only shows one wreck - apparently a minor to moderate one. It may have been unfairly branded.

Carfax can be great, but it can suck, too. I had a Voyager van that was hit on the front right by an old lady who pulled out of a prking lot in front of me. I had had the van about a month. Two years later, a neighbor opened her car door when parked on the street just as I passed her parked car and she scraped up the side. While the first wreck required replacement of the fender, headlight and grille, it did no real structural damage. The second wreck was purely scraped up paint.

I go to sell the van this year and Carfax has two "warning" accident indicators on it. I actually had one guy try to argue the value of the van based on the "damage" it had. It was a meticulously maintained '94 Voyager with 135k and a newly rebuilt heads. It was worth about 2k at best as it was very clean, and he was looking to offer 500 bucks because of the "history".

Disbaling wrecks, rollovers, frame damage I get. But I think Carfax unfairly penalizes people, especially when you have minor damage - and especially when the damage is not your fault and insurance will not pay for diminished value, just repair costs.

[Rob]

thats really the point of carfax, to make people feel informed. Its not suprising that they lower their standards so as to justify their existence...if they only made remarks about justified title trouble, a lot more carfax reports would be clean. the more that are clean, the less people trust them, the fewer they sell. Get my drift?

[Dave]

thats really the point of carfax, to make people feel informed. Its not suprising that they lower their standards so as to justify their existence...if they only made remarks about justified title trouble, a lot more carfax reports would be clean. the more that are clean, the less people trust them, the fewer they sell. Get my drift?

Sure, but they have to know just how stupid most consumers are. They could do a better job of differentiating the Major accident info and minor stuff. When you put a big Red Exclamation Point up that basically says DO NOT BUY THIS CAR when it has minor issues like mine did then it goes a little over the top.

If people read the fine print, then they should understand the difference. The problem is, people don't read it. Maybe they feel informed. But most consumers won't take the time to be truly informed.

[318driver]

Thats exactly how i feel. When you click on that link that i sent the first thing that catches your eye is a big read alert(major problems!!!!). If you scroll down and read the whole history you realize that it isnt that bad at all. Kills sales, its great from someone trying to pick up a nice car for cheap and then drive it till its dead, but for someone whos plans on eventually selling it they mostlikely will be turned off easily.

[Rob]

yeah, that's my point. Carfax isnt really for enthusiasts, or even knowledgable car folks, its for the general (non car knowing) public to feel like they know what they are buy. Hell I can look at a car in person and tell as much damage as a carfax. the dates are good to know I guess, and the history is good.


On a side note, a buddy of mine ran his 328is into a curb, suspension and minor damage, fixed by insurance, like $3500 in damage, car has a clean carfax.

My ITR, after an unfortunatel incident, had a decent amount of body damage, I paid for the fix out of pocket instead of insurance, clean carfax

[318driver]

so what do you guys think i could get for my car now with now knowing this crap??

[Kondour]

3k-4k maybe

[Skafrog]

dont post it on the fleabay. Start advertising it in the local classifieds, paper, etc. Dont tell them it was in a wreck unless they ask.
You can get 6-7k from a local. Most people pay WAY more than the lowballers here on r3v do. Dont worry too much, just dont put it on ebay.

[318driver]

well Im going to let it run on ebay now since ive already payed for it, so i might as well just let it run through. If i dont get what i want ill through a forsale sign on the car and put it at a busy road and put it in the paper classifieds.

[Jarvis]

autotrader.com
cars.com
If you have it in your area, the local Want Ad
And I never personally bother looking for E30s for sale in the Roundel, but if you wanted to get 6-7K for your cabrio you might as well try there too. I think BMWCCA members get one free add a month.

[Pat W]

damn dude that sucks ill still ask around for ya

[nando]

you can't always trust carfax reports either. my freind was looking at a used WRX, owned by the salesguy. He showed us a carfax report that said it was clean, but there was clearly welding done in the trunk (shitty job too), panels didn't line up and there were creases everywhere.

still, you shouldn't have bought the car without checking it's history. looks like you have a keeper now..

[James Crivellone]

you can't always trust carfax reports either. my freind was looking at a used WRX, owned by the salesguy. He showed us a carfax report that said it was clean, but there was clearly welding done in the trunk (shitty job too), panels didn't line up and there were creases everywhere.

still, you shouldn't have bought the car without checking it's history. looks like you have a keeper now..

history aint always everything, my car has a cleancarfax, however the front fenders, hood and passenger door have been replaced.

car is straight as an arrow though, only fuckups they did were on teh paint (rolleyes)

[318driver]

you can't always trust carfax reports either. my freind was looking at a used WRX, owned by the salesguy. He showed us a carfax report that said it was clean, but there was clearly welding done in the trunk (shitty job too), panels didn't line up and there were creases everywhere.

still, you shouldn't have bought the car without checking it's history. looks like you have a keeper now..

It will be sold, dont worry.

[Jand3rson]

You got had, Josh-style, son.

I'm an example...