Topic: Buying Salvage-Rebuilt and why it is better

[Salvage_Is_Better]

Vehicles with a Salvaged or Rebuilt Title

I read an article on this website a while back asking a question, would you buy a vehicle with a rebuilt title?  20 Voted, 3 people said yes and 17 people said no.

Now what I would like to do is shine some light on this issue.  I am not somebody here that does not know what a salvage title vehicle is.  I am a Sales Manager for a company called Genesis Auto and we buy fix and sell salvage/rebuilt title vehicles.  We have been doing this for 12 years and sell many of our vehicles to Canada.  What I would like to do is open this thread to address issues people have with a rebuilt title vehicles and better help explain how it works and answer questions or concerns people may have.

So ask away

[rrocket]

The problem is....usually...is who is doing the repairing?  Often if it's a used car lot (not all of them) they do it as cheap as possible using the cheapest parts available to do the repair.  They often don't cheap to make sure the frame is 100% straight either.  Whereas if I was doing the repair, I would have it in a body shop that has a CMM type bench using OEM parts.  Those two things alone make all the difference.

So the used car industry itself is the one to blame for people having scond thoughts about buying a salvage title vehicle, since there are many shifty used car dealers out there...

[Salvage_Is_Better]

I know what you are saying, the problem is, there are so many shady shops out there that sell poorly repaired cars where they take shortcuts to save money.

We own our own auto body shop,  we always use dealer certified parts and do not take any shortcuts.  The biggest thing we strive for is not to just sell our cars but to sell it and have that customer come back to buy another and so on.  What I am trying to do is shine a light on the shops like ours that do their business with integrity and quality as their foundation. 

[rrocket]

So do you use a unibody repair bench with laser measuring? IMO if you don't have one, it's VERY difficult to get the car perfectly to spec.  With those systems, you can get the car even closer to "perfect" than the day it rolled out the assembly line.  Further, the actual math data of the specs comes right from the manufacturers.  It's a very sophisticated and expensive piece of equipment..and most shops don't have it.

What do you use?

[Salvage_Is_Better]

We do not use laser measurements until the vehicle is done.  The guy who does the unibody repairs uses mechanical instruments to measure.  After the vehicle is repaired we take the vehicle to get a laser inspection by a shop who does own the machine you are referring to.

For our Canadian customers we always have the vehicle pass a laser frame inspection as well as a 100 point inspection at the local dealer.  Once a vehicle drives into Canada it needs to pass those inspections again, we do this simply to show the quality of our work and peace of mind of course.  This way the Canadian buyer knows for a fact the vehicle he is buying is going to pass all the inspections required by Canada Registrar of Imported Vehicles. 

You have a pic of a supra next to your name, do you own a supra?  we will be selling a Red 5 Speed Targa Top MK4 Supra in about 2 weeks if you are interested.   

[initial_D]

we always use dealer certified parts and do not take any shortcuts.

What are 'dealer certified parts'?

[Salvage_Is_Better]

Lets just say we are repairing a 2007 Chevy Impala.  It needs lets say a hood and fender.  We would order those parts from a Certified GM Dealer instead of some after market look a like part.  Dealer Certified parts simply means they come straight from a Certified Dealer.

[rrocket]

You have a pic of a supra next to your name, do you own a supra?  we will be selling a Red 5 Speed Targa Top MK4 Supra in about 2 weeks if you are interested.   

I already have a Supra.  If it's a 5 speed...it's not a turbo. 

[rrocket]

You have a list of cars you have available...and pics too?

[Salvage_Is_Better]

Yea I do, it wont let me put up a link because im new to this site but here it is.

W W W . G E N E S I S A U T O . U S

[rrocket]

Ok..checked out your site.  Looked at the Lexus (former Lexus owner).  It's a decent price...but nothing spectacular enough to make me want to buy this salvage vehicle.  I have seen some non-salvage ES350 go for about $1000 or so more.

[Turbo Bob]

In the UK some insurance companies can be funny about insuring damaged repaired cars, especially those that have been written off before, is that the same in Canada?

[Salvage_Is_Better]

All the major companies have no problem insuring rebuilt title vehicles.  It is the little companies that do not like to insure them.  Most of the big ones have no issues with them so nothing to worry about !

[Wolfe]

Lets just say we are repairing a 2007 Chevy Impala.  It needs lets say a hood and fender.  We would order those parts from a Certified GM Dealer instead of some after market look a like part.  Dealer Certified parts simply means they come straight from a Certified Dealer.

"Dealer Certified" is a meaningless term.

You're trying to make a distinction between the parts you use and "some after market look a like" but conspicuously you haven't stated that you use only OEM parts.

You've gone exactly 0% of the way towards convincing me that buying a car with a salvage title is better, unless you mean that it's better than getting kicked in the nuts.

[rrocket]

^^I thought he was trying to say that they are OEM parts...not sure a GM dealership would sell an aftermarket body panel OTC.....I'll let him clarify though...

[Wolfe]

^^I thought he was trying to say that they are OEM parts...not sure a GM dealership would sell an aftermarket body panel OTC.....I'll let him clarify though...

He might have meant OEM parts or he might have been trying not to say OEM parts, but if he works in the business then I would expect him to know the difference and the exact terms.

I hope he'll clarify what he meant, but using a meaningless term like dealer certified conveys more uncertainty about the rebuild and the biggest reason to avoid rebuilt salvage cars is the uncertainty involved. I would think that the #1 most important part of the job of selling rebuilt salvage cars would be demonstrating to the buyer that the work was all properly done to the highest possible standards.

[rrocket]

I would think that the #1 most important part of the job of selling rebuilt salvage cars would be demonstrating to the buyer that the work was all properly done to the highest possible standards.

Agreed. When I had my Stealth re-built, it was done using the latest techniques (Laser CMM..the whole deal).  And it was flawless. The shoppe owner showed me printout out of the allowable tolerances, and the car was under those tolerance...It was less than 1mm out from the actual manufacturer numbers...which would be closer than the frame could be manufactured new..

[Brigitte]

I'd like to know the legal, official definitions of "salvage" and "rebuilt" and "repaired" and whether there is a difference between the three -- and I'm not just talking semantics.  Surely there is an official source?  Auto insurance glossary, perhaps? 

 

[tpl]

I'd like to know the legal, official definitions of "salvage" and "rebuilt" and "repaired" and whether there is a difference between the three -- and I'm not just talking semantics.  Surely there is an official source?  Auto insurance glossary, perhaps? 

 

And those definitions should be in a Canadian legal context... don't really car what happens in California, its what would happen if one tried to import, register and INSURE such a vehicle here.

[articsteve]

The problem with rebuilding salvage vehicles for a profit is that one has X dollars to spend and that's it.  That leads to short cuts.  Just has to.