Hi guys. I’ve been thinking about buying my first car recently, but I’m on a tight budget. I found a 2020 Ford Explorer XLT at Cars.com. But the car was marked as a TOTAL LOSS VEHICLE by the insurance company. The car currently has 30k miles on it. The selling price is 13.5k USD.
I checked the repoet in CARFAX. The car had no structural damage and had a vehicle service prior to the accident.
From the photos it looks like the car just needs to be replaced with the bumper and headlights. Is this worth buying and rebuilding?
A total loss is more than headlights and a bumper. Likely it was a flood vehicle. Run.
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Since it spent it whole short life in New Jersey, it might not be a flood car but as a front-hit car, it likely popped airbags and wrecked everything forward of the engine. It may have bent the car.
I’d walk away from this one.
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+1
Just the chance that it might have gotten submerged as a result of that accident would cause me to run from it, also.
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$13.5k is an awful lot of money for an awful lot of unknowns.
As a professional mechanic, I’d pass on this one. If you think you can rebuild it, then go for it. I have friends that would enjoy this kind of task. Get it inspected first so you know exactly what it going on with it.
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Also think about the next phase of the car’s life, when you go to sell it.
Assuming you buy and can “fix” the issues that the informed insurance company decided to pass on… the next person shopping for Explorers when you go to sell it may not want to take the same chance on a salvage titled car.
It varies by state, but I’m pretty sure that it’s difficult to “purge” the salvage from the title, once stamped on there.
And did I mention the insurance company said the vehicle wasn’t worth fixing?
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If an insurance company totals a $28,000 vehicle then it thinks it will take $20,000 or more for a professional body shop to do all the repairs to make it like new again… Normally an ins company will total a vehicle at about 75-80% cost to repair vs what it is worth…
I think you could make money on stripping it down and selling the engine, trans, driveline, suspension etc etc etc…
But there has got to be way more to the story if it looks that good and was totaled… If it sounds to good to be true it normally is… But then again, some people can fall in a bucket of crap and come out smelling like roses… lol
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+1
More than likely, the insurance company concluded that there was a LOT more involved than just replacing the front clip and the air bags.
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From the pictures the air bags didn’t deploy… strange… sounds more and more like it was doing the back stroke someplace…
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I’ve looked at a lot of repairable and never bought one. Once I started the arithmetic on what was involved and even discounting free labor, I never found one that had a margin that was worth it. I always wondered why they just didn’t fix it themselves if it was such a good deal. I’ve known a few that did, but they take the cream off the top and sell the others. A lot of others spend time in the frame shop first, then the bolt ons. The frame sop guy says they can usually get them straight. Usually.
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There are 67 cars within 30 miles of me on cars.com that are between $10,000 and $15,000, 2014 or newer, and 70,000 miles or less with no reported accidents. Those are the cars I’d be looking at.
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But in the report it shows that the airbag did not deploy and the structure was not damaged. This confuses me a little bit.
This vehicle appears to have new fenders and hood, I suspect they discovered a structure alignment problem and aborted the project as directed by the insurance company.
$5000 to $10,000 in parts to complete the project and by the time you are done, the book value will be less that your costs. Unless you are talented in auto body repair, this will likely take you a year or more to complete.
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It also has a CEL, airbag light and another light or 2 on in the picture, so something is at least missing or damaged, all adds to the cost of repairs…
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Yes, you are right. I think I need to go out and see what happened to the car.
I hadn’t considered this before. thanks for your reminder.
The airbag front impact sensors are missing, ambient temperature sensor and possibly the wiring harness missing or disconnected. All the warning lights should be on.
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All the folks here are telling you to stay away from this car.
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Thanks for all the replies. I will stay away from this car.
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+1
And, if the OP lives in NJ, there is ONE used car dealership that I can recommend, based on the positive experiences of several people I have known. Even if the town of Garwood is not that close, it just might be worth a drive–if only to see the owner’s collection of beautifully-restored Packards.
This guy is known to sell only cars that are in good condition with low mileage, and he stands behind the quality of his cars if you have a problem after purchase. Take a look at the inventory and the very positive reviews of Marano Auto Sales:
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