Two things are certain. If I was to continue considering this the price would have to come down and there WILL be a pre purchase inspection. The findings of that along with my own would be used to decide if I walked if it ended up being too much, it would also determine how far down that price has to go if I was to go forward. From my impression the car seems okay and it’s certainly more pleasent to drive than my current car (bad engine mounts) but in it’s current state I wouldn’t feel good taking it at that price.
But unfortunately a lot of used cars around me seem to be on the overpriced side. Everyone tells me there are better deals (and I believe them) but I haven’t seen them personally yet. The clock is ticking with my current car, makes things more stressful.
Steer clear. You listed several obvious problems and then there is the salvage title. Surely you can do better than this.
Someone above mentioned the poor ride of the Yaris. Compared to a midsize or full size car, it does have a rougher ride. IMO that is due to the short wheelbase. I think any small car will have a similar ride. Smaller cars with fewer niceties will lost less, meaning that you can get a newer one with fewer miles than a larger, better equipped car. It’s up to you to decide your priorities and their order.
Yes, a salvage title is questionable. The main questions being “how exactly did the vehicle come to have a salvage title?” and “when did the vehicle become salvage titled?” Is a salvage title a problem on a 1-year old, or even a 5-year old vehicle? You bet. On a 20 or 30-year old vehicle? Maybe, maybe not. Many older low-value vehicles end up with restored/salvage title due to minor accidents. Even a cracked plastic bumper cover could be enough to salvage a 20-year old economy car.
As long as a vehicle became salvaged relatively late in life, i.e. when the value had depreciated a lot from new, and as long as it has run successfully for at least a year since it was repaired, I’d take a chance–if the condition and price are right.
The throttle reaction, brake pedal and body gaps are “quirks”, if you can’t accept those, don’t buy the car. If these things bother you, the sales staff might reject the idea of allowing you to take the vehicle for an inspection, you already don’t like the car and any minute someone else will come along who does.
I didn’t say I don’t like those things, just that I don’t know enough about them or cars in general to decipher if it’s going to lead to problems down the road. If the throttle thing or anything else has no bearing on the reliable/safe operation of the car I would care nothing about these “quirks”.
I know there are people here that know and have more experience working on cars than me, that’s why I was meticulous about it I figured maybe someone would pick up on a detail and tell me if it’s really worth worrying about.
There are tons of used vehicles for sale . Find one with a clean title , very little cosmetic problems , tires that all match and does not make you go on a forum asking questions .
People buy and sell restored/salvage vehicles all the time. Some are no doubt unsafe or unreliable, but many are perfectly fine to drive. What matters is the extent of whatever damage resulted in the salvage title, and the purchase price being reasonable. If the damage was relatively minor, and the price is right, a restored/salvage title wouldn’t bother me. If the car was an accordion, or the seller wants close to clean KBB, then forget it.
In TN, a rebuilt title basically means that the vehicle was wrecked, hail damaged, underwater, act of God, etc etc, and the cost to repair would exceed 75% the worth of the car, some states are much lower, some up to 100% thresholds…
A co-worker back around 2015ish had a VW Golf with the VR6 6 speed standard (IIRC) and ran off into a ditch in the rain and Hydrolocked the engine, ins totaled it due to only 5,000 were made with that engine and could not find a used one at the time that was not more than the 75% threshold…
Call your insurer and ask. Just asking the question won’t change your rate. It might help to have the VIN so the can give you a firm quote. That’s important in this case I think.
Usually you can only have liabilty from most insurance co. If you finance this purchase you must have full coverage and if you can find it the cost will be really high.
Safelite quoted a price of $350 for the windshield that was replaced. As far as I know thats the only thing that was done to it post auction close. Maybe an oil change too.
So far its been the only one I’ve found locally in my ideal price range that isn’t a 200,000 mile ford fusion or a 180,000 mile chevy cruze with six owners and seven accidents.
If I know how much was paid for it, how much was spent reconditioning it and how much more needs to be done I know how much leeway I could have trying to talk the price down.
