Would you buy a car knowing it was in an accident?

[Patman]

Originally Posted By: dparm
Helping a friend buy a car right now. AutoCheck reports that the car struck a utility pole in Wisconsin 2 years ago, but the car looks and drives just fine.



I hit a utility pole in my 98 Corvette a couple of years ago, both air bags deployed and I needed a new nose and hood for it. The body shop did a great job and the car has driven perfectly since the repair. It came out looking better than before since the front end had a ton of stone chips on it but now it looks perfect. I'm sure future buyers might be scared knowing this car was in an accident like that, but you would honestly never know anything happened after driving it.

 

[KitaCam]

So...to summarize....

...if a car has been properly maintained...

and

...if the damage to it was not so extensive so that a QUALITY repair had restored the car to like new condition...

and

....if you're buying the damaged car at a reasonable price...

and

....if you're planning to KEEP the car to the point where further depreciation will devalue the car to the point where it is worth more to keep than to sell...

then

...buy it and enjoy

 

[andyd]

I have bought cars with frame damage and patched them. My cars are at the last stop before the crusher. 2 of them are 25 yr old BMWs. I wouldn't touch a BMW made after '95. They are too fragile.

 

[Tdbo]

Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
Would entirely depend on the particular vehicle & how it was repaired.


+1. Too many variables here to give a definitive answer.

 

[rjundi]

Never never never......

Every car that had some body work it was noticable to small to large degree latter on.

I found out when selling I got all dealer records on my WRX had the front panel fixed. I only noticed at night color (silver) seemed off slightly. As it aged on 2004-2011 it got slightly worse.

Basically I bought a brand new car with body work by dealer and sold as such. I did not complain much as I purchased for $22k and got $10k for the car 7 years latter.

 

[Mr_Joe]

I bought a 2010 Pontiac Vibe with 9000 miles & a 'salvage title' 1.5 yrs ago. It was rear ended, looks like new again unless you look. Most banks(all?) won't loan on a salvage title, dealers won't take them on trade, they are harder to sell.

That all said, this car was $1,000's below a comparable vehicle. So far the car has been like new, not a single problem. It has 25k or so now & I plan to keep it to close to the end of it's life.

It all depends, just know what you're getting into.