Salvage Title Exotics...: Grassroots Motorsports forum: Grassroots Motorsports Magazine

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Feb. 22, 2011 1:13 p.m. Raze Dork

I was just dorking around and came across a Ferrari Testarossa through a random for sale site and its price was insanely low. Come to find out it was a salvage title, but the rebuild looked great. I have weird thoughts about this sort of thing. On the one hand I don't think a layman should try to get into one unless they planned on owning it forever, as the maintenance cost would be prohibitive. On the other side, I doubt people with 'real' money would bother since they can just get a new one. I know insurance would be harder to get, you would have to worry about XYZ on the car not being safe, etc.

This is where the oddity comes in. If I had the money, I would seriously rather piss it away on something like this, beat the hell out of it, daily drive it and not feel the slightest bit guilty I was using up 'automotive artwork' for a daily commute. Anyone else have these strange thoughts?
Feb. 22, 2011 1:19 p.m. mndsm SuperDork

I think it's a solid idea personally. I've thought similar about wrecked corvettes and the like, my only hitch is that if you stuff it again, there usually isn't a payout (at least in MN) so you're out whatever cash. But I s'pose 5-10k on an older Ferrari to have fun with wouldn't be so bad.
Feb. 22, 2011 1:23 p.m. Javelin SuperDork

Depends on what exactly the title says. "Totalled" isn't the same state-to-state or even car-to-car. If the car was well and truly stuffed, but then restored perfectly, it will have a "Reconstructed" title, which is fine. You would get a normal insurance payout (minus the branded title difference) if you stuff it again, though cars like this really should be on agreed-value collector's policies anyways.

And to answer the question, hell yes I would buy a reconstructed supercar and drive it every day!
Feb. 22, 2011 1:25 p.m. Dr. Hess SuperDork

Sometimes exotics will get a salvage title for minimal damage, compared to a non-exotic. A mashed quarter or nose will do it. They can be put back right (good as new or better) or not right (bent frame with the cosmetics fixed).
Feb. 22, 2011 1:35 p.m. Klayfish Reader

You'd want to find out why it has that branded title. Flood, wreck, theft, etc...

I can tell you from an insurance perspective that a lot of exotics get totalled fairly easily. A lot of it has to do with part prices. I'll give you one example. The Dodge Viper. There are a large number of them running around with "Rebuilt" or "Salvage" titles. Check out the prices for an OEM hood for a Viper. It's been a few years since I've really looked, but I recall them being around $20,000. So if someone in a Viper rear ended another car at 15mph, they may break both headlights, damage the front bumper and hood. Even without any rad support or other structural damage, the part prices alone will be north of $25,000. Then paint it, put it all together and the repair cost gets awful close to the cash value. So they wind up as total losses. Someone then buys it as salvage, puts a nice aftermarket hood, etc...on it for a small fraction of OEM price and has a nice car for cheap.
Feb. 22, 2011 1:37 p.m. Woody SuperDork

What he said^.

A few years ago, I knew a guy who was shopping for a wrecked Viper, simply because he owned a hood.
Feb. 22, 2011 1:49 p.m. Raze Dork

Woody wrote:

What he said^.

A few years ago, I knew a guy who was shopping for a wrecked Viper, simply because he owned a hood.

That is awesome, and what I'm talkin bout
Feb. 22, 2011 1:51 p.m. Javelin SuperDork

Woody wrote:

What he said^.

A few years ago, I knew a guy who was shopping for a wrecked Viper, simply because he owned a hood.

Was his name Hennesey?
Feb. 22, 2011 2:02 p.m. SillyImportRacer Reader

Interesting, I need to look thru my old parts. Not that I have anything for an exotic. But I might have a Fiero part or two or some OB stuff, defiantly some ACVW bits. I wonder if the "I have a part for it so I need it" logic will work on my wife.
Feb. 22, 2011 2:06 p.m. wcelliot HalfDork

Just recognize that one of the things that makes a vintage exotic a reasonable proposition to own is that it doesn't depreciate... meaning while you will have money tied up in it, in the end you can cash out and pretty much only be out the cost of service and use during the period.

Three things significantly hurt this ability to resale. Condition, miles, and accidents. A 60k mile Ferrari is 10x harder to sell than a 10k Ferrari even if the 60k car is in better shape.

An accident history, while making it cheaper to buy also makes it exponentially harder to sell. And the Ferrari crowd seems to be even worse on this than any other marque I've dealt with... so many owners terrified of actually using their cars because the miles and potential damage hurt their "investment".

So make sure you're comfortable with the math there. I'd also want some service history as a single TR major service would likely buy you a rough but reliable 308GT4.

It could be that buying a car twice as expensive might be a smarter move financially... or you might have stumbled on a smokin' deal. ;-)

Good luck! Bill
Feb. 22, 2011 2:39 p.m. Raze Dork

In reply to wcelliot:

I think the big difference to me would be I want to drive a car, even if it was a rare, expensive exotic, and I would feel bad driving one that was worth money only in essentially non-driven form, i.e. low miles (many newer exotics in the under 20 year old category fall into this category). I've seen Ferraris, Lambos, Lotuses, Porsches, Astons, Rolls, Bentleys, etc. all have at least a 100% difference in price from the undriven, one owner car, to a well maintained, high mileage, multi-owner car. To me, seeing a $100k flawless used car (which is still worth less than initial purchase) compare to a $50k well used car, vs a $30k fully rebuilt car makes sense in that if I bought that $100k car I'm looking at loosing big money in no time (DDing it). On the flip side driving the piss out of a $50k car that is most likely due for $$$ services, etc. and ends up costing $10k in a few years not including depreciation makes sense to just get the $30k car and drive it like you stole it.

I'm not really talking about true vintage collectibles, more of the in-between new and collectible, the 80s/90s cars today...

I'm also looking at initial cost since if I had $100k to blow (I do not and probably will never) I'd rather have a rebuilt $30k -insert old exotic-, $30k -insert old exotic-, and a $40k garage to put them in...
Feb. 22, 2011 2:53 p.m. wcelliot HalfDork

I certainly don't disagree much with you here.. but skip a service on that $30k car and blow a $25k engine and you've lost a huge chunk of your investment. When I bought my old 308, the guy had not serviced the timing belt in nearly 10 years... but thought that since the belt looked good and he only put 5000 miles on the car in that time, he was safe.

I had him deliver the car before I paid him for it... and when we took the belt off, one of the tensioners fell apart in our hand. "That" close to basically totalling the car...

Bill
Feb. 22, 2011 3:10 p.m. Javelin SuperDork

Buy the "high" mileage one cheap, keep putting miles on it and doing the services. Shouldn't be a big difference at the end between a 60K mile and a 100K mile Ferrari, plus you got to drive a Ferrari for 40K miles!
Feb. 22, 2011 3:12 p.m. Raze Dork

In reply to wcelliot:

very good example, and clear point.