So looking at copart and wife comes across a blue fit. Super light damage in pics, had a second issue of "damage history" looked up vin on a auction history sight and found the car again. A few months prior with a few hundred less miles.
Car currently:
https://www.copart.com/lot/52624390/salvage-2019-honda-fit-ex-oh-columbus
Prior:
https://en.bidfax.info/honda/fit/5865280-honda-fit-ex-2019-blue-15l-4-vin-3hggk5h8xkm745629.html
Then.... She found a second one. I'm lost. Anyone have any info on this kinda stuff.
Current:
https://www.copart.com/lot/56642980/salvage-2016-honda-fit-ex-oh-columbus
Before:
https://en.bidfax.info/honda/fit/5912058-honda-fit-ex-2016-white-15l-4-vin-jhmgk5h74gx044199.html
In reply to Professor_Brap (Forum Supporter) :
That certainly seems like some unusually similar circumstances. I suppose it could be some type of insurance fraud scheme, but I'm not really sure how that could work out to be profitable for someone yet not draw unwanted attention?
In reply to Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) :
I have never seen this before, let alone twice. It's odd/ironic thing to happen. I'm not gonna pay for a carfax look deeper I don't think, but it has me thinking.
Wife's cousin had a dart he bought rebuilt titled, it got hit and other person's insurance "totaled" it. Then he bought not back.
Top car almost looks like they fixed it mostly and maybe ran into issues and are bailing and having copart sell? They obviously tossed on a fender/light that were probably already the correct color and were going to "fix" and spray the door. Ran out of $, ran into a title issue, failed highway patrol inspection because they didn't replace airbags?
Pimpm3's old Jaguar was totaled twice and has the two rebuilt stickers to prove it.
Patrick (Forum Supporter) said:
Top car almost looks like they fixed it mostly and maybe ran into issues and are bailing and having copart sell? They obviously tossed on a fender/light that were probably already the correct color and were going to "fix" and spray the door. Ran out of $, ran into a title issue, failed highway patrol inspection because they didn't replace airbags?
Atleast for me I can pass without a bag in the wheel. It curious tho, that car only gained .2 miles between listings.
In reply to Professor_Brap (Forum Supporter) :
they probably are trying to fix it just enough on the cheap to flip it for a profit.
i've seen cases before where cars had damage under the rear bumper cover that was exposed in one listing, car sells, and then almost immediately gets relisted to make a profit and hide the serious damage by putting the rear bumper cover on the car correctly.
i'd walk away unless you can go inspect it in person, but regardless it's a gamble.. who knows what could be hiding under that new fender.
spacecadet (Forum Supporter) said:
In reply to Professor_Brap (Forum Supporter) :
they probably are trying to fix it just enough on the cheap to flip it for a profit.
i've seen cases before where cars had damage under the rear bumper cover that was exposed in one listing, car sells, and then almost immediately gets relisted to make a profit and hide the serious damage by putting the rear bumper cover on the car correctly.
i'd walk away unless you can go inspect it in person, but regardless it's a gamble.. who knows what could be hiding under that new fender.
I will be checking it out when they open at 8am, and bidding starts at 10am.
The white one especially is the one that throws me off.
I buy from IAA but have not from Copart. At IAA, they list who the seller is. Does Copart? This way I know if I'm buying from State Farm or buying from a body shop.
I too suspect a low investment flip but its hard to know without knowing the sellers. Also, the damage maybe too extensive. Imagine if #1 buyer paid a high price expecting only body damage and then discovers engine or trans damage too. Since he's overpaid, an easy out is to put some lip stick on the pig (body enhancements) and send it back to auction (continuing to hide the bigger damages)
Said another way, I agree with what Patrick and Spacecadet are saying.
In reply to John Welsh :
Copart list the seller also, I'll log in and check out who is selling it. I haven't used IAA, might make a account and give it a try.
Twice totaled thrice shy, babe.
Airbags. Neither car is showing a airbag in the wheel. On the blue car, the oldest photos reveal that the sie airbags are busted but the newer pictures do not reveal that those side airbags have been replaced.
Copart vs IAA: I'm not saying that IAA is better. Quite possibly it is worse. It just happens to be the one I am familiar with. The reason for that is the IAA branch is 20 minutes from my house and Copart is 1 hr. I have a low threshold for risk so I do not buy cars I can't put my hands on, inspect before biding.
If you are new to these auctions, my #1 advice is fees, fees, fees...know your fees and what your real cash outlay will be for purchases.
i don't think these cars were totaled twice, I think they are just auctioned twice.
One accident. Buyer #1 did some work and now is running it through Copart again to recoup his investment or maybe gain a little profit.
I bought a Equinox via IAA. It turned out to have more damage than I realized. I wanted out. I considered sending it back through IAA. I discovered that would only cost me $100 to run it through 2 weeks auctions (if it did not meet my reserve.) Instead, I just sold the car as a parts car via CL/FB
https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/salvage-cars-know-when-to-holdem-know-when-to-fold/164801/page1/
I took a big loss but sometimes the right thing to do is just fold your hand and move onto the next winner.
My father in law has a 01/02ish regal gs that he bought new. My MIL got hit at a stop light and it was totaled, he loved the car so he had it rebuilt; my MIL was then rear ended at a light and it was totaled again. He rebuilt it again. It is now made up of four different cars with two basic half cuts but that's his car and he uses it daily. Wonder what the car fax on that looks like.
Caveat Emptor for rebuilding wrecked cars. Scruples are the lowest of the low with some of these people.
Looks to me like they're being flipped. Judging from the color of that body filler on the first car it looks like Wal-Mart grade Bondo, which no legitimate body shop would ever use.
Run away. Likely someone bought it, realized that there was much more damage than thought and put it back through the auction.
I once saw an NSX, the new one, that I was considering bidding on. It went for only $18k or so. It looked like it had some minor damage, but nothing insurmountable. I ran the auction history to find photos of the car, which is a monocoque, with all the from mounts ripped off, suspension ripped off etc. Someone bought it, put some bumpers and other carefully place body panels on it covering the worst of the damage, and made a few grand by totally screwing someone else over.
On a similar note, I Copart-ed a ranger last year. Replaced a bumper and a headlight, ran it through the process and received a clean title. NC is bad about this. I thought nothing of it, but ran the VIN after I'd done all of this and realized that it had actually been totaled and legitimately rebuilt twice. Explained the respray.
Nofive_0 said:
Caveat Emptor for rebuilding wrecked cars. Scruples are the lowest of the low with some of these people.
Looks to me like they're being flipped. Judging from the color of that body filler on the first car it looks like Wal-Mart grade Bondo, which no legitimate body shop would ever use.
Run away. Likely someone bought it, realized that there was much more damage than thought and put it back through the auction.
I once saw an NSX, the new one, that I was considering bidding on. It went for only $18k or so. It looked like it had some minor damage, but nothing insurmountable. I ran the auction history to find photos of the car, which is a monocoque, with all the from mounts ripped off, suspension ripped off etc. Someone bought it, put some bumpers and other carefully place body panels on it covering the worst of the damage, and made a few grand by totally screwing someone else over.
On a similar note, I Copart-ed a ranger last year. Replaced a bumper and a headlight, ran it through the process and received a clean title. NC is bad about this. I thought nothing of it, but ran the VIN after I'd done all of this and realized that it had actually been totaled and legitimately rebuilt twice. Explained the respray.
I have bought a few copart cars that I took straight to inspection.
