Hey,

I' found a very nice volvo




I'm not sure if the car is worth the money and the risk, so im asking you forum member for help

I test drove the car, runs perfect drives like brand new car, everything works
I found pictures how it looked like after the accident , it seems that there are no structural damages, only bumpers,fender and lights were replaced.

I know that is very hard to sell a car with rebuilt title,
Not sure if the Volvo warranty still applies but i think that it does not.


Let me know what you think, any help would be greatly appreciated

Peter

 

Take it to a trusted tech and pay to have it gone over especially the front end.

 

Yeah, after how that front passenger wheel looked in the salvage picture, I'd hope they replaced some front end parts.... Looks like there was substantial damage in that area.

 

Thanks!!

I will see the car tomorrow, I have my long list of things to check

What do you think about the deal, 10k cheaper than a same car at the dealer.

I know there is a risk but at least i can see where the car was hit and it looks like it was a cosmetic hit that damaged only sheet metal and the front wheel
Will check the front end to make sure everything was replaced

 

Wrong, wrong, wrong. The insurance adjuster wrote that car off because the unibody was damaged beyond economic repair, not because of cosmetic damage. You don't write off a $30,000 car for fender and bumper damage.

You need to find out how the unibody was damaged at the attachment points for the front right lower control arm and how that damage was repaired. The car needs to be inspected very, very carefully for unibody straightness and for wheel alignment. It's possible that this car was fixed by someone who knew what they were doing. It's also possible that you'll find an ugly patch job with nasty welds. You need to get the car to a third party expert, put it up on a lift and take a good hard look at the front right wheel well.

Also find out how they repaired the right rear body damage.

Always expect the worst and you'll never be disappointed.

 

Spot on advice here. Will be interesting to hear about what you see.

 

We won't hear anything. OP is another one-post wonder, doing a drive-by. He's already found out how naive his hopes for a bargain C70 were.

 

lol - well that was my own 2nd post

 

So I went to see and test drive the car with my friend who is also a mechanic, we put the car on the lift checked every single component of the suspension, and everything else, couldn't find anything wrong, no missing parts not "bubba" work, everything looked perfect. we even took off the bumper cover and there was nothing wrong underneath.

Took it for a test drive, car was going straight no pulling to either side. when i hit the break pedal really hard car was braking good with no pulling to the sides

All electric components worked fine,top was closing and opening with no issues,

There was a little noise coming from the trunk when the top was up and when i was driving on rough road but i think that it is the nature of the cars with hard tops when there is more body flex. Even my VW CC with huge panoramic roof makes some noises when i drive over high curbs and the car flexes.


Overall car looked in very good mechanical condition. Interior needs a little cleaning, the leather seems like it is very delicate.



Im going to see the car again this weekend, test the engine compression and if everything is ok, will buy it


Question: how reliable is the top? are the any problems with closing it or opening? i don't want to be stuck with open top when the rain starts

 

When you turn the ignition to run before you turn it to "start", make sure the airbag warning light comes on. The cheapest "fix" for popped air bags (which would not be replaced as a matter of course on a totalled vehicle) is to remove the warning light or paint it black.

Also, that car will permanently be "branded" as a salvage vehicle, so it will permanently be worth far less than an non-salvage vehicle.

 

I suppose an "as-is warranty" applies to the sale. I believe in the old saying of "Buyer beware". 24K is alot of money to some people. Emotional buys are the worst. They tend to cloud reasoning facilities.

 

Buying salvage cars and vehicles in general is usually associated with some risks and problems, but I presume that the price is really low, it may worth it. I've got volvo salvage online about a year ago, I intended to buy it for parts but then I thought that it still could run and move, and of course I had to spend some money to repair it, but I bought it really really cheaply so altogether im satified with the purchase. But you need to make sure that you see the car and estimate the damage, so that you wouldn't have to spend too much money and forces for repairing. Anyway, if the price of this car is 10k lower than same one with clean title, I would say go for it.