Well, as of now I have a 2009 fit sport that I put mucho miles on, and it has been a great little"big" car.. Mileage is great, the ride is good too, So Im actually thinking about buying another as I may have just sold her 2007 Eclipse GT.. We both love the Eclipse and has been an awesome car, but its a little impractical for our needs.. Our needs being able to fit our fast growing 4 year old in the back seat. But mostly we need the 4 doors, mileage, room, and quality that the fit will bring..

So what I have to ask you is this.. Would you feel safe buying a salvage ( but rebuilt ) Fit? as long as there was no structural, suspension, damage and the airbags were not deployed.. Just worried because its such a small car and theres not much to it lol. There have been a few in my area that I have been looking at and would just like all of your opinions to see which one is a good buy.. Seeing as how they are rebuilt titles Im just looking to see what is a good price to pay for them..


Here is one Im really looking at..

2010 Honda Fit Sport Black, Auto, 23,500 miles


But feels free to post some in the Minnesota/Wisconsin area.. I live in DUluth MN and will travel 4 hours or so if need be.

Must be an 09+, auto, a sport, and be clean.. I was only wanting to pay around $8000, but it seems my options are pretty limited. Rebuilt is ok, if it is good working order ..

Thanks in advance everyone, and hopefully will have another little Fit in the driveway very soon


Matt

 

May I ask why not a GD?

 

I don't know. The look? There's something I just don't like about them

 

Ah. Well it may be something to consider if a GE isn't easily found. Who knows, the Mrs. may like it.

 

I'm highly suspicious of salvage cars. There are two rebuild shops in my tiny zip code.
I rebuilt a Tahoe about 10 years ago that needed a fender, head light assembly, and paint on the front. I made $700.
The problem I see is that the shops are doing big time frame work etc. The consumer is not getting much of a break to be stuck with a salvaged title.
The Fit is a great car. If I found one with superficial damage at half of book value I might try it again, but I would never pay retail for one even if the damage was well documented with photos.

 

Know a good mechanic or body shop who could look it over for you? I wouldn't rule out salvage- but have it thoroughly checked out first.

 

For me, it would very much depend on the precise circumstances—why the car was declared a total loss in the first place, what had to be done to rebuild it, and (perhaps most important of all) who did the work and how well it was done.

There's a dealer near me that deals only in rebuilt/salvage cars. They've been around for awhile, and are entirely up front with the fact that they're salvage cars. I know of a fair few people who have bought cars there, and I haven't heard any horror stories. From a place like that, I'd be pretty comfortable buying a rebuilt/salvage vehicle.

It's also worth noting that laws vary quite a bit from state to state for what causes a vehicle to receive a salvage title. In particular, it's entirely possible for a car that was stolen and later recovered to have a salvage title even though it was never involved in a serious accident or natural disaster. (On the other hand, it's also quite possible that a car with a salvage title was in an accident or flood or something similar.)

 

It's funny how that although I own a GE and love the car - I prefer the looks of a GD.

 

I bought a 2009 fit. Salvaged. Rear end hit , bent the axle. Brought it to the frame shop , they pulled it straight put in a new tie rod and it drives like new. No vibrations no wiggles, smooth as can be.

76k miles $6k out the door after TTL. Couldnt be happier.

 

The answer for me is NO! The reason is that in my state you will not be able to get comprehensive insurance on it. I strongly suggest you ask your insurance company their attitude about it. You could save a few thousand just to give it all up if the car had another accident. There is no resale value either.

In my state insurance companies call a car totaled it it costs at least 75% of the current retail value to repair. That's at least $7000 or so on most Fits. They stop at 75% because there is almost always more damage found when the body shop starts the repair and they don't want to get stuck paying more than the value in repairs.

 

Don't even think about it. Move on to something else. Think about it. Someone eveulated the car and deemed it salvage. Another guys comes along wanting to make a buck and try their best to restore it bc it is cheap - for a reason.

The only exception when it might be ok is if you KNOW the salvage title was simple due to it being stripped, like buying it from your insurance. Even in this case, repair cost for individual parts get can crazy expensive.

Light weight unibody chassis + "crumple zone" is why you NEED to avoid it at all cost! Shops can pull a frame to align and fit panels but the crumple zone is not repairable. Your next impact will be on you. If you can avoid all future impacts (or fun toy) then go for it.

 

Yeah, you have a 4 year old.
The safety is compromised if the car has been in an accident.
Don't save few thousand on safety. Get a clean title car and still make sure it is in good condition.
If you crumple a sheet of paper, then straighten it, it will never be the same as new.
Let the salvage yard mechanics keep their salvaged cars. You live once. You deserve the best.

 

I'm on my 3rd Fit, bought new, so I can understand positives on the Fit. Others' advice about being careful about what led to the salvage title is important. Water damage is one reason, and sometimes it's not easy to see that there was major damage. Years ago, I bought a Honda CRX salvaged. One of the best cars I've ever owned. 50+MPG. I'd just echo the comment about the crumpled impact zone needing to be avoided. Good luck

 

I myself have been rebuilding salvaged Hondas for 20 years. I've been through all types of hits, front, rear, side, airbags deployed, frame bent. EVERYTHING can be repaired and fixed literally like new. Everything I drive has a salvage rebuilt title. I just bought a 2009 Fit Sport hit on the side, needs two doors and the center pillar. No big deal. You get a good body guy that knows what he's doing and you make sure the car you are buying is back to spec. You can save a lot of money on these cars and still get one that is done right. I've purchased and rebuilt as many as 25 Hondas\Acuras throughout the years. Never once have I had an issue with any of them.

Take the car to the dealer and have them check it. Take it to the best body shop you can find and have them check it. If they have to take stuff apart and look behind the bumper, do it. If the seller seems shady walk away. Look at other cars he's done. Get as much information out of them you can and make the right decision for your family. Keep in mind, dealers of new cars can be shady too.

 

Or you can just buy new or clean title car and not trust the "shady shop" your life or the lives of your passengers.

 

Matt, Everyone has their opinion and that's what you asked for. Most people have never had any experience with salvaged vehicles or with insurance for that matter. I once purchased a car that needed a bumper cover and a headlight and the insurance salvaged the car. Seems ridiculous in my opinion. For me, I know Hondas. I know how they are built and how they go back together. I love getting these cars back on the road where they belong. If you need any info from my experiences, please let me know. Good luck!

 

So REVTEC, tell us why insurance companies won't give comprehensive insurance on salvaged vehicles. Also, why won't they fix vehicles that will cost less to fix than their replacement cost, preferring to total them instead? Wouldn't it be cheaper for them to pay, say, the 80% of replacement cost to repair rather than the 100% to replace?

I think the insurance companies see these vehicles as high risk vehicles both in terms of future mechanical and safety problems and also in terms of requiring more money to fix than is evident before the fixing begins. I also think that there are a lot of shops (perhaps not yours) that will do a cosmetically good job, but not necessarily a safe job. For example, it might be a lot cheaper to heat up suspension components red hot and bend them back to close to original rather than replacing them, but this might leave them weaker or misaligned. The car might look fine and drive fine, but not survive another accident the way an original would.

The argument of why salvaged cars are fine and as good as non salvage cars reminds me of the argument as to why TPMS, air bags, and safety belts are unimportant to some people. Those people will opine that they have driven for 30 years and never needed an air bag or safety belt and never drive with tires low on air and judge the future from their past experience. That makes as much sense to me as not buying life insurance because you haven't died yet.

 

Hello hspatz,
I've never heard of a state that doesn't offer comprehensive insurance on salvaged vehicles. I have full coverage on all my rebuilt salvaged cars. I have 4 now. I assume you've heard of "New Car Replacement" coverage. You buy a brand new car off the lot and drive it for a month and you get in an accident. If covered, your insurance company will replace your wrecked car with another new one. Your wrecked car goes up for auction. I buy it, fix it and put it back on the road.
I'm not a shop or dealer that sells a mass amount of cars. I may do a few a year. It's a hobby of mine to keep me busy. I take the time to make sure the car is put together properly. I've done cars for my neice, my uncle, my parents, my ex-wife, etc. I wouldn't build a car, much less sell it, if I knew it wasn't safe. I have the passion to do it right and put a Honda back on the road.
Personally, I always make sure I have full coverage on everything I drive. Even though the basis of insurance is a scam. Much like the government, religion, politics, insurance...it's a corrupted system. That's a different discussion. TPMS is very handy, but not required. Seat belts and airbags of course. By the way, I build my cars with new Honda parts.
Like I said, I'm only speaking from experiance. I know a lot about the salvaged side of things. I've seen hack jobs. I can tell if someone used an aftermarket fender versus a Honda part. All I'm saying is be careful. If the person you buy a car from is not upfront about giving information then walk. There are good salvaged cars out there that were rebuilt by good people.

 

Look at the underneath shot of this crash test at 6:26.
See how much deformation occurs in the suspension and the unibody.
Getting it back to be aligned as it was pre-crash, I think, is nearly impossible. And is the impact was in the corner, it's even worse.

Or this, at 2:34
Honda accord crash from underneath. Start watching at 2:52

 

I personally don't buy cars that were driven into a solid concrete wall. I also don't buy BMWs. There is a wide range of what is a salvaged car. That particular one would not be considered to be a rebuild.