There is a local private seller with a 2009 Honda Fit going for a great price, only issue is that it has a rebuilt title, he was kind enough to send me some photos of what it looked like before it was repaired. I am wondering if the damage taken to the car will cause any issues with it in the future. Any suggestions/advice would be appreciated, I am really wanting my next car to be a Fit.

 

I have bought and sold several salvage and repaired vehicles in the past.

The original damage on this one does not look bad at all. A thorough inspection of the repaired areas is a must if you are going to buy this item. Around here we usually figure a properly repaired vehicle is worth about 70% of one with a clean title.

 

Thanks for the reply, what should I look for in particular when inspecting the car regarding the damage? If a rebuilt car is worth 70% of one with a clean title I guess the asking price may be slightly higher than the blue book price after % taken into account. I will have to test drive and see how that goes.

 

The 70% is just a rule of thumb. Rebuilders estimate what they can sell one for before the buy these salvage vehicles at auction. That number usually runs around 70%. The rebuilder then estimates what it will cost to fix the vehicle and subtractts that from the 70% figure . Now he knows how much is left for him to bid on the salvage vehicle and how much profit he will make for his work. Used car prices are higher on FITs so auction prices are also high.

Look for unrepaired damage and repairs on the right front bottom. Also look inside the right front fender from under the hood. There is one bent piece structural piece in the photo that I'm not sure how he replaced it or how bad the damage was. Unfortunately the FIT is so low to the ground that you will probably have to have the vehicle on a hoist to see much.

I have two Fits. One is a "repaired" vehicle that has served us very well in the last two years. I have the damage pictures and it was much worse than the one you are looking at. The rebuilder did a decent job and gave it / sold it to his father-in-law. He drove it for about 8,000 miles after the repairs and then moved back to the old country in Europe. He needed to sell it quickly before he left and I got it at a good deal. There were a few minor things I had to do it. A few body panel fasteners, one slightly scratched (curb rash) wheel, and one slightly leaking CV boot that Honda replaced under warranty. So far I spent less than $20 on parts and never replaced the wheel. I did eventually replace all 4 of the junk OEM Dunlop tires but that hs nothing to do with the accident.

If you do not feel confident enough to evaluate the mechanical condition of the repaired car then find someone who is to look at it or walk away from it.

Most states have an inspection program run by the state before a "repaired" title issued. Unfortunately the quality of this inspections varies widely from state to state. I can not tell you about the Kentucky inspections. A lot of them are only in place to verify that stolen parts were not used to fix the vehicle.

If you can get the VIN number you might search it on Google and see what pops up. Also you can run the VIN number through one of the VIN tracing sites like CarFAX for around $20.00 and see what pops up there.

Be careful and check anything that looks suspicious. "Repaired" vehicles can be a good deal if they were repaired properly, but the responsibility is on you to thoroughly check out the vehicle before purchasing it.

One red flag to me is when the "repaired" title is from a different state than where the seller is located. I once almost bought a "repaired" vehicle titled in New York. It was wrecked in Alabama and salvaged in Georgia. That was a red flag. When I got to actually see the vehicle it had several major unrepaired problems that were not caught, or maybe not even looked at by the state inspection agency there. I walked away from it and caught a fight back home.

I hope this helps.

 

Good advice from n9cv, follow his suggestions. I would compare the area between the wheel and bumper bar in the first photo with the same area on the driver side. As mentioned get a professional to check the car if you don't feel qualified.


Clifton

 

Thanks for all the help advice, I will have to look into getting an account with Carfax, seems like it'll be worth having to check out the history of any car I may be interested in buying. The seller lives about an hour or two away so I am just trying to gather any information possible without driving there first, to gauge if it is worth traveling for. I will make sure to compare the driver side with the repaired passenger side. It looks like per Vin# it was purchased in North Carolina so I'll have to check the report and see where it was repaired and what not. Here is the ad for the car in case there's something I'm not seeing. 2009 honda fit sport.

Thanks again everyone.

 

Carfax is only as good as the data reported. It's a decent "filter" to weed out problems, but doesn't replace inspecting the car. Most dealer fixes on trade-ins are "off the radar."

Your example in Lexington looks like an honest seller. The price seems fair. Edmunds estimates $9500 for a "clean" 09 sport with 64K. And he seems willing to negotiate. I'd ask to pay for a pre-purchase inspection and find someone local willing to do it. It could be handled without you even driving there, but for a few hours drive it may be worth it.

 

I did not realize that this car was not just repaired. The fact he has put 20K on it since the repair is a good sign. It looks like a reasonable deal to me. If I were in the market, I would definitely consider it. Offer him $6000 and see where he goes on price from there.

Still look at it closely or have someone look at it for you. Also look at the condition of the tires. Look for abnormal wear patterns on the edges of the tread. Take a good test drive and see how it handles and listen for any unusual noises.

I like what I see from the ad.