Wreck Rebuilds Worth It?
 

i was kind of looking for a gt convertible the other day and ran across this on a car lot a few days ago. i've never had any dealings with a salvage car before so i was searching for some advice. its a 2002 automatic with 6 disc changer and power everything. their asking $7950 for it but i know i can get it for a lot less. any opinions?

http://www.mikesrebuildables.com/car...0_CN1252-1.JPG
http://www.mikesrebuildables.com/car...0_CN1252-2.JPG
http://www.mikesrebuildables.com/car...0_CN1252-3.JPG

No where near worth that, especially since it has a lot more than just cosmetic damage.

Unless your currently have one for parts to put on that one (or steal from that) or if you know a guy in the bodyshop that owes you a favor it's usually not worth it. Most people that buy them get in way over their heads. But if you know what you are looking at (and can tell what is bent and can do a good guesstimate on how much it would cost) you could save.

i'd say no...

you'd be surprised how much fixing a car can cost... i have a '95GTP that i'm selling to a junk yard because it's only worth $2k fixed and i have about $4k worth of damage just from rear-ending a truck... damage doesn't even make it to the radiator and it's twice the cost of the car.

Thats not a little fender-bender either. That was something pretty serious. Hmm...just noticed, the passenger side looks the most banged up...but its airbag didn't go off. interesting. Should it have gone off and didn't, or did that massive damage happen from something so slow as to not set them off?

Anyway, that a big hit. You gotta look at frame damage, possible engine/driveline damage from getting hit, that whole front half of the car, all the suspension and steering probably....thats a lot of money just to fix. VERY few cars, imo, with that much damage would be worth that much. Specially not a mustang.

Hmmm, frame in the front looks pretty bad, radiator and front engine parts most likely trashed. Front suspension looks like it'd be out of whack, plus the body parts amd the paint....hmmm. I don't think I know any mechanics that'd pay a fraction of that, even if they was a lot salvageable on it.

i appreciate the info.... yea i agree with what yall have said. i did some checking and its going to be cheaper just to buy one with no damage than go through fixing a wreck. thanks again

I think that car is done!

Be good for parts if you need anythign from the rear end....!

Agreed. That would make an awesome parts car for people with bad interiors/body damage to the rear 2/3's.

As such the yard shouldn't sell it to you for more than a grand.

YA I think if they try and sell it for 7000+ is robbery!

If you could get it for a grand, maybe even 2, you could proabably part it off and still come out ahead

Not worth it, really. Front end is slaughtered.

You might get an oil cap out of that front end. The block is probably damaged, and everything else in front of the firewall is gone. Maybe some engine internals, but I wouldn't risk it.
The front rims are gone, the rear two would sell for less than half of what a full set would go for, the transmission is probably f'ed up from the hit, and the driveshaft and differential might have survived. The rear suspension could be salvageable, along with every interior part other than the wheel.

I'd guess that if you stripped it and sold parts on ebay, you'd end up with just under $1k

Well, at least there is no blood all over the frount seats.

It's worth more than a grand i would think.

If the crank shaft didn't get punched back, the engine may still be salvagable.

Still lots of work. you'd basically need to strip it down, cut the frount end off and weld another wreck on (one that was totaled on the the back).

Getting all that straight is not something for your average shade tree mechanic.

Passenger airbags, the new ones anyway, don't deploy if there is no-one sitting in the seat.

Pressure sensor in the seat.

And what about the salvage title that makes it worth nothing after you spend all that money to fix it up? Some dealerships won't take it as a trade either and if they do, they offer peanuts.

I got ten bucks that says the front frame on that is tweaked severely. I wouldn't. Not for anywhere near that price anyway.