AutoCheck - Frame/unibody damage

[99Saturn]

Just curious, how much damage does a car have to have to have it flagged as frame damage on AutoCheck (or other similar like Carfax)?

I was looking at an AutoCheck report, which reports damage around 28,000 miles. The damage was noted years ago, and the car has since seen another 80,000 miles in this case. When I saw this, I found some reports online of people buying used cars from a dealer, and when they go to sell or trade finding out there was damage noted years ago (prior to buying the car). Just curious how bad the damage has to be to get this notation?

 

[GutsyGecko]

Just has to be bad enough to warrant replacement of a structural piece or frame being pulled straight. I've had the frame pulled on one of my cars 3 times. Doesn't hurt anything if its fixed properly.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

My cherokee had the frame straightened after a wreck when it was new. You can see where they connected a frame straightener to it if you look REAL close ... but all aftermarket "frame" mount accessories have always lined up 100%.

Depends on the shop.

I used it as a bargaining tool.

 

[dishdude]

What kind of vehicle is this? Did it give any additional details about where the frame damage was or other parts that were replaced at that time?

The term frame damage on it's own is vague.

 

[99Saturn]

Originally Posted By: dishdude
What kind of vehicle is this? Did it give any additional details about where the frame damage was or other parts that were replaced at that time?

The term frame damage on it's own is vague.

A cobalt. The note just indicated something like frame damage announced at auction. I haven't looked at the car so I don't have any details from seeing it. I may still go look as its pretty close and drop over to a local indy with it (I would 100% do this if I was still interested) and hear what the owner has to say, though they didn't own it then.

And yeah, I don't have a big pool of used car buying but the Carfax and AutoCheck details always seem pretty vague. If it was fixed or a non-issue I wouldn't have a problem with it, just try to get it a little cheaper, drive it out to 200K and either trade it or sell it.

 

[dishdude]

Technically the upper tie bar being bent would be unibody frame damage, and those are usually bent in even the most minor front end collision and not a big deal at all.

I'd probably still look at it but inspect it closely and see if I could tell where the accident was. If it's been repaired really well, I always like to look for the VIN tags on individual body panels to identify what has been replaced.

What's the asking price?

 

[99Saturn]

Originally Posted By: dishdude
What's the asking price?

$3,700