GON
$100 Site Donor 2024
I have posted a few threads on Copart. Overall I think 99.5% of the vehicles on auction are not a match for a consumer to purchase. If the vehicle has value the pros are in on it, and consumers often get wrapped up in the bidding process and overbid, and then find out that winning bid has little to do with what one will actually be paying to Copart BEFORE taxes, tag, and title.
My process with Copart is to only purchase S-class Mercedes and Pontiacs with 3.8L engines. That is it. In know both vehicles pretty well and, even if I make a mistake, I can still get out of the mistake financially by using the parts on the mistake vehicle.
My first Mercedes was a S-class purchased from a dealer (not a Copart- just a regular retail used car purchase), shiniest Mercedes you ever saw. It cost me a pretty penny to get everything right, the dealer knew exactly where to put lipstick on the pig. Sometime Copart buys are good as they were maintained, but just had a near catastrophic event. I find my Copart purchases are often in better mechnical shape than used cars bought from dealers.
The silver S430 in the pic is my daily driver. I have driven it for almost three years. Only issue I ever had was my fault, serpentine belt broke while driving, it was on my to do list but I put it off. Over than than, about 35k of trouble free miles. I lend the car to my friends to take on long trips. Nice to have a S-class with no payments, no need for collision insurance, etc. Two of the three were flood vehicles, one was a garage fire. I never recommend a flood vehicle under any circumstance, on these two I knew the limit of the flood and was able to make it a reliable purchase(s).
My total cost for the three in the picture, including parts, is well under 5K. It is a ton of work, and today I am spending the entire day working on them. It is a very enjoyable hobby for me. I know I could not make a living doing it though.
I am getting transferred to Salt Lake City this summer, and can't take all the cars with me (I have three other cars I will be taking in addition to the two S-classes) so I will sell the daily driver to one of my co-workers for what I paid for it- he is counting the days to I get transferred.
My process with Copart is to only purchase S-class Mercedes and Pontiacs with 3.8L engines. That is it. In know both vehicles pretty well and, even if I make a mistake, I can still get out of the mistake financially by using the parts on the mistake vehicle.
My first Mercedes was a S-class purchased from a dealer (not a Copart- just a regular retail used car purchase), shiniest Mercedes you ever saw. It cost me a pretty penny to get everything right, the dealer knew exactly where to put lipstick on the pig. Sometime Copart buys are good as they were maintained, but just had a near catastrophic event. I find my Copart purchases are often in better mechnical shape than used cars bought from dealers.
The silver S430 in the pic is my daily driver. I have driven it for almost three years. Only issue I ever had was my fault, serpentine belt broke while driving, it was on my to do list but I put it off. Over than than, about 35k of trouble free miles. I lend the car to my friends to take on long trips. Nice to have a S-class with no payments, no need for collision insurance, etc. Two of the three were flood vehicles, one was a garage fire. I never recommend a flood vehicle under any circumstance, on these two I knew the limit of the flood and was able to make it a reliable purchase(s).
My total cost for the three in the picture, including parts, is well under 5K. It is a ton of work, and today I am spending the entire day working on them. It is a very enjoyable hobby for me. I know I could not make a living doing it though.
I am getting transferred to Salt Lake City this summer, and can't take all the cars with me (I have three other cars I will be taking in addition to the two S-classes) so I will sell the daily driver to one of my co-workers for what I paid for it- he is counting the days to I get transferred.
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