One of my more dissapointing copart buys

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GON

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When I purchase from Copart, two things I do are (1) limit my targeted vehicles to those of which I am very familiar, (2) have a history that usually reflects one or two owners, vehicle was registered in a non-urban environment, etc.

Found this 2006 Grand Prix GT (supercharged 3.8L), it was a one owner vehicle, registered its entire life on a small rural area on the southern boarder of Pennsylvania. Carfax reported no accidents, and the pictures from Copart looked good. The vehicle was a donated vehicle, and the charity was disposing of the vehicle through Copart. Had 110k miles.

When I picked up the car, I discovered the pictures hid the true condition. Every single body panel had damage, the car interior was so deep in dirt, after weeks of careful cleaning, I still could not get it clean. It appeared to have never had any maintenance, except maybe an occasional oil change and a battery replacement.

If there was any good news, it was the car was a GM 3.8l engine, that engine will run to 300k miles on cooking oil, as long as the LIM gasket is replaced when it fails. The parts for this model car are very cheap. I think I paid about $900 to Copart for this GP, I can't recall the exact number.

I purchased about $800 worth of parts on RockAuto, and was getting ready to get the GP up to standard.

I like to keep my cars in good condition, and with every single body panel (including the roof) with damage, and the interior forever dirty, I sold the GP to a local guy getting back on his feet and needed a dependable ride.

The pictures are somewhat misleading, as the car looks ok when washed and wet... It is actually a very beat up car.




 
Originally Posted By: GON


... It is actually a very beat up car.




grin.gif
 
very interesting. i looked up and i have 3 coparts within an hour from me. So all you do it place a bid online and if you win pick it up? can i go to the lots and look at the vehicles before i bid?
 
Seems like you buy alot of the salvage cars. Have you ever hit a home run with one? Do you flip or keep them? Or has it all been just headaches and questions about maintenance and care? My biggest fear is buying one of these, just to send the to junkyard again for a loss and a waste of time.
 
Originally Posted By: WhyMe
very interesting. i looked up and i have 3 coparts within an hour from me. So all you do it place a bid online and if you win pick it up? can i go to the lots and look at the vehicles before i bid?



Yes you can go inspect; only at certain times, they will have to escort you, you will not be allowed to try to start the car, etc. It can be a lot of time to inspect a vehicle, Copart will escort you when they get time to do it. May be a very long wait.

It can often take many hours to get the vehicle loaded from the yard to your trailer.
 
Originally Posted By: Audios
Seems like you buy alot of the salvage cars. Have you ever hit a home run with one? Do you flip or keep them? Or has it all been just headaches and questions about maintenance and care? My biggest fear is buying one of these, just to send the to junkyard again for a loss and a waste of time.


Yes, I have hit some home runs. My current daily driver is a 2006 S430 4matic that was a flood vehicle in Alabama. It arrived off the trailer (paid $750 to have it shipped home as I could not get off of work), and the entire interior was disassembled. Someone tore apart the interior, seats and all, right before the found the problem they stopped. I luckily found the problem in about ten minutes, spent the next day putting the interior back together, and have been driving her daily for over two years.

I was in WDC and hail came down like crazy. Did not bother me..... just my salvaged S430 car......

The Black 2005 S500 looks like a real nice buy. Was a Houston flood vehicle but what I believe happened was a major tear in the line between the air shock filter and the air shock compressor. Water was sucked into the air compressor and the shocks all failed. I replaced the air compressor, the air line to the air filter, and she is looking pretty good. I will rebuild the air shock valve block later this springs, as I suspect it was hit by some water. I am not driving this S500 because it is so corrosion free- I don't want to expose it to the PA snow and salt.
 
"" Or has it all been just headaches and questions about maintenance and care? My biggest fear is buying one of these, just to send the to junkyard again for a loss and a waste of time.""

My Wife is very unhappy with me doing this, and when we move she is directing we get a home with no place to put multiple cars. I am not sure this has been time well spent financially, but I have had a lot of fun doing it.
 
Originally Posted By: Linctex
You obviously have "very high standards" of what "body damage" is.


Look at the pics closely. You will find the hood damaged, the front bumper damaged, the roof as a crease in it between where the front driver door and the sunroof is, every door has a ding, every bumper had a dent. All small, but everywhere.
 
Shocking!

Internet pictures used to try and sell something only show the good parts and do not show the bad parts. Maybe I'm a cynic, but that is what I would expect from darn near any internet ad!
 
Originally Posted By: SeaJay
Shocking!

Internet pictures used to try and sell something only show the good parts and do not show the bad parts. Maybe I'm a cynic, but that is what I would expect from darn near any internet ad!


You are 100 percent spot on. It happens, and Copart (or the agency using Copart) not only has great photographers, they often pay to have the car detailed before the auction.

My method is to focus on only vehicles I know, and then pay for a Carfax, etc. Look at the pictures, the Carfax history, and try to make a worst case scenario, and then determine the most I will pay. I have not lost on a Copart buy, but spent a whole lot of time trying to recover the money spent.
 
Originally Posted By: GON
Originally Posted By: Linctex
You obviously have "very high standards" of what "body damage" is.


Look at the pics closely. You will find the hood damaged, the front bumper damaged, the roof as a crease in it between where the front driver door and the sunroof is, every door has a ding, every bumper had a dent. All small, but everywhere.


Sounds like it would benefit greatly from a PDR shop.
 
Originally Posted By: GON
Originally Posted By: SeaJay
Shocking!

Internet pictures used to try and sell something only show the good parts and do not show the bad parts. Maybe I'm a cynic, but that is what I would expect from darn near any internet ad!


You are 100 percent spot on. It happens, and Copart (or the agency using Copart) not only has great photographers, they often pay to have the car detailed before the auction.

My method is to focus on only vehicles I know, and then pay for a Carfax, etc. Look at the pictures, the Carfax history, and try to make a worst case scenario, and then determine the most I will pay. I have not lost on a Copart buy, but spent a whole lot of time trying to recover the money spent.


How much do you end up spending on carfaxs to check up on potential buys? On eBay there's several vendors that sell autocheck pretty cheaply, one guy has 7 for $9 and another one is 50 for $55.
 
Originally Posted By: Wolf359
Originally Posted By: GON
Originally Posted By: SeaJay
Shocking!

Internet pictures used to try and sell something only show the good parts and do not show the bad parts. Maybe I'm a cynic, but that is what I would expect from darn near any internet ad!


You are 100 percent spot on. It happens, and Copart (or the agency using Copart) not only has great photographers, they often pay to have the car detailed before the auction.

My method is to focus on only vehicles I know, and then pay for a Carfax, etc. Look at the pictures, the Carfax history, and try to make a worst case scenario, and then determine the most I will pay. I have not lost on a Copart buy, but spent a whole lot of time trying to recover the money spent.


How much do you end up spending on carfaxs to check up on potential buys? On eBay there's several vendors that sell autocheck pretty cheaply, one guy has 7 for $9 and another one is 50 for $55.


I buy a monthly subscription to Autocheck (carfax competitor). They have a great unlimited price for new users, but charge a mint for renewal. They work around is to always be a new user.
 
I'd say you got well more than a grand in value with this car, imperfections and all.
There are those who'd pay a good buck for a factory supercharged 3.8 including this one.
There is a reason that someone donated this fairly low mileage car and you've apparently found it.
 
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Buying wrecked and salvage is a really good way to save money if you're mechanically inclined. I bought my Mustang wrecked and fixed it up using it as a daily driver now. Very fun car to drive. I would be scared to buy sight unseen, but that being said I lean more towards wrecked stuff.
 
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