# Salvage title GTOs



## CMURDAx (Apr 26, 2010)

well my last thread i started about this got lost or deleted by mods. so here it is again, im wondering if anyone on here knows where i can find a salvagable wrecked GTO, as in need some body work and maybe paint. ive found one already for $7500, need front and rear bumpers, front bumper reinforcement, a dent pulled from above pass rear wheel, and the plastics peice with the license plate for the trunk lid, has . is it work $7500?


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## jpalamar (Jul 22, 2008)

I would only be willing to invest about 50-60% of KBB/NADA into the cost of buying and repairing a salvage title car. Even when done right, they just aren't worth anything. I would offer him $4500 max for the car.


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## Rukee (Feb 8, 2007)

You're last thread was boned because you made it sound like you were only looking for the 'salvage title', not a salvage titled car.

The only reason I would buy a salvage car is if it was a doner car for another project. If it's totalled then more then likely the frame/unibody is damaged/twisted. It may NEVER be right again.


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## CMURDAx (Apr 26, 2010)

well my dad said hell be able to fix it cuz hes fixed worse, hes been a body man for 30+ yrs. im not worried about how much itll be worth when done becuase i dnt plan on selling it. from the pictures the rear passenger quarter is buckled. he said maybe the frame rail will be a little bent and the trunk will be crinkled a bit. ill post pics of it in a second


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## CMURDAx (Apr 26, 2010)




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## GTO JUDGE (May 14, 2005)

Looks to me like the car was not only damaged it was stripped of things and pillaged. It's not the seen damage you can see and expect to repair, its the hidden damage you don't see until you get it back on the road and things start happening as a result of it being totaled.

Before you know it the cheap car you got to fix up ends up being your white whale (money pit) and a year or so down the road you get that queasiness in your guts cause its bleeding you and you see a car in better shape for about the same price you just sacrificed in resurrecting death. 

If you're getting free work done or done at a seriously reduced cost you may want to consider creating a goat account and depositing money in it for those unexpected issues what will pop up. If putting this whole thing back together again runs you with the car upwards of 10K keep in mine '04's can be found in the 12K range de-zombied. :cheers


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## 700Rocket (Mar 29, 2008)

IMO that car is not worth 7500, too many damaged parts.


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## FastFrank (Jun 12, 2009)

Judge speaks the truth. Probably not worth your dad's time, or your money. I've seen a couple 04's go for under 11k recently. The only thing wrong with them, based on seller's description of course, is the mileage was North of 65k on one. And the other had almost 100k miles on it.

If you were to pay $7500 for it, after replacing the missing parts and fixing everything that's damaged, You'll be looking at close to 10k already. Unless you're looking for a learning experience, why put yourself through what it's gonna take to get that thing back on the road?


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## CMURDAx (Apr 26, 2010)

i havent quite looked on here in the classifieds section really, but ive been looking on autotrader and craigslist for the past 3 months and cheapest ive found is about 15k for an 04 . and all of them are from dealers. i guess ima have to start doing some searching on here for a cheap used one


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## FastFrank (Jun 12, 2009)

CMURDAx said:


> i havent quite looked on here in the classifieds section really, but ive been looking on autotrader and craigslist for the past 3 months and cheapest ive found is about 15k for an 04 . and all of them are from dealers. i guess ima have to start doing some searching on here for a cheap used one


You may have to expand your search area a bit, and be willing to do some traveling. Both of the 04's I saw in my area were both listed by dealers, but have apparently been sold. It will just take some patience on your part to find one as they are kind of rare. And remember, the price that they are asking is always a couple thousand more than what they will be willing to take for it. I was looking for a car for about 4 months before I stumbled across my 04 jsut over a year ago. It was advertised at $17500. I paid $15100. Have a little more patience, you'll find one too.


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## gurvinerjeff (Jan 9, 2009)

*My '05 Theft Recovery / Salvage GTO*

In February 2007, I bought an 05 that was stolen, stripped of engine, trans, and front seats. The seller is a professional who also bought a roll-over and used the parts to put mine back together. The stripped car had 150 miles on the odometer - the rolled one used for parts had 5k miles. After putting it together, he retitled it in Arizona as a Salvage car. The odometer was advanced to 5K miles to match the engine. He asked $24k for it; I bought it for $18.6K. I have since put over $10k into it "fixing" and upgrading things, and I am not done. Would I do it over again, NO. Even though the car has less than 30k miles, it was not warranteed by Pontiac - but I knew that going in. Some of my expenses have been for Peddars suspension, some for gauges, lots for tires (due to unrecognized strut rub), and exhaust upgrades - the rest is repairs. I know the seller; he is a neighbor. I believe there was damage done when it was stolen and stripped that was not seen until later. It is now my daily driver and I love the car. I will never get my $ out of it because of the Salvage Title. Buy your GTO from a seller you can see face-to-face, and get the repair history. If you buy a Salvage, use it for parts only.


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## CMURDAx (Apr 26, 2010)

yeh the dealers in this area suck. i went to go buy the last purple 04 i looked at and the guy sold it liek 3 hrs after i told him id be in later that night to buy cuz thats the soonest i could get in


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## jpalamar (Jul 22, 2008)

gurvinerjeff said:


> In February 2007, *I bought an 05 that was stolen*, stripped of engine, trans, and front seats. The seller is a professional who also bought a roll-over and used the parts to put mine back together. The stripped car had 150 miles on the odometer - the rolled one used for parts had 5k miles. After putting it together, he* retitled it in Arizona as a Salvage car*. The *odometer was advanced to 5K miles *to match the engine. He asked $24k for it; *I bought it for $18.6K*. I have since put over $10k into it "fixing" and upgrading things, and I am not done. Would I do it over again, NO. Even though the car has less than 30k miles, it was not warranteed by Pontiac - but I knew that going in. Some of my expenses have been for Peddars suspension, some for gauges, lots for tires (due to unrecognized strut rub), and exhaust upgrades - the rest is repairs. I know the seller; he is a neighbor. I believe there was damage done when it was stolen and stripped that was not seen until later. It is now my daily driver and I love the car. I will never get my $ out of it because of the Salvage Title. Buy your GTO from a seller you can see face-to-face, and get the repair history. If you buy a Salvage, use it for parts only.


I'm still LOLing about all the stuff I bolded.

We sold our perfectly clean titled, show car quality 05 wth 17k miles and 18s for less then you paid for a wrecked car.


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## CMURDAx (Apr 26, 2010)

well i decided im not getting it. i found an 04 phantom black with 3665miles for 19,450. im gonna go talk to the guy tommorow and see what the lowest hell go is. its at a caddy dealer though


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## HP11 (Apr 11, 2009)

For an 04? I think you can do better.


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## CMURDAx (Apr 26, 2010)

find me one with that low of miles for under 17k and show me? cuz i havent been able to find one.


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## Rukee (Feb 8, 2007)

CMURDAx said:


> find me one with that low of miles for under 17k and show me? cuz i havent been able to find one.


http://www.gtoforum.com/f5/2004-gto-sale-seattle-area-32k-mi-27460/
http://www.gtoforum.com/f5/40th-anniversary-gto-sale-27459/
http://www.gtoforum.com/f5/04-ibm-20k-miles-lots-mods-receipts-documentation-fast-sharp-26598/
http://www.gtoforum.com/f5/06-gto-m6-27221/

There are a few more in the for sale section that are like 15 hundred more then your price, but they may consider if your serious.


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## HP11 (Apr 11, 2009)

CMURDAx said:


> find me one with that low of miles for under 17k and show me? cuz i havent been able to find one.


About the low miles: My take on that is that you fall into the trap that many people do. Think about it. A 6, almost 7 year old vehicle with only 3665 miles hasn't be driven enough to uncover any problems that may arise. Probably wouldn't have much, if any, GMVIS history. It's more of an 'unknown' that one with 20K, 30K, 40K etc. For me, anything between 20K and 30K is what I look for. I'm really not impressed with stories like the guy that came on here with the screen name '16 mile original GTO' or something like that, unless your plan is the shrink wrap the car and put it in storage.


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## GTO JUDGE (May 14, 2005)

CMURDAx said:


> well i decided im not getting it. i found an 04 phantom black with 3665miles for 19,450. im gonna go talk to the guy tommorow and see what the lowest hell go is. its at a caddy dealer though


06's are going for less. 

Don't bite on the first one or even 2 you see. There are cars out there for a decent deal in decent shape. When you find one and you will..... take someone with you versed in these cars. DO NOT rely on just a car fax, take the VIN to a Pontiac dealer and request a GMVIS. 

I would suggest....

Take someone with you that knows this car
Make a check list of the common problems (you will find them in threads search)
Go over each item and check off as you go
DO NOT take the sellers claims at face value
Take a pricing list with you of same type the car you are thinking of and use it as comparison for pricing. Only use this as ammo if the seller is too high in pricing.
If you want a 2004 and are willing to pay more than what its worth, consider an 05-06. More bang for the buck.

Do as much research as you can and understand fully the reported issues, the history of the car and DO consider an extended warranty. Chances are it will pay for itself.

Don't pull the trigger on a car until you are sure you can hit the bulls-eye.


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## jpalamar (Jul 22, 2008)

HP11 said:


> About the low miles: My take on that is that you fall into the trap that many people do. Think about it. A 6, almost 7 year old vehicle with only 3665 miles hasn't be driven enough to uncover any problems that may arise. Probably wouldn't have much, if any, GMVIS history. It's more of an 'unknown' that one with 20K, 30K, 40K etc. For me, anything between 20K and 30K is what I look for. I'm really not impressed with stories like the guy that came on here with the screen name '16 mile original GTO' or something like that, unless your plan is the shrink wrap the car and put it in storage.


Thats my theory... if I'm going to buy a used car out of warrenty I want atleast enough miles to know if something was bad it was going to break. Only thing that low of miles is good for is collecting dust.


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## CMURDAx (Apr 26, 2010)

I never thought of it that way. My dads buddy from work has a Blue 04 that hes selling and im going to look at it next week, its bone stock with around 65k miles on it. what would be a good starting offer on the car? Ive seen it before and theres nothing wrong with it and very clean


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## Rukee (Feb 8, 2007)

14,5


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## CMURDAx (Apr 26, 2010)

ok because hes asking 15k for it so I was gna try and go for around the 12.5k mark


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## FastFrank (Jun 12, 2009)

It's nice when you can buy a car from someone you know (and can trust). Makes it much easier to find out the vehicle's history.

You don't want to insult him with an offer that's too far below his asking price. But then again, he may cut you a better deal if he's a friend of your dad's.


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## FastFrank (Jun 12, 2009)

double post.


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## jpalamar (Jul 22, 2008)

CMURDAx said:


> ok because hes asking 15k for it so I was gna try and go for around the 12.5k mark


I think $14k is about right assuming clean title and need nothing. Lower then that is wishful thinking since GTO values are starting to go up again.


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## CMURDAx (Apr 26, 2010)

yeh he said hes just tired of having a car payment. Ima call him tommorow and ask him what the lowest hell take is. Im hoping for maybe 13 or 14k


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## chvllmn03 (Jun 28, 2010)

I want to dispell the salvage title doom and gloom monsters,I live in Texas so 75% makes em totaled ,elsewhere 25% .Ive bought 2 2006 GTO's both salvage titles who are you kidding a front end collision and there totaled,I love these GTO's there easy to work on ,the power plant cant be beat ,easy to modifiy ,drive good well made a value of an item is only worth what the owner feels like putting into it ,you never get your labor ,and sweat back but the joy of hitting the petal and feeling the excitement is worth it reguardless of the monetarty value others place on something if it give you joy and happyness go for it ,money cant buy everything a millionare with no friends oh i can buy my friend doesnt cut it !


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## HP11 (Apr 11, 2009)

You're really 'dispelling' anything. Just displaying another point of view. To each his own. If it works for you, that's cool. For me, monetary value has nothing to do with it. I just prefer not to deal with someone else's damaged goods......


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## chvllmn03 (Jun 28, 2010)

*To me saving these cars is important if fessable*

arty:


HP11 said:


> You're really 'dispelling' anything. Just displaying another point of view. To each his own. If it works for you, that's cool. For me, monetary value has nothing to do with it. I just prefer not to deal with someone else's damaged goods......


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## FastFrank (Jun 12, 2009)

chvllmn03 said:


> To me saving these cars is important if fessable
> arty:


I tend to look at that from a different point of view. The fewer of these there are in 20 years, the more mine will be worth if I ever decide to part with it.


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