# GTO rebuilt title?



## MasterGun (Jul 20, 2011)

Hello, I currently own a 95 lt1 trans am and found a silver 04 gto with 47k miles, however it has a rebuilt title, the guy that is selling it bought it at an auction with a seized engine, the current owner, a 10 year gm technician replaced the whole ls1 engine along with new tires, new front fascia, and new front window and was wondering if it still give me problems in the future and if i should believe him, The car itself looks ok, the car drives straight and all the body panels look even. now i want to know if it is worth selling my trans am for it. any answers will be greatly appreciated.


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## HP11 (Apr 11, 2009)

You'll get differing opinions but my take is that salvage titles are a crap shoot and in most cases not worth the hassle. The statement _*"was wondering if it still give me problems in the future and if i should believe him"*_ would be impossible to answer. No one here is clairvoyant or knows the individual you speak of. The price would have to be considerably less that a normally titled similar vehicle to even consider purchasing this vehicle. Depending on the state you're in, you'll have moderate to serious problems with registration and insurance. Some insurance companies won't write full coverage on a salvage. Personally, I'd keep the Trans Am.


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## Rukee (Feb 8, 2007)

If it was totaled for water damage, it may take years for the problems to show themselves, and will be nearly impossible to fix.


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## 68greengoat (Sep 15, 2005)

Just like the commercials that were on tv where they claim "slight" water damage and the car is practically floating down the street....


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## MasterGun (Jul 20, 2011)

No it was a bad engine; so the guy selling it put a whole new ls1 in it; he is also only selling for $9000


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## mikes06goat (Jan 13, 2009)

If it was just a blown motor and no accident why did he have to replace the front bumper cover and a window?


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## Poncho Dan (Jun 30, 2009)

Maybe he hit a deer? Sometimes insurance companies will total them over little stuff. I'd at least get a second opinion from a mechanic you trust before considering it further.


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## muddobberz (Jul 7, 2011)

Is there anyway you can run a carfax on a salvage title? I'd look into that. When I got my car I ran my carfax and found out specific details of one instance where someone bumped into the fender at a gas station and it was replaced. Maybe you can find out exactly what happened. Id agree with the above comments, water damage= red flag.


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## HP11 (Apr 11, 2009)

You could run a Carfax report or a GMVIS report on it. All you need is the V.I.N.


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## jetstang (Nov 5, 2008)

Rukee said:


> If it was totaled for water damage, it may take years for the problems to show themselves, and will be nearly impossible to fix.


I just had water intrusion, and it took the part out immediatelly, and mine is rust free. Flood the whole car with salt water and I would never touch it.
As for a wreck, why would it kill the motor and visa versa. I plan to buy wrecked cars in the future as my newer cars and fix the damage, but that doesn't include frames and suspension, just totalled body damage cars, save thousands. Salvage title cars are hard to resell. But the price sounds good, check it out and really do your homework as to where the car came from.


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## Rukee (Feb 8, 2007)

The problem with crashed totaled cars is with today's cars, the whole car is a crumple zone. If it's hit hard in the front, the damage goes all the way to the rear of the car. Watch some crash test videos, you can see the whole car twists and bends in a crash. They use to be able to bend the frames back straight on a frame machine, but that's hard to do with a uni body.


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