Hi everyone.

Well as i was doing a bit of shopping around. I ran across a small dealer who is offering a used honda si 2006 for $14k. Yeah sounds weird right? Well the catch is that the car is a salvage. Yup. But the car look like new. No noticeable damage the paint and everything matches together. According to the guy it was rebuilt only from the front. That no real damage was done to the outside.

It looked great to my eye. I checked the rims and tires and they are the originals because they show some tare and ware. But not enough to notice a big accident. The bottom of the car is intact, but there is some residue of what looks like cement. The guy said it was the spill from the battery because it leek. That made me kind of nervous. Inside the hood everything seemed normal. No major discrepancies. He said he changed a couple of things on the car but nothing major. He said that the car was only damage from the front.

Well the car seemed nice and fit to me. The price is good and it can probably be lowered. I plan to keep the car for a long time. Is it worth is? How can i check if the car was severely damge? I tried carfax but it does not go into any specifics.
(http://www.carfax.com/viewEmailRepor...yApnxkrGrCZjrf)
i hope the link works.

any advice will be greatly appreciated.

 

if you plan on keeping the car a long time, i wouldnt get this one. Get one that you know is fine and hasnt been damaged. If the damage was bad enough, the car wont drive the same as it did new.

 

I contacted my nearby honda and they said that they will be glad to have a mechanic check it and will even run it into the scanner for like a hundred bucks and will let me know if its worth getting? Will it be worth it if the mechanics say yes? The guy selling said that i can have it checked by any mechanic.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mischief316 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I contacted my nearby honda and they said that they will be glad to have a mechanic check it and will even run it into the scanner for like a hundred bucks and will let me know if its worth getting? Will it be worth it if the mechanics say yes? The guy selling said that i can have it checked by any mechanic.</TD></TR></TABLE>

If you get it checked by certified mechanics and they o.k. it and you can get the price lowered then i think it would be a good deal. I highly suggest that you get the 7 year 100k mile warranty if you can. You are bound to have problems with this car in the future.

 

make sure they drive the car also and that it handles and feels like it is supposed to. Go drive another SI at a used lot and make sure they feel the same. With out getting to know the car, that is a very hard task to compare since you dont know how the car is supposed to feel. The price is low for a reason, remember that. For an extra 2 grand you could get one with a clean title

 

I can get one with a clean title for 2 grand more? Really a used 06 SI for $16,00? Tell me where and i'm there. I don't think there are any this cheap with clean title. Anyway the guy said he got it of some insurance company. But i'm gonna have it checked by a certified honda dealer and certified mechanics.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mischief316 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I can get one with a clean title for 2 grand more? Really a used 06 SI for $16,00? Tell me where and i'm there. </TD></TR></TABLE>

x2

 

i found one in seattle when i was looking for a car and the list price was 17-17.5k. You can get a used car at that price talked down to atleast 16.5k. For that low your gonna have more mileage on the car though

 

you never know what your getting with a salvage. be careful and make sure the car has been repaired right and has all the airbags! good luck

 

well, i know. But here in cali for that price is super good. I"m going today maybe i'll take some pics and load them up. Anyway if i get it inspected by the honda mechanics and they say is ay ok should i go for it?

Oh and its still has the original air bags. It was never diploid. And original tires and rims.

 

It could be a good deal, but make sure you have it THOROUGHLY checked first. Also, if you can get a 100,000 mile warranty, that would be highly advisable.

I own a 2006 SI and I wrecked it last December. The damage was originally estimated at 10.5k, but after it was all said and done, 14k of work went into it. The accident occurred at 9,500 miles, and now I"m at 22k and still ZERO problems. Don't believe everyone that says "after a car is wrecked, its never the same" because there can always be exceptions to the rule. I used to advocate that theory myself; but now after having firsthand experience with a car that was wrecked badly and then fixed, my opinion has changed.

Note: I did no damaged to the front end, so my transmission/engine were unaltered. I only destroyed my rear quarter panel and had to have my rear axel / suspension redone. I'd be realllllllly careful before committing to buy a car with front end damage, as that's where all of the expensive parts are. Be careful, but you could possibly get a good deal.

And since it does have a salvage title, you have all of the negotiating power here. Don't let the dealership tell you what to pay, you name your price and they will probably go with it. Use this to your advantage.

 

ok hopefully this works. I went to dealer yesterday and took some pics of the car.








Let me know what you guys think . . .

 

Check the driver's side underneath. If that side airbag blew it should be obvious where the hit was. It's hard to perfectly conceal a side hit.

 

actually no airbag blew only the one in the steering wheel. But he replaced it. Anyway once the guy said he would let me get it inspected by a honda dealer and i told him we would talk then about buying so i guess once they tell me what up at the dealer that will make up my mind.

 

I think its VERY strange that the car has the HFP kit on the bumper but not on the front, or the sideskirts to go with it. Ask the dealer about that.

 

like the part on the back you mean? and its not on the side or the front?

 

Well, i guess i might take it to the honda dealer and i sure hope they know what they are talking about if they suggest i buy and say everything checks out. I mean what if at the end the car was in great condition. Maybe the car wasn't badly damage to the extend that its not repairable to like new condition. Maybe the insurance didkn't wanna deal with it. Either way there are so many things to consider. I'm not to worry if the car has a salvage title if its in good condition. Because i plan to keep the car. What i'm more worried is having engine or transmission problems or even electrical problems down the line. ANd i mean major problems. If its small things that can be repaired at no big price than that no problem you know.

Anyway the guy seems to be a great mechanic himself and do a fantastic job on body work. The majority of the cars he has are salvage. He said he doens't get a car if he doesn't think he would keep it himself.

For this car he said all parts were bought from the honda dealer and all should be original. The only air bag he had to replace was the steering wheel airbag. He labeled all parts and has receipts for them and the VIN for everything. He also took the time (long time) to talk to me about the car and explain what had happen.

I mean the guy seems legit. He could of lied right way and go around things and all. ANd cut me off and say you know, take it or leave it. He also wouldn't have taken the offer of taking the car to a honda dealer and having it inspected.

 

Well, good luck on this. Quite impossible to say what happened to this vehicle, but don't get your hopes up. I would keep your expectations low, in case you do get disappointed. Remember: expect the worst, hope for the best.

Let us know how the inspection turns out.

 

missing the driver seat airbag cover. and the front and side HFP skirts, obviously gone from the accident. have him replace those, and it looks pretty decent to me

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mischief316 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Anyway the guy seems to be a great mechanic himself and do a fantastic job on body work. The majority of the cars he has are salvage. He said he doens't get a car if he doesn't think he would keep it himself.

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Just remember that the guy is a salesman and he is also trying to sell you something. Also dont say " i might take it to the Honda dealer" do it, i would. That car could have some major frame damage that you cant see. Get it checked by Honda then make your decision for sure.

Good luck bro

 

Yup i called my near by honda and they gave me more info. The guy there said that they do a quality and safety inspection on all their cars. The inspection consist of any frame damage engine damage and transmission damage. It takes about two hours to complete the inspection and is pretty thorough and harsh. They inspect the tiniest of detail even cracks and electrical. All that for around $95. He said he has had a lot of cars come across with salvage titles and seen them pass the test. So that's what i'm gonna do. After all $95 is a small price to pay for more piece of mind and a better decision.

 

if you end up buying the car, make the sales person pay that $95

 

allright... here's my take:

has anyone looked at pictures of cars that have been in accidents here on this board that weren't totalled? They look pretty nasty, usually bent suspension among other things. And those are cars that weren't totalled. This guy had $12k in repairs and his car wasn't totalled.
https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=2049786
I can only imagine what that car the OP is looking at looked like after being totalled (how it got the salvage title). Usually with vehicles like this body shops will buy them and try and fix as cheap as possible to turn over for profit, they don't always fix them the "best" they possibly could.

I have an EF with a salvage title, but that car was all of $5500 new on the lot. It got hit in the front end and was fixed (not that well, but fixed). I paid $2k with 65k miles on it in 2001. I guess it's really up to you if you want a car that you'll get to "discover" problems with it throughout ownership, or a decent used car with a clean carfax for a few grand more (doesn't change monthly that much if financing)