Hi all. 2 months ago, I purchased a damaged 2005 Cooper S. I wanted to show some pictures of it now, as the repairs are almost done.

When purchased, it was hit in the rear:


A new rear clip was welded on, and painted:


After paintwork:


Rear bumper put on:


It's being wheeled out and detailed this morning (Friday).
Now, all that's left to do is put the new exhaust section on, run diagnostics on the engine, tint the windows, and put back in the seats and trim.

Needless to say, I'm very excited...I'm estimating that it will be completely done and ready for motoring next week!

 

I always wonder why someone buys a salvage car, the usual answer is price, so I'm curious what you'll have in this car once it's completed and back on the road - if you wouldn't mind sharing.

Looks like your shop is doing a good job on it for you.....

 

 

I've often wondered too... I would think you have to know someone, or be able to do a lot yourself to make it worth it...

Plus, you have to be able to wait for a while for it to be fixed...

 

@MINIdave
you're right, the main reason is price. it has a salvage title, but i'm of course ensuring it gets repaired PERFECTLY. both the lead worker in the body shop and myself are perfectionists. when ALL the repairs are done, i'd be happy to share what i have in the car. for a 2005 with 39k miles, i think you'll be surprised how much money i saved!


@BillyCuth
my father is a used car dealer...he himself is not repairing it, but he is getting me some great deals i've done some of it myself, working with the shop.

and TRUST me...the wait is KILLING me. i bought the car 2 months ago. it's about damn time that i get it on the road!!

 

Better you than me, bro! I once had a Mustang custom ordered from the factory, and the dang mustang plant had a fire, and put them back another month or two... I ended up waiting 6 months for that car! I could not STAND IT...

Probably never do it again, LOL...

 

lol, it's a killer wait for sure, but seeing it come together is really cool!

 

Cool to hear you saved it. Yeah, I'm sure you're anxious to start many motoring trips.

 

Good job!!!!!!!!!! I can identify with waiting. Fizzgig has been laid up for almost a year. Kills me to look at it just sitting there in the garage.

Kevin

 

update:

found out a few days ago that the engine issue i was having was a broken trans-mount. the collision broke the trans mount, and the AC compressor was sitting on the front axle shaft. a new axle shaft and mount are coming in soon.

 

That's one of the problems I have with buying wrecks, you never know what else is hiding in there waiting to jump out at you and cost $$$ later on..

The other things is that, no matter how well you fix it, it will always have a salvage title which means it will never be worth what a non-salvage title car is.

Still, it can be an inexpensive and sometimes the only way for someone to get into a nice Cooper.

What's your insurance company say about how they will insure it from here on out? Mine (State Farm) says liability only.....

 

That's not true. If you buy a salvaged vehicle, make all necessary repairs, and get the vehicle reinspected, you can be awarded a new non-salvage title. True, the wreck will show up on the record forever, but this will help gain back some of the vehicle's value.

 

Not in the state of California. Shouldn't be able to do that anywhere else either. It seems unethical to me....

 

I'm sorry Jack but being in the bodyshop business for 26 years, there is no way a vehicle with a reconstructed title will be worth anything near what one with non reconstructed title.

The problem is the stigma that is associated with it. We've done repairs (in fact, just finished a 2010 Acura TSX with almost 20K in repairs) The dealership said the repair was perfect but valued the vehicle at less than half of what it is worth. (and that car still has a clean title)

The value was based on the stigma that it had more than 25% damage.




Looks great musicman, glad you'll be able to driver her soon.




Dave,

Typically on a 10-12K car, you'd save about 3-4K.

Here's a couple of numbers to think about. (this would be typical, Musicman's deal may be way sweeter)

A 2005 cooper S is probably worth 12-13K bucks. If it was a total (salvage title) most states declare that at 75% of it's value.

So basically that would be about 8-9K worth of damage. Usually you can buy a salvage car back from the insurance company for roughly 20%. That means you could buy this car wrecked for roughly 2500-3000 bucks.

Assuming you are in the business and can buy parts, you can buy parts anywhere from 2-3K depending on how much he needs and if you can buy any used parts. (EXTREMELY hard for a mini... I know, I have 3 minis in the shop now, first generations and the only front end parts I've been able to find are headlights...lol)

Okay, so this is what you've got.... (ballpark'ish)

car 2500
parts 2000
materials 500

Figure misc. bs for parts not accounted for... another 500 bucks.

That's roughly 6K (again, I'm ballparking) That's roughly half of what the car would be worth if it didn't have a salvage title.

Now, this is assuming you do all the work yourself. If you had to pay someone, you can add another roughly 1800-2000 for labor.

Now, if you're doing the work yourself, having 6K into a car now valued (because of salvage) at roughly 9K, then you saved roughly 3K (what I said in the beginning).

Typically, buying wrecked cars to rebuild and sell isn't worthwhile any longer. Years ago, you could buy a wrecked car cheap. Now, salvage yards sell these cars as "rebuildable wrecks" and they usually make more profit than the poor guy that buys it, fixes it and sells it.

I don't know how much musicman has in the car and if he's in the business, I'm sure he probably got a better deal than my numbers, I was using numbers in general.

I've bought and rebuilt many wrecked cars, some with, some without salvage titles. It seems unless I'm buying the car for myself, it's not profitable to fix, buy and sell wrecked cars, IMO.

Mark

 

Well, you have me on that one. Virginia goes at 80% value for totaling. I did get to buy my old one back for only $900, whereas some places charge more. Besides, if I did actually bother restoring it, I would keep it. It would end up becoming a major project of some kind.

I do understand the average person would scoff at buying a salvaged car, even if the title were changed back after reinspection. The only way you MIGHT luck out is if you sell to a good friend or customer that knows it's worth the $$$ after the work you put into it.

 

Sounds like you're in it for a great deal... glad to hear it.


Mark

 

I'm now happy to say that I will be behind the wheel of my new MINI most likely tomorrow night! I'm very excited!

 

Post some pics of the finished car....

 

more pictures to come...

 

Looks like it turned out pretty good. I know how much time and work you have in it since we've rebuilt like 12 MINIs over the past few years. I've still got two parts cars too.

 

Looking good!

 

well, she's in my driveway! couldn't be happier...went through a half tank of gas today driving her around! lol

 

i guess i can understand buying cars that has been in accidents.

i'm just against buying salvage cars or lemons in general.

regardless of how stupid or minor the reason was behind the salvage/lemon title, or how perfectly it has been repaired.


anyways, you have your mini now and that's all it matters

looks good!