rebuilt title

homie01 · Mar 18, 2014

tell me your opinion of buying a jeep rubicon with a rebuilt title looks good drives good but does have salvage title.

j-mox · Mar 18, 2014

Get a Carfax on it. That would be money well spent.

It should give a good indication on what type of accident it was and the damage. Sometimes they get totaled for little of nothing an its mild to moderate body work and can be fixed easy. And I also believe they are totaled if stolen even if they get recovered later with no damage. Flood would be one to avoid depending on conditions. As in salt or fresh water.

But first line would be the Carfax and go from there.

ibrokeit · Mar 18, 2014

Ive heard its harder/more expensive to get insurance on a rebuilt title vehicle. That may or may not be true, though.

zayne2427 · Mar 18, 2014

ibrokeit said:
Ive heard its harder/more expensive to get insurance on a rebuilt title vehicle. That may or may not be true, though.

We insure them all the time. I've had 3 personal vehicle insured with rebuilt title. Most banks in AL won't loan on one unless you have a good working relationship with your loan officer.

jp fan · Mar 18, 2014

Just get a good deal on it because later on if you sell it people won't give you nothing for it my experience

TacomaJD · Mar 18, 2014

zayne2427 said:
We insure them all the time. I've had 3 personal vehicle insured with rebuilt title. Most banks in AL won't loan on one unless you have a good working relationship with your loan officer.

This ^^^

Long as you check it over good, or have somebody that knows common sense things about vehicles look it over and drive it, should be fine. My dad has dealt with salvage title vehicles pretty much my whole life. 75% of everything I have ever drove was rebuilt by him, until my last few good title vehicles. I've seen insurance companies total a vehicle that only needed bolt on stuff replaced like bumper, grill, headlight assembly, and maybe a fender, with no structure damage at all.....then of course, there are the ones that are horror stories that were killed, bent, warped, and all out of whack from the wreck. I say if you drive it and nothing rattles like hell or feels funny, drive train seems to be sound, and no visible leaks, should be good to go if the price is right.

Note: It ain't easy getting rid of something with a rebuilt title, so take that into consideration.

Also note: Water damage vehicles are not worth fawking with imo.

jmh78 · Mar 18, 2014

I have bought, re-built, sold and drove salvage vehicles for years. My number one rule is dont ever mess with a vehicle that has a salvage title that you may try to sell to a woman. Only deal with trucks, jeeps ect.. I made the mistake one time of selling one to a woman that when the brake pads wore out two years later it was bc it was salvage title. Most men are ok with it if it was repaired with quality parts, craftsmanship, rides, drives, looks good and saves them some money. All that being said at least take it to a four wheel alignment shop and get it checked for diamond or non repaired frame damage. Also if you are purchasing from out of state check with your states DOT. Some states will not honor rebuilds from other states or will force you back through inspection$$ before you can register it. Most banks I have delt with will loan on them just at 80% of book value.

June dog · Mar 18, 2014

If your not sure what to look for pay a reputable body shop to give a look over. I've seen them with kinks left in the frame and people bondo over them and under coat it. If there built back right there's nothing wrong with them. Just beware of hack jobs. And again if it's water damage stay away cause it will be nothing but headaches on down the road.

85buggy · Mar 18, 2014

I have a 05 jeep salvage title. Had 15k on it when
I got it has 88k now. No problems no regrets wouldn't
Take less than the 7k I paid for it.

homie01 · Mar 18, 2014

thanks for all your great input the guy wanted clean retail and wouldnt move so i said no.

sledneck · Mar 19, 2014

Biggest problem with a salvage/rebuilt title is the re sale value. If your not into selling stuff and plan on keeping it then its a good deal. Seems most people shy away from buying stuff with a bad title for whatever reasons.

ALLJ · Mar 19, 2014

My white jeep pictured n my avatar has a rebuilt title ! I purchased it from Daveys Jeeps in ohio it was bone stock at the time of purchase I kept watching what he was advertising for sale for the right color and with the damage being in a area where it could be fixed fairly easy everything that was damaged was taken off and replaced with the exception of a dent on the right side panel just behind the right fender I had a plan for it fron the start thats why I purchased one with rebuildable title paid a third of what it would have cost with no damge clean title but I also own a body shop and have the advantage of being able to do the work myself like everybody has said get it checked out I have seen some bad hack jobs with a rebuild and seen some that it was hard to tell what had been fixed as far as insurance goes some of the companys that I deal with on a daily basis want us to notify them if one comes in for repairs that is stamped salvage next to the VIN location in the jamb reason im telling you that is most of the time the people that sell you the policy will never ask you if its rebuilt I was never asked when I took out insurance on mine

yankster · Sep 13, 2019

Bringing this ole girl up from the ashes..
Anyone have experience getting a rebuilt title for a vehicle that was fixed by the dealer but sold as salvage, specifically in Tennessee?
I called tn.gov and they said if I fixed myself they needed before/after pics and receipts, and the VIN and owners info of the vehicle(s) I rob parts from.
One I am looking at, I couldn't get the dealer to confirm he tracked all the info as well as may be required, just curious if anyone has experience with this situation, or been rejected.

muddinmetal · Sep 13, 2019

yankster said:
Bringing this ole girl up from the ashes..
Anyone have experience getting a rebuilt title for a vehicle that was fixed by the dealer but sold as salvage?
I called tn.gov and they said if I fixed myself they needed before/after pics and receipts, and the VIN and owners info of the vehicle(s) I rob parts from.
One I am looking at, I couldn't get the dealer to confirm he tracked all the info as well as may be required, just curious if anyone has experience with this situation, or been rejected.

You have to find a license rebuilder who will claim they already had a parts vehicle and used all of those parts to repair yours. Or you can say yo repaired everything and bought no new parts. That is what I did on my truck.

jmh78 · Sep 13, 2019

Make sure you know exactly where the repair parts came from. Tennessee's inspection is an anti-theft inspection. They are looking for parts that may have been used off of a stolen vehicle. The process requires you to have reciepts for all the parts used. If the parts arent new, the receipt has to include the VIN of the vehicle they came off of. Also make sure that it isnt a true salvage certificant (as in can on be dismantled in TN). I have seen dealers repair these from time to time and just run their dealer tag on them. Thats about the only reasons I could see a dealer not follwing through on the process to title it.

When/if they actually perform the inspection I have had them hardly look at it and also has it on the other end of the spectrum where they crawl all over it checking serial number and id tags to ensure no stolen parts.