I’ve been in the market for a new truck for a while. And by new I mean new to me. I live on an island near Vancouver and the population isn’t huge, so the specific truck I want doesn’t pop up locally very often, and buying in a larger metro area is a pain (getting off the island thing).
Recently I saw an ad for the exact vehicle I want, with very low kilometers, priced very competitively. I actually remember seeing the same ad around 6 months ago, looks like the guy never sold the truck and is re-listing it. I contacted him and he informed me that the truck was written off in an accident. He had all the necessary repairs done at a local, reputable shop, has pictures and receipts documenting everything, and had it go through a provincial safety and structural integrity inspection in order to re-insure it. The vehicle is a Toyota, if it makes a difference.
I have no experience with vehicles after these types of accidents. Should I just stay clear? It’s obviously priced competitively, and I could probably get him down further on price (seeing as he never sold the truck 6 months ago). I plan on having the truck for approximately 7-10 years, and it will be a work truck, so I fully intend to beat it up a little. How reliable are vehicles once they’ve gone through extensive damage and repairs?
Be careful. One thing car thieves do is take a totaled vehicle and move its VIN markings to a stolen vehicle of the same make/model to make the stolen vehicle worth more. I’m not sure how you would tell the difference.
I have a close friend who buys wrecked vehicles and fixes them. They all have rebuilt titles. He does an excellent job, and I know several people who have bought trucks from him and held on the them for a long time.
If the work was done by someone who was very good, it shouldn’t be a problem - especially since you intend to keep it for a long time. I would just want to make sure the guy fixed it properly. Definitely expect to pay a reduced price for a devalued truck.
Body on frame has a pretty good chance on being done properly. I would be a lot more concerned on unibody. It’s any warranty on the work transferable? The worst would be if the frame isn’t dead square you will burn through tires, so I would see if the shop will back the work for a year. You really won’t want to be passing to pull the frame back to square.
Back in my day of hot rodding 60s and 70s muscle cars, we pulled a lot of frames back to true, and the cars went on for many miles.
Have it checked out first. I’d be very wary of a salvage/rebuilt titled car. It was totaled. There are a LOT of things that could be wrong with it, no matter how good it looks. Be really careful.
The recert in Canada is a formal process regulated by the provincial gov’t’. I’d be more worried about units transiting from the US rather that interprovincially.
I bought a rebuilt 4 runner, drove it for 200000 miles. Best car decision I’ve ever made. The reason I did it was the reputation of the shop that did the repairs.
I looked into buying a car with a rebuilt title once and when I got to the point of getting an insurance quote, my company said they wouldn’t insure it.
Likely no. Unless the price was drastically reduced. Also depending in original accident damage.
Think of it this way. The original accident was bad enough that the estimated cost to repair the vehicle was close to or higher than the cost to replace the vehicle in pre accident condition. At that point the insurance company paid the accident victim the replacement cost then auctioned off the vehicle for parts.
Someone decided they could fix the car for far less than the body shops estimate. This is not that hard to do, as body shops mark up parts, labor and paint costs, but have a business to keep open and run as well.
In the end you will have a vehicle that you can hold no one accountable for. Does it have all it’s airbags? Rust prevention in the right areas? Welds in the right places? Proper drainage? Do you know how to tell?
I’ve seen some vehicles worth $20,000 plus that the customer wanted fixed even when the estimate was close to that total. Properly repaired, they had to be nearly completely taken apart in the accident areas and put back together. Interior taken out, inner and outer panels removed, wiring replaced, not spliced. A very daunting task that always took up to two months. These jobs would sit while easier ones would get done because they made money for the bodyman.
The car in never the same after a big accident no mater how much care is taken IMO.
I wouldn’t do it. My husband was in a car accident several years ago. There was a lot of damage to his car, but not enough to write it off (he had full replacement coverage). It got fixed but was never the same - electrical problems & lots of random weirdness. There’s a reason why cars that have been in accidents are so cheap.
I’m driving a rebuilt Camry, but I’m also a car guy. Carfax + knowing what to look for and it’s pretty low risk. It might be worth hiring a mechanic to look at it once you see why it needed to get rebuilt in the first place.
Weird spot to write off a truck. It’s pretty easy to pop the bed off, straighten the frame and put a new or repaired bed back on. $10k in damage maybe, but not the $18k in damage that would’ve been required to write it off. I found it on UsedVic and would say that truck is too expensive. Metro has a similar truck for slightly less. If you do go ahead, I’d get a dealer or frame shop to make damn certain that frame is solid.
Why no Toyota’s as work trucks? Well, if you actually need the capacity look at how much bigger and heavier the parts in domestics are compared to the Toyota.
Body on frame has a pretty good chance on being done properly. I would be a lot more concerned on unibody. It’s any warranty on the work transferable? The worst would be if the frame isn’t dead square you will burn through tires, so I would see if the shop will back the work for a year. You really won’t want to be passing to pull the frame back to square.
Back in my day of hot rodding 60s and 70s muscle cars, we pulled a lot of frames back to true, and the cars went on for many miles.
Agreed, if its a full frame truck. You have a lot less to worry about.
Weird spot to write off a truck. It’s pretty easy to pop the bed off, straighten the frame and put a new or repaired bed back on. $10k in damage maybe, but not the $18k in damage that would’ve been required to write it off. I found it on UsedVic and would say that truck is too expensive. Metro has a similar truck for slightly less. If you do go ahead, I’d get a dealer or frame shop to make damn certain that frame is solid.
Why no Toyota’s as work trucks? Well, if you actually need the capacity look at how much bigger and heavier the parts in domestics are compared to the Toyota.
I went to check out and test drive the one at Metro a while ago. It’s been for sale for a while. It spent most of it’s life in Ontario and has some rust issues and other things going on that made me shy away. When I test drove it, they were asking $4000 more for it. That, and the sales guy was a complete d-bag!
As for the work truck thing. I know quite a few people in construction with Tundras, and have yet to hear anything bad about them. Every time I’m at the lumber yard and I’m loading up next to someone in one, I always ask, and I always hear the same thing. They’re great, but bad on gas.
I’ve driven domestic trucks before, and while their towing and hauling numbers might be slightly higher, they are a maintenance headache and I really don’t see myself owning another one any time soon. My friends who bought new F150’s and Silverados a few years ago are now needing to either buy a new vehicle or start dumping money in to their current ones.
While I do need a half ton, I wont be pushing the limits of its capabilities frequently. Hauling tools and materials will be the norm, some towing but nothing close to its limits. I think if I were regularly towing heavy loads I’d go with a diesel. The Tundra would fit my needs just fine, and I much prefer it’s layout (double cab with 4 front swinging doors and a 6 foot box) as opposed to what the domestic extended cabs offer with the smaller rear seats and suicide doors.