[blown96bird]

enjoy these disasters.

 

[nikbrewer]

so why do you feel s these should never have been repaired? Im sure the top one and possibly the bottom one was totalled and was a salvaged car. If they make the repaier panels, and you have the skills to weld them all together, you can build an entire car.

Now, these cars should never be passed off as new, and as they are more then likely salvaged vehicle, the titles will note it.

However, i am very impresses at the skills needed to make the repairs, and the attention to detail exspecially on the bottom 2011

 

[upflying]

As long as the wrecks are disclosed and properly branded with a "salvage title", I see nothing wrong with repairing them.
Both cars were insurance totals that were later purchased at an auction by body shops.
Both cars were flipped for a quick profit.
This is where the wrecks are purchased. Lots of flood cars...
https://www.iaai.com/

 

[blown96bird]

I only bought 1 car with a salvage title it was a 97 ob that was not properly repaired. I paid 1500.00 for it. It had 85 k miles on it drove it till it had 160k on it sold it for 1500.00

I would consider the bottom car to be unsafe and dangerous and it would never drive right again and would not be worth much more that scrap value.

 

[catric69]

Show me the carfax!

 

[upflying]

I would consider the bottom car to be unsafe and dangerous and it would never drive right again and would not be worth much more that scrap value.

Even if that were true, the new owner should be willing to accept the driveability and reliability flaws based on the knowledge it was a salvage.
Where else can you buy a like new car for half price?
These cars do appeal to a small segment of buyers who are willing to accept the consequences.

 

[Euchre]

Those two examples are actually of how you SHOULD rebuild a car, not the horror stories you hear about wrecked cars that have been cobbled back together. The second car with the whole front clip replaced is being assembled as nearly like the car was originally as you could get without sending it back to the factory. They use computer measurements on those frame jig racks to make sure things are square.

I can't find the old video footage of a guy on an assembly line adjusting the doors and hood on an old car (looked like a Lada or some such), but in case you think that's only a relic of 40 years ago or more in the cold war, consider this:

I tell ya what blown96bird, if you think things should be so perfectly done on something brand new, check the squareness of your house's walls. That could start to bug you to the nuthouse. Have fun finding a house that isn't at least an inch off from one end of a room to the other.

 

[Ali_pine]

As the second video ends with 'repaired for sale or export'

I think the results were well documented by the shop. I'm sure they do a good job.

If I need a repair as severe as those shown, I'd show the bodyshop these videos.

Not shopping on any 'Colfax Ave' for my next used car.

 

[dboz]

As long as they sell for substantially less than an unrepaired vehicle, someone can get into a car that would normally be out of their budget. I just looked at a 2004 Acura TL that had 30k miles but had a rebuilt title. He was looking to get $6k. I think the book was about $9500. I still passed but that is a LOT of car for $6k.

 

[Corvison]

I had a '91 Celica GT in high school that my Dad bought 'tweaked' like the 2nd video.
He had the front clip replaced by a shop, we did the panels and had it painted. Drove straight as long as I had it. Low miles and looked new.
Unfortunately all that good work was melded underneath a Silverado at the hands of my brother... who did his own re-build of the Celica. The car eventually took a trip down an embankment thanks to a speedy Jeep who couldn't be bothered with right-of-ways that afternoon.
I still have bolts in boxes marked Toyota, and I attest that the car could be 80% dismantled with a 8mm & 12mm.

 

[mcbrew]

Two examples of really good body work.

It is unfortunate that a lot of people think that vehicles with body work done are automatically inferior and only worth scrap value. Is your house worth less because you had to patch sone drywall? I think CarFax has created a problem that generally didn't exist before. Yes, there is BAD body work, but that is pretty easy to spot. I have had major body work done to a few cars in the past and have had nothing but good experiences.

I had an '83 Mercedes 300D that was hit hard (hit and run). I had $8,500 worth of body work done and it was as good as new. I sold that car with 410,000 miles on it, and it is still a daily driver with more than 600,000 miles on the clock. It still looks beautiful today. The current owner is thinking about having a rebuilt engine put in because it is making a ticking sound.

 

[mikelipke]

My insurance rates are high enough already.
If they didn't repair cars like these, rates would be a lot higher.

-"I got in an accident, buy me a new car."

 

[Pool Runner]

Two examples of really good body work.

It is unfortunate that a lot of people think that vehicles with body work done are automatically inferior and only worth scrap value. Is your house worth less because you had to patch sone drywall? I think CarFax has created a problem that generally didn't exist before. Yes, there is BAD body work, but that is pretty easy to spot. I have had major body work done to a few cars in the past and have had nothing but good experiences.

I had an '83 Mercedes 300D that was hit hard (hit and run). I had $8,500 worth of body work done and it was as good as new. I sold that car with 410,000 miles on it, and it is still a daily driver with more than 600,000 miles on the clock. It still looks beautiful today. The current owner is thinking about having a rebuilt engine put in because it is making a ticking sound.

I agree, as someone who worked in AutoBody for 6 years, those two videos show what kind of work that is typical at a quality repair shop (Those techs are way under paid for what they do). I also have personally seen way more extensive repairs on much higher-end vehicles, that were not total losses as the value of the vehicle was still more than 50% of the repair needed. An example would be say if you had to have $15-$20K of repair done to a $59,900 2012 Mercedes E350 or similar vehicle.

I can't stand CarFax, My 2011 Outback was lightly rear-ended early last year. Total repair was a new bumper cover OEM, new reinforcement behind the bumper cover, 1/2 hour of spot repair to spare tire well and paint $2100 and now my car according to Subaru is worth -$4000 less below low book that they would normally give you .vs an undamaged car with no history. Yet there really isn't anything wrong with my car as it was repaired by a top notch shop that normally only repairs Mercedes, Porsche & BMW. In fact my Satin Pearl White bumper matches better now than it did from the factory lol.

Also another thing people forget is that repairs are reported through CarFax via the shop and or Ins company. If a guy wrecks his Ferrari per se, and because hes loaded he bypasses his Ins company and pays a shop, brother or one of those mobile repair outfits that will paint your car in a shopping mall parking lot cash for say $25K in body/ frame/ paint work etc... That will never show up or be reported to any CarFax.

 

[AO River]

Show me the carfax!

Lulz :

 

[SE95]

Buddy of mine had a 2011 3.6R Limited, that he fell asleep at the wheel on the interstate and went straight into the jersey barrier. Car was significantly messed up but he walked away without a scratch. By any right the car should have been totalled, but since the car was almost new at the time (this was late last year this happened) it was still worth quite a bit... so the insurance company opted to fix it. While the initial estimate did not exceed the value of the car they found a lot more damage while they were working on the repair. It far exceeded the value of the vehicle but they still opted to fix it. After being in the body shop for a very long time (this was at the body shop of the same Subaru dealer he purchased it from), he finally got it back. And it shook, and vibrated, and floated all over the road, and just in general was no where near what it should have been. And the dealer wouldn't give him a good deal on a trade in (especially considering he had been a loyal Subaru owner and customer of theirs for many many ears) because they knew about all the damage. So he got all pissed off, and went shopping around. Finally found a dealer to give him a fair trade in deal... BMW. Long story short, he has a 2011 BMW 3 Series now... turbo.

 

[4wheeldog]

Those two examples are actually of how you SHOULD rebuild a car, not the horror stories you hear about wrecked cars that have been cobbled back together. The second car with the whole front clip replaced is being assembled as nearly like the car was originally as you could get without sending it back to the factory. They use computer measurements on those frame jig racks to make sure things are square.

I can't find the old video footage of a guy on an assembly line adjusting the doors and hood on an old car (looked like a Lada or some such), but in case you think that's only a relic of 40 years ago or more in the cold war, consider this:

Car assembly worker makes final tweaks to the doors - YouTube

I tell ya what blown96bird, if you think things should be so perfectly done on something brand new, check the squareness of your house's walls. That could start to bug you to the nuthouse. Have fun finding a house that isn't at least an inch off from one end of a room to the other.

I watched a video once of an assembly line worker at a dodge plant whose only obvious tool was a piece of 2x4 about 4' long, with some carpet wrapped around it. He could bend a door/frame into submission about once every 30 seconds. I have used a similar device on american iron for the last 35 years. The '83 dodge truck we had at work needed the doors resprung about 3 times a year.

My japanese vehicles have been much better at staying square. And your point about houses is well taken......But mine is an exception. I was here every day while it was built. The walls are true and square. The guy that built the cabinets was not near as detail oriented, however. And the plumbers made a mistake that made the powder room 9" bigger than on the plans. It is hard to catch everything.

 

[upflying]

Back in the day, I owned a '68 Toyota Corona. It had been hit left front and was poorly repaired. It never steered straight. I bought it for $500 and used it for 3 years as a daily commuter to my cop job 45 miles away. Put 60,000 miles on it and sold it for $500.
Point I'm making is repaired wrecks make good second cars. Fellow LEO's thought I was nuts though.

 

[scoobydoo2]

...interesting vid. Even though everything was digiitally measure out and everything, it's still not going to be the same as what comes of the assembly line. Those flat ended vise grips will never hold those pieces in place the same as the factory jigs.

I wonder how it rode, steers, etc. The proof would be in pudding...as they say..

 

[JustMatt]

I wonder how it rode, steers, etc. The proof would be in pudding...as they say..

Steering still wanders around the highway @ 65MPH no doubt.

 

[blown96bird]

I can't stand CarFax, My 2011 Outback was lightly rear-ended early last year. Total repair was a new bumper cover OEM, new reinforcement behind the bumper cover, 1/2 hour of spot repair to spare tire well and paint $2100 and now my car according to Subaru is worth -$4000 less below low book that they would normally give you .vs an undamaged car with no history

That is the reason why I paid cash for the repair on my ob and never informed the insurace company. The body shop I chose does not report to car fax.