100 Series Salvage/Rebuilt Title (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Oct 14, 2022
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2
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5
Location
Texas
Original Owner of a 2003 100 Series with 153,000 miles. We had some water intrusion on the floorboard due to the Hurricane (less than inch). Insurance wants to total it. I have brought it to a local Certified Toyo mechanic (not a dealership, private shop, he owns 2 80 series so he gets our mindset). He thinks he can fix all the issues ( not many) and still be under what the total payout would be even me buying it back and then getting a rebuilt title. We had planned on keeping this for 5 or so more years. But, if we kept her another 5 years and then sold as a rebuilt title ( I do see this) what would the aversion be to a 25 year old vehicle be that was priced right, all the fixes done with that title in mind be? I could take the total loss value and look for another but I know where this one has been and what maintenance has been done and like I said we are the original owners. Very sad. I hate to get rid of her. By the way. she was THE ONLY vehicle that ran in the 100 unit condo neighborhood...they are towing away everything else. LCs are beasts. Just looking for thoughts from other LC owners what they would do. TIA.
 
Being the original owners of a 2003 with 153k miles is worth a significant amount, in my opinion. I would definitely be inclined to keep it but it would depend on the issues and the payout as there's a lot of things to be considered.

But to answer your title question, I would think that it's more of an issue on vehicles that people will be using as DD's and / or taking a loan out for. At 25 years old, neither of those should be happening. If I was looking for an inexpensive 25 year old truck to off road with, it wouldn't bother me a bit as long as everything else checks out.
 
I would take a bunch of pictures and keep the repair receipts so when you go to sell you have proof. It's going to affect the value negatively on resale, so you have to guess if you make enough on the insurance/repair difference to make up for it.

It sounds like it will only be "little" difference, in which case I would pass. In your case I would only go the salvage route with a 20% or more savings in my pocket. If I was buying your car to repair, I would want 50% off at least in case of hidden or persistent damage. I've been buying salvage cars for 50 years,
 
Being the original owners of a 2003 with 153k miles is worth a significant amount, in my opinion. I would definitely be inclined to keep it but it would depend on the issues and the payout as there's a lot of things to be considered.

But to answer your title question, I would think that it's more of an issue on vehicles that people will be using as DD's and / or taking a loan out for. At 25 years old, neither of those should be happening. If I was looking for an inexpensive 25 year old truck to off road with, it wouldn't bother me a bit as long as everything else checks out.
Thanks for the response. Thats kind of what I am thinking. If I was the 2nd or 3rd owner..I would scrap and look for another 2 or 3 owner...when we are the only owners I want to keep her if we can male it work. It runs..AC compressor bearing is making a funny noise...so will replace that...xmission speed sensor is bad, will replace that. and the window controls are not right (driver side only rolls down drover window, not others, but all others work by themselves).
 
I would take a bunch of pictures and keep the repair receipts so when you go to sell you have proof. It's going to affect the value negatively on resale, so you have to guess if you make enough on the insurance/repair difference to make up for it.

It sounds like it will only be "little" difference, in which case I would pass. In your case I would only go the salvage route with a 20% or more savings in my pocket. If I was buying your car to repair, I would want 50% off at least in case of hidden or persistent damage. I've been buying salvage cars for 50 years,
I would take a bunch of pictures and keep the repair receipts so when you go to sell you have proof. It's going to affect the value negatively on resale, so you have to guess if you make enough on the insurance/repair difference to make up for it.

It sounds like it will only be "little" difference, in which case I would pass. In your case I would only go the salvage route with a 20% or more savings in my pocket. If I was buying your car to repair, I would want 50% off at least in case of hidden or persistent damage. I've been buying salvage cars for 50 years,
Tough call...will see what the cost of repair is that will determine if we let her go or restore her. Thanks
 
You're really leaving a big part of the equation out for informed opinions: what's the payout offer?

Rebuilt titles are the last resort. Even fully repaired, "immaculate" vehicle with a rebuilt title is only going to be worth half it's value... and that's after struggling to find a buyer. I don't know the financials, but just know that it will be very difficult to sell and will have to be heavily discounted to do so.
 
My concern after it’s rebuilt, as the current owner or future purchaser, would be how hard would it be to insure, and if I could get it insured would a “door ding” total it again in the eyes of the insurance company?
 
I wouldn’t accept insurance co’s first response to total it. Fight back. I did and won the battle, keeping a clean title and getting the vehicle fixed.
 
You're really leaving a big part of the equation out for informed opinions: what's the payout offer?

Rebuilt titles are the last resort. Even fully repaired, "immaculate" vehicle with a rebuilt title is only going to be worth half it's value... and that's after struggling to find a buyer. I don't know the financials, but just know that it will be very difficult to sell and will have to be heavily discounted to do so.

I wouldn’t accept insurance co’s first response to total it. Fight back. I did and won the battle, keeping a clean title and getting the vehicle fixed.
I asked them if they could reverse and they said not...how did you do that?.I might want to go the repair route without total. They should not have a final say...should be a mechanic if certified, and the guy I am using is.
 
As someone that has bought and also sold a rebuilt titled vehicle it was something I wouldn't do again. If you have no intention on selling or expect to not sell at normal value then it is a known risk. I'd check with your insurance company first to be sure they will offer coverage for it.

Also potential future buyers will likely steer clear of a previously flooded vehicle.
 
I asked them if they could reverse and they said not...how did you do that?.I might want to go the repair route without total. They should not have a final say...should be a mechanic if certified, and the guy I am using is.
Insurance first told me they were going to total it. I told them no and that they had undervalued the vehicle. I then gave them a stack of receipts showing that I had installed $8k worth of parts (no labor costs) in the last couple of years, as well as examples of other 100s of the same model year that had sold over the prior 3 months. They then revalued the vehicle higher and the repair costs were re-estimated to be around 60% their estimated total value of the vehicle, which is a gray area in which you have power/wiggle room.

In many cases, a general guideline for insurance companies is this:
Repair costs <50% the value of the vehicle, they’ll pay to fix it and you keep clean title.
Repair costs >70% the value of the vehicle, automatically total it out and you’ll later get salvage/rebuilt title.
Repair costs 50-70% the value of the vehicle, that’s a gray area in which negotiations are possible.
 

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