Would you buy a salvaged 80? (1 Viewer)

[tlcrookie]

Going to check out a '97 this W/E. Some body work needed based on photos.

81K miles

bags are good - not deployed

glass is ok

body work needed on: hood, (no bumper or grille visible). No punctured or crunched sheetmetal, more or less looks like someone went at it with a baseball bat around the front.

$8500 - What do you think?
When I check it out, how can I tell if it has locking diff's? I have a '91 and it has only rear.
Is the dual diffs a preferred LC?
Mahalo,
-C

 

[semlin]

there will be a diff dial switch on left side of steering wheel that will say ff /rr on it.

Price is good if nothing wrong with it but being hit with a baseball bat.

 

[Junk]

Yes, dual diffs are preferred, other wise you would have to hitch up a horse to drag it home with only two wheels .

If it has F&R lockers and I was looking for a wheeling truck, assuming the rest of the truck was ok (not counting body damage) I'd buy it wikki wikki.

Not sure I'd buy a salvaged rig for my daily driver though. Would need to know a heck of a lot more.

For lockers, check for the switch, then make sure they engage. Just the switch doesn't mean anything, as it could have been added without the lockers.

 

[floatinghat]

What is your intended use and how long do you plan on keeping this rig? From what I've seen you can get agood deal on a salvage if you plan to fix and keep the ride until it is dead. They have close to zero resale, figure same condition the salvage title is worth 50% of non salvage. I would also check with your insurance co to see if they will take it?

 

[e9999]

hmm... not sure I understand the rationale against the salvage title. Assuming one pays a price that already reflects the salvage title to the populace at large, why would that be a big negative upon resale?
E

 

[SeanAndHis80]

e9999 -

Say you bought one, spent the money to restore it - then needed to sell it one day. The perspective buyer says "it sure looks nice but carfax says it's a salvage. ...I'll keeep looking."

Salvage can also mean the car was under water in which case all the electronics are garbage or will be when you are not ready for it. There is good reason to be leary of a salvage, but if the baseball bat damage is the only reason - then the cost of repairs probably approached the value of the vehicle and the insurance company decided to junk it. Could be a good deal to the right person.

 

[e9999]

yes, but I said, when you bought it, the price *already* reflected the drop in market value. Why would it be worse later on?
E

 

[Docmallory]

My aversion to a salvaged vehicle is not so much the money as it is the possibility of problems down the road with the quality of the repairs that have been made. I have never bought a salvaged vehicle, but members of my family have bought several. Peeling paint, rigged electricals, and iffy mechanicals have been commonplace among those vehicles.

If you're doing the repair work yourself and you trust yourself to do it right, that's one thing.

But if someone else has had to do major repair work to get the vehicle back on the road, and if that person was looking to do it as cheaply as possible so they could make money off the sale of the vehicle - then that's a set-up for big-time future problems. I think this is why people avoid salvaged vehicles, and any future buyer would look at it the same way.

Just my opinion...