How toxic is a rebuild title?

I can't get through you link but japan is rhd country possibly making the car less in demand

 

Most European cars sold in Japan are left hand drive. The link was an example of a 1999 550 selling for roughly $58,200. with 36k kilometers on the clock. It was left hand drive. Older like 1980's era European cars more are RHD. The Japanese vehicle inspection process is very strict. To register there you need the inspection every two years. You end up replacing most wear items (brakes, tires, shocks, etc), fixing engine oil leaks, etc. to pass inspection. Its very expensive. So cars with no inspection go very reasonable there. To get a better resale value the Japanese tend to order non Japanese cars in left hand drive. So they can sell to Europe. Also a lot of slightly used are not widely available there. So a lot also get imported used into Japan from Europe, etc. Most Ferrari's, Lamborghini's, Porsches and Rolls Royce are more left hand drive available then right.

So many people and dealers bring in cars from Japan into Canada. The first question I ask sellers is it a Japanese market car? I see a right hand drive Japanese make car here almost daily. Come to think of it an American member of this forum bought a Japanese market 456 in Canada and imported it into the U.S. no problem.

 

How much to ship it? What about licensing? That is cheap!

 

Shipping isn't that bad. There is a few dealers in Vancouver that specialize in in the Japanese models not sold in North America. Skylines, etc. For a few they'll bid and arrange all the other stuff like shipping. They'll just add it to the total price. A friend of mine did a Bentley turbo R. It was an 89. I think he said he was all in at $12,500. Licensing is just like any used car from a private party or out of state dealer.

 

A car of mine was recently totaled because of water damage. A clogged cowl drain allowed water into the compartment which housed the engine ECU. It was a matter of replacing the ECU, cleaning the connector, vacuuming a bit of rain water from the passenger's foot well and carrying on. Insurance nearly insisted on a total as the adjuster was afraid they would be on the hook for later repairs. An otherwise good car probably went to the wreckers.
The trouble is unless you know for sure the circumstance it is a huge crap shoot.
I used to have a shop next to a guy who specialized in rebuilding salvage cars. He had no fear and would buy the worst wrecks, flood cars, you name it. His focus was narrow so he was very familiar with the cars he fixed, knew where to look for problems and had a vast inventory of used parts.
While I'd never buy one his hard hit wrecks I would buy a flood car if knowing it was properly repaired.
In Illinois they need to be inspected by a Secretary of State official(don't know their expertise)before a "re-built" title is issued.

 

IIRC the 60% number is what insurance companies, assuming they will write a policy at all, typically value a salvage vehicle.

In this part of the world there are a ton of salvage cars as they are cheap transportation.

Obviously a 550 is different, but maybe not as much as the seller wants to believe. There will be a large number of buyers, the majority I would say in fact, that simply would not consider a salvage title Ferrari. Period.

So already he has a much smaller potential market base. While Ferraris of this vintage may be a seller's market now, I'm not sure the salvage title cars share that enviable position for owners.

As we all know within the last couple of years the 550 has seen serious appreciation in value. The seller might be riding the wave up and holding out for the best price. But at the first hint the market for these cars have topped and are on the way down a bit, they will sell if they are smart. After that a buyer only has to wait on the way down and it shifts to a buyer's market. Might be 6 months, might be 6 years, but it will happen.

 

I looked at that one before my 456. It has a weird history. Most of the cheap 550s there seemed a bit seedy to me. There's this one riced-out one that keeps coming back too.

 

I think that there are different rules for valuing a salvaged supercar if properly reconstructed. But regarding this 550, $110,000 sounds high today. I wish that it was 60% of market, making my car worth $180,000. If it is flood damaged and it's been a few months, I'd conclude that whatever corrosion was going to occur had occurred. If everything works now, I suspect that it will continue to do so. There is no guarantee that an undamaged car will not have electrical corrosion issues. If this car was priced at $75,000, it would be more appropriate, IMO. Regarding these cars peaking and dropping again in value, I'm trying to recall any 12 cylinder Ferrari or ANY Ferrari for that matter that has bottomed out and then started to appreciate that has depreciated significantly thereafter. I'm not talking about auctions of one of a kind heritage cars. I'm talking about a model in general, as in all 250s, 275s, Daytonas, etc. All collectable cars eventually exceed their original purchase price. Next stop for the 550 is $200,000 for a driver.

 

I didn't see where anyone mentioned if the water damage was salt, brackish or fresh. I wouldn't even look at a car that had been exposed to the first two.

 

Testarossa and 512BB were around quarter million in theearly 90s and in the case of the 512 dropped to about half that a few years later, TR resumed normal depreciation down to $50-75k

 

Instead of spending anything close to 100k for a salvage you're better off buying his for 130k.

 

OK, I bought the car when I went to Florida this past weekend. I told the seller and Dino that I needed to be absolutely sure there was no water damage (as insisted upon by the the seller). That's the reason for the salvage title, according to AutoCheck. When the seller pulled down the passenger side floor panel, there was no question: no water damage. The fuse panels were pristine. No smell in the cockpit. Clean connectors in the engine compartment.

Included in the price is a complete service with belts and changing of all fluids, including bleeding brakes and clutch. Dino did say the clutch is about half-way worn, so I need to plan for that eventually.

I plan to drive this car, although not for 20 years as I likely won't live that long. (Yeah, I'm getting a little older.)

Either this is a huge risk, or I managed to find a good car whose price is lower only because of the title. By the way, no issue with getting the car insured. Did not need to get an auto loan as I paid cash.

I'll post more info when I get the car to CA in a couple of weeks.

 

I hope it will pass CA inspections with a tainted title. I am in Georgia and we cannot buy salvage or rebuilt Florida title cars. HUGE and expensive mandatory inspection process for Florida salvage and rebuilt cars is in place from the GA State DMV. Due to all the issues the Florida cars have.

We do not have inspections or emissions requirements where I live otherwise. So having to do anything other than pay the property tax at the dmv window is a huge pain and takes time off from work.

Good luck.

 

Shouldn't be a problem to title in CA. Our DMV cares only about three things, passing emissions, passing emissions and passing emissions. If it passes emissions, it will be good to go. I might try to title it at a AAA if at all possible.

 

its been taken as a total loss-I doubt you can borrow against it as an asset-strictly a "strength of signature" issue, in reality...
probably un-insuareable for/against capital loss...IMO...
As for resale: toxic...think RADIOACTIVE...As used car salesman call it: "it's sale-proof"
financially, it could be a bad deal if the guy GIVES you the car with respect to harness corrosion issues in a CAN networked vehicle
BAD idea-IMO

 

You forgot about $$$ and $$$ and $$$...

 

I'd have to imagine it's a huge issue. And water damage is enough to scare anyone.

 

In CA Auto Club (AAA) cannot/will not title an out of state vehicle. I purchased a clean no problem Utah Fcar and had a CA smog certificate in hand, they said it must be done at the DMV. So I am sure a clouded title out of state car is an issue for AAA.

Actually if you go to the DMV website there is a section to tell you what is necessary for a "salvage title" registration. I also was looking at a New Jersey flood damaged 612 OTO car with 1,500 miles which was "only minor damage" about a year ago. It was the color and equipment exactly what I wanted or would not have even considered the car. They were asking $140,000 and I offered $120,000 assuming the independent PPI checked out so I did a lot of research what was necessary to register a Salvage Title car in CA. It was not too big of problem and I would have paid cash so no finance issues. However the owner/restorer never got back to me to fly out and get the PPI done so either it would not pass a Fdealer PPI or they got their full price of $140,000? So continued looking until I found the car I purchased. In retrospect for me it worked out better for me but I really liked the other car but I am very happy with the car I did get.

Hope your 550 works out great for you. On that car it would be a good DD because of the title issues. Enjoy!