Salvage Car of the Week x2

admin    Salvage car of the week    

This week I’ve picked two of Salvage Car’s of the week.
One complete dream car, and another more down to earth salvage project.

Ferrari F430 F1
A 2005 4.3 litre beast of a car. Although in somewhat of a bad shape at the moment. Definitely in need of some TLC

Its got some pretty substantial damage. But then, if you are going to own a car like this, you have to drive it properly, meaning if you get it wrong, its going to go very wrong!

Damage
o/s/f wing, o/s/f suspension, A post, o/s door, o/s door?, o/s door glass, bonnet,front bumper, rads, headlight, windscreen,both airbags,roof,alloys,floor, o/s/r suspension,roof dented and kinks, mileage unknown.

Currently on: www.bluecycle.com
Auction: bids currently at £39k.
Ends: 1st September at 09.06

2006 Mitsubishi Lancer 2.0 Sport

An immaculate (pre-accident) example of a Lancer. Minor front end damage, only a couple of years old with low mileage (£14K)
Good re-sale opportunity because with the launch of the Evo X, the Lancer has hit the spotlight.
Only minor repairs are required, and its priced competitively.

Damage
Light drivers side frontal. Parts have been removed for inspection

Currently on: www.qualitysalvage.net
Price: £2,975

In my opinion, so long as you can get hold of the few parts required for repair, it would make a good first salvage car.

Checking a cars history

admin    Salvage    

Before buying any damaged repairable car you need to thoroughly check the cars history, not only is this to reinforce or check what the salvage yard is stating about the car, e.g. Stolen & Recovered, or vehicle category.

You will be surprised just how many salvage yards are unsure of the car’s salvage category, and this makes a big difference when looking to price repairs, and potentially your profit if you intend to sell on.

Likewise, if a salvage yard says its unrecorded, always run a check to ensure this definitely is the case. There would be nothing worse than paying a premium for what is supposed to be an unrecorded (Cat X) car, and finding its actually recorded.

I’ve compiled a quick overview of all the main car history sites, with a few comments over which I feel are best suited to checking a cars history.
Please note: these are just my opinions…

HPI Check – £19.99

Very detailed report, and In my opinion the best for checking a car’s history. Available online and on the phone, and you get a very detailed report. See one here. A little expensive at almost £20, but very advisable if you are looking at buying an unrecorded car with the intention of selling on. The certificate will prove invaluable when coming to sell the car. Likewise when supporting the sale of a recorded car, it also looks good attached with the history and repair paperwork, and helps reinforce confidence on the behalf of the potential buyer.

mycarcheck.com – £3.95

Dead cheap and provided by one of the biggest (but least known) names in insurance. CDL (Cheshire Data Limited) provide the IT infrastructure for a lot of the biggest insurers, so they definitely know their stuff.
Very simple online check, more basic than HPI, but good if you are speculating about buying a car, and just want to make a quick check before progressing any further with the purchase.

AutoCheck – £19.99

Another quite expensive history check. Although extremely thorough report, and provided by one of the biggest Data companies in the UK. They have access to so much data its scary! Report provided easily online, and they were also recently awarded the Auto Express Best Buy award.
Currently running a deal for £24.95 to check history on up to 5 cars, so good if you haven’t quite made your mind up over which car you would like, or likewise if you are looking to buy multiple salvage vehicles.

The Check.co.uk – £3

Excellent service which sends car history direct to your mobile. SO excellent if you are on the move, or are at a salvage yard and spot something which takes your fancy! To use the service text DRIVEBUY space (Enter Registration number) and text to 83600.
I’ve used this service many times, its accurate, provides all the basic info, and is great for running a quick check on a car.

One point of note, if you are looking to buy an expensive or particularly exotic damaged car, I’d always recommend going for the full HPI, as it will be worth the extra money in the long run.
Although I’ve had no issues with the text services, It just doesn’t provide the level of detail as provided by HPI or Autocheck.

Watch out – some salvage cars may be listed as un-recorded, or may not show on the registers as recorded, but don’t assume this will always be the case. Some companies/insurers are known to be slow to register cars as write-off or uneconomical repairs. I haven’t heard of this happening often, but just something to consider.

Buying a salvage car from e-bay

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e-Bay often have lots of quality damaged repairable cars for sale, many from reputable UK salvage yards. However, when buying from e-bay there are a few basic rules to which you should stick. Ive had some experience, and these have always helped me bag a bargain. Hope you also find them useful.

1. The basics first, check the sellers feedback score. Although e-bay have recently banned anybody leaving negative feedback, its still a good indication on whether the seller is genuine, and describes items accurately and truthfully.

2. Check the location of the car or parts before bidding. There is nothing worse than bidding on a car and finding its 500 miles away, and that you cant view before buying.

3. I wouldn’t ever recommend buying without viewing the car first! Buying a non-damaged car off e-bay is risky at the best of times, as you are trusting the seller to describe the car 100% accurately. With a damaged car its very hard to fully describe/show the true extent of the damage in a few paragraphs & pictures, so always make sure toy view before bidding.

4. If you do still want to go ahead and buy a car you cant inspect, make sure you know a local expert who can insect the car for you. Some local mechanics or bodyshop may help you out for a small fee. (Mechanics or bodyshop owners, if you would like to list your inspection services and associated fee’s on wrecks2riches.co.uk please leave a comment on this post and I will happily start a regional directory)

5. This is more related to parts than anything else, but think very seriously before sending money overseas for car parts! If there really is no other option (which is often the case for more exotic cars). I would suggest you place a deposit, and pay remainder on receipt of the goods. I would never advocate sending full payment for parts overseas, the risk of parts not turning up, or for them being damaged in transit is just too big.

6. Do your homework on how much the car will be worth once repaired. Often once you have factored in parts and labour it will be almost as much as buying an un-damaged example.

7. Don’t get carried away in the bidding process. Its really easy to set your heart on a dream car. Set yourself a ceiling price, and make sure you stick to it. Its so easy to get carried away and overpay for a damaged car, before you know it any potential profit you may have made is quickly eroded.

8. Ask as many question as you need to be satisfied of the history of the car, and try to get as many pictures of the damage as possible. Not only do these help you gauge the extent of the repairs required. They also prove very handy when selling the car, as they show any potential buyer the state of the damage prior to repair.

If you stick to these few golden rules, you should be able to find many a good damaged repairable car on e-bay.

Salvage Car of the Week – BMW Z4M 3.2

admin    Salvage car of the week    

I personally have a big soft spot for the Z4, most notably because I own one.

Here is an example of one of the best Z4′s, a 3.2 litre //M Coupe. Featuring the same 3.2 engine that was in the e46 M3.

This car is available currently on bluecycle.com (Salvage Auction Website) and is ready for collection from Ewhurst.

Damage: WATER DAMAGE UP TO LOWER DASH, ODD MARKS ALL ROUND, HAS KEY, ENG STARTED.

Auction end: 21/08/2008 09:13

Current price: £5.510.00

Although the car i only flood damaged, don’t be fooled that this will necessarily be an easy repair. Although the bodywork is intact, the issues will be electrical problems, and with a car flooded so substantially, there are bound to be a few!

That said, the engine is said to still start which is promising. However, I would suggest that anybody looking to buy a flood damaged car goes and inspects the car personally, and pays very close attention to all electrical functions.

For more tips on repairing and cleaning flood damaged cars, there is a very useful guide here.