Value of a 2005 ZHP with rebuilt title?

[Jweso]

I'm new to BMW and the zhp scene. Looking at purchasing an '05 330i zhp with a reconstructed title. Red, 97,000 miles. $11,000. Ad can be seen here:
http://portland.craigslist.org/clc/cto/2499780466.html

Anyone have thoughts? Too much? Good deal? We were told the car had left rear damage to quarter panel and bumper. No frame damage.

Jason

[Marcus-SanDiego]

Jason, I find rebuilt/branded titles to be the toughest to value. It's more of an art than a science in my opinion.

In my case, I stay away from lemons, rebuilts, etc. That said, if I KNEW -- KNEW -- that I would never resell it, I would own one.

As for value, though, you need to figure out what a non-branded ZHP with nearly 100,000 miles would fetch. Then you can apply the branded-title discount after that.

A west coast ZHP with about 100K miles probably goes for about $12,500-$13,000. Only you can figure out what discount to give the car after that. Will you be keeping the car indefinitely? Will it be a headache to sell down the road? Those are all things that should be considered.

Good luck with it.

[95m3ltw]

50 to 70% book value. Many factors to consider and never assume the work is correct even if the car "looks" good. I have owned a couple reconstructed cars, but I bought them wrecked and fixed them myself. I also would not buy any rebuilt car unless they had the full set of before pictures so you know the extent of damage/repair.

[trancenation]

still salvage imo. You never know what types of things the seller or previous owners could be hiding. It's a matter of trusting their word for how much damage was sustained. I think it should go for about 9.5

[pleasecorrupt]

Even 9.5 i think is too much considering not that long ago someone was trying to get rid of a salvage title zhp with 38k miles for around 13k

[Marcus-SanDiego]

^^ And, if I recall correctly, that guy was all over the map with the valuation, too. I think he listed the car several times -- at different prices.

Feels like a crapshoot with these cars. But good advice in this thread.

[danewilson77]

$8k

HTC Thunderbolt+TT

[MasterC17]

You can buy mine for $1,000,000!

In all seriousness, a salvage title typically deducts about 20%-25% from a cars normal value. Therefore, I would say the price isn't too bad but don't buy it without looking at it. Make sure to look for all the little things in the spot it was hit as those are what are typically missed, and if it's missing them chances are the shop that did it didn't do a very good job. Obviously, make sure it drives straight and doesn't pull at all.

[Marcus-SanDiego]

See? Even in this thread, with educated people, we don't agree on a number to value these. One member has 50%-70% of book value. Another member has 75%-80% of book value.

Do we have any insurance industry people on our forum? Maybe one of them can weigh in too. I'd love to nail down a good rule of thumb.

Keep the dialogue going, guys.

[llll1l1ll]

My E30 has a salvage title but it wasn't badly damaged. The insurance company doesn't value a car like mine well, so even if I get a scratch or a small dent that's technically totaling my vehicle. Still drives fine, though, and doesn't have any abnormal tire wear or handling characteristics.

I know E46s and E30s is like apples to oranges, but I'm just throwing in my .02 when it comes to salvage titles. Like MasterC17 (Globemaster?) said: just make sure it doesn't pull and it drives straight, and keep an eye on the area where it got hit.

[HaloArchive]

Salvage/Rebuilt is usually worth a subtraction of 35 to 55 percent book value, determining factors would be severity of accident, owners knowledge of it, as well as maintenance records, current state of vehicle condition and a few others.

[Marcus-SanDiego]

And Shelton has a different valuation for these cars, too. Now I see why salvage prices are all over the map.

[Jweso]

Thanks everybody. This is all good advice. My internet searching found that a salvage/rebuilt title could range anywhere from 25%-50% reduction. This standard is supposedly recognized by a number of automobile associations, KBB, etc. Don't have the link to where I saw that. I can only assume that the big range would be driven by the severity of the accident on a car-by-car basis.

We will see the car tonight. Also getting a CARFAX. If we proceed, we will be getting a thorough inspection.

[Marcus-SanDiego]

Jason, good luck with whatever you do.

[pleasecorrupt]

If I were you, I would consider the following question what has been asked very seriously and that is whether you're going to drive it to the grave or want to get rid of it later on. Especially with the milage of this specific car, it would be highly advised to wait on a car with similar milage and a little more and be able to sell it in the long run, but if you're going to drive it till it can't run anymore, roll down the windows and leave it in a bad part of the neighborhood then it'd be best to save the few grand now (assuming the car is mechanically well and will run for a while.)