'95 348 Spider for.......half the price??

Half the price? 348 spiders dont sell for $80K do they? I wouldnt buy one for $80K!

 

The left rear wheel is not centered in the wheel well. It might be more than just the claimed "front damage"

 

Nice one here in San Diego at US$64K.

I'd still be leery of getting into the listed car at $40K. It's not a "deal" - just a car priced for its undesirable history.

 

It is what it is. I have no problem with that. It would be interesting to see a file of pictures on what happened to it, and what was done on it, and to give it an inspection in person. Heck, I'd drive it.

 

Well its the same colour as a bananna and it will probably drive like a bent bananna too!

 

From the information we have seen, it is entirely possible that this car suffered only cosmetic damage (highly expensive damage to fix), and it might drive just fine. Or it might be a turd. Having a Salvage Title doesn't automatically make it a turd, it just means that it cost a lot of money to fix it. If the money was spent on it, it could be just fine. Maybe not as good as new, but no reason to throw it on the junk heap.

 

Talked to the owner today on the phone. This car had frame damage from the previous accident....going to look at it within next few days. Let me know if anyone is interested.

 

The guy with the car lives up the street from me. I sent him an email to check it out. I don't mind a salvage title, if it's nice, I'll be driving 348 soon.

 

I can definitely see problems with the way it was repaired. The front bumper to hood gap looks too large. Also the hood and headlights are not flush. There are some alignment problems between these components that either the repair shop was not careful about, or could be larger underlying problems. Whatever the case, tread carefully. I would definitely want this inspected by a good body shop, before proceding with a PPI by a mechanic.

 

ETIP: A few random thoughts on what to look for on this car, based on the seller's statement that it was "in a front end accident" and has a salvage title.

First, I would ask to see the title and compare the VIN number with the numbers stamped on the steering column cover, the ID plate in the left front door jamb, and the bar code sticker in the left rear door jamb. If the numbers don't match, or the ID plates are missing, don't go any further.

You probably won't be able to remove the trunk lining to check the quality of the repair work, so check all of the areas that you WILL be able to inspect. This means raising the headlights, looking inside the A/C condenser vent on the front bumper, checking the bolts where the front fenders mount onto the frame, checking the door jambs, etc. It is rather unlikely that you will NOT find any evidence of overspray, but you want to check for obvious signs of sloppy or incomplete work. Make sure that the headlights go up and down properly, and the buckets are not loose, and that the lights themselves are not broken (expensive!).

Look at the underside of the nose of the car - the wiring bundle runs right across from side to side at the very front, in a very vulnerable position. Check to see that it has not been mangled. The air horn is directly behind the "grille", check that it is undamaged.

Check to see that all of the splash panels are present and intact, in the wheel wells and around the A/C condenser.

It would be a good idea to give a close check to the seat belts, to make sure that the latches and inertia reels are OK after the accident.

Other than this, do the ordinary checks and inspections as you would do on any other used car, paying careful attention to the items up front, such as the air conditioning and ABS system.

Good luck, I'll be interested to read your report on what you find.

 

Thanks Jeff,
I will definately check those things.
The seller hasn't responded to any of my emails, which makes me rather suspect. To me, if I had a potential local buyer I would jump all over it, UNLESS... I didn't want to sell the car to someone who lived in my neighborhood (ie: car is too wrecked to sell to someone I might see).
The fact that he doesn't mention the frame damage in the ebay ad also makes me think that he is trying to cover up or gloss over some of the damages.

 

Excellent point. Not encouraging.

 

Etip,

call him at 206-749-9019. His name is Garret. I was going to look at his car a couple days ago but decide not to after he told me probably needed to change two new doors to cover up the gap between door and fender.

 

Hum... how would swapping doors make a gap shrink??? I could see re-hanging them, but if the gap is distorted due to frame damage...
It really doesn't appear to be that good of a deal. I think I'm done pursuing this car...

 

Etip, I think that is best...move on. The car has some obvious issues with the cosmetics, that leads me to believe the repairs were either done on the cheap or worse, by someone with less than stellar repair skills...

The thing to remember about cars that have "salvage" titles: if it made economic sense to fix it correctly in the first place, it would have been. The fact that it now has a "salvage" title means it did not make economic sense...so unless it was repaired by someone in the body shop business that did this in his/her free time, then some serious compromises had to be made to get this car back on the road without breaking the bank.

Sure there are the occaisional exceptions to this rule, but they are VERY rare. For the uninitiated (which includes me) it is best to stay away from these cars.