How does Rebuilt status work?
 

I am looking to buy a car from a used car dealer as my dad likes the G35 they have for sale. I personally would not buy a rebuilt status car but my dad insists that if it is a reasonable car, it is alright to do so.

I called the dealer up and they said the car is in rebuilt status because of a rear bumper damage that cost $3400 to fix.

My friend told me that a car is listed as rebuilt if the cost of repair is greater than 50% of the value of the car. I searched online and many people say their car was listed as rebuilt after only a headlight crack.

Can someone clarify for me how a rebuilt title actually works? It does not seem like there is a big relation between the cost of repair and how it is titled as rebuilt.

Thank you.

p.s. The advertisement is 2006 Infiniti G35 Fully Loaded low Km

Run Forest run!!! I guarantee there is more than $3500 in damage.

Look here
http://www.revscene.net/forums/68213...ealers-w5.html

It depends and there are a lot of variables. You can also never be too sure about why or how it was rebuilt.

Take this into consideration: Both my parents' cars have rebuilt status but we saw the process from start to finish.

1. Lexus RX300 (my dad's car) - He personally knew the owner and it was rear ended when he was on a family trip in Seattle. Car was rebuilt by a reputable shop and was dealer maintained. My dad ended up second owner.

2. Toyota Sienna - Our family in LA bought the car and it was a theft recovery. The VIN tags were stolen and the entire interior was stripped. Yes, there were some bumps, dings, and scratches but the car was as good as new.

Important thing to consider - how long will you keep the car? Because most people will shy away from rebuilt status (whatever that may entail.) My parents knew they wanted to keep the cars long term, minimum of 5 years. If you can get a great deal and find out the specifics of what happened and its repair details, go for it. You should definitely proceed with caution and try to pry out as much detail as possible.

IIRC, another member here was interested in a 1-series from a used car dealership, however they were able to provide a history and proof of damages and repairs. I think in the end, he didn't buy it but mind you, it was a 1-series BMW, not a G35 and more of a apples/oranges comparison. People saw the work estimate for parts and repairs and instantly ran away but considering it's a BMW, it was normal.

Good luck.

i wouldnt, especially on a newer car.

basically rebuilt status occurs when the damage is more than what icbc is willing to cover it that car becomes a "total loss" (not necessarily 50%) and the cars title becomes "salvage"
if the owner wishes to repair it then he can get it fixed out of his own pocket or whatever they agreed on with icbc, the car gets deemed to be road worthy again and now drives with the "rebuilt" status

like bcrdukes said it really depends on what you're planning on doing with the car and how it was fixed and what was fixed and how bad the damage is and where etc...

from the sounds of it, i dont think you're a professional in the business so unless you have a friend who is and you have all the history and proof of the damages and repair and he gives you the okay, and you dont ever plan on reselling it for even a fraction of what you paid.......... then buy it. but basically 1000 variables screaming at you not to do it. personally id pay 6000$ for that car specifically, or buck up and pay the extra 15000 grand for one with a clean title because id want to be able to sell it again.

One thing to keep in mind too - some people who end up trashing their cars may not report the damage to ICBC. They may simply pay for the repairs out of pocket and quite possibly paying the least amount of money as possible, neglecting the quality of repair and simply dumping it off to recoup their costs to the used car lot.

Silly situation: (not saying this is the case here though)

Guy A buys G35 worth $15,000.
Guy A gets rear ended.
ICBC takes car to approved shop A who want to charge out the ass and quote $9000 to fix everything.
ICBC says your car is a write off.
Guy A takes it to Shop B who is more reasonable and only charges $3400.
ICBC still considers the car a rebuild status.
Guy A will have no luck trying to ever sell this car even though it's only a $3k hit.

I've decided not to buy the car. Rebuilt title and a dealer just scares me. Thanks all for input.

Doesn't ICBC work with set rates?

Unless the shop charges for repairs that don't exist, but that's why ICBC is supposed to send out agents before any repair work starts, no?

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Not really sure. But no shop is going to give you an identical quote/rate. I'm sure there's shops with the mindset that if it's an ICBC repair, charge everything to the max.

My example was pretty extreme though too.

How does rebuild status work?

- Car is in serious accident.
- ICBC writes the car off.
- Shady body shop buys car and hacks it back together using cheap parts, used airbags (or maybe no airbags at all - they just stuff the old bags with filler and re-seal) and so on.
- Shady body shop contacts shady inspection facility and pays them to pass the car even though it's not safe.
- Car gets "sold" to another person (friend of body shop).
- This person then advertises the car for sale and sells it to unsuspecting victim.
- Victim now has a POS car that starts having problems. Contacts the person they bought it from who tells them the car was sold "as is" and they had "no knowledge" of any prior problems with car.


Now some people do end up with "rebuilt" cars which are properly repaired and can be a good (as bcrdukes posted above).

However, that's the exception. The vast majority of rebuilt cars are repaired and sold by crooks. There's just no other way to put it - they are criminals who call themselves body shops, inspectors or dealers. In all my years of inspecting cars and working with Transport Canada I can safely say that 90%+ rebuilt cars are garbage.

Unless you had the car repaired yourself, bought it from your uncle, or otherwise are intimately familiar with both the vehicle and who's working on it, stay far away.

We bought a brand new car in 2004, in 2005 (~25,000 kms on the ODO) my sister was doing a U-turn and got tboned on the rear D/S Q/P. A wheel literally fell off the car.

It was fixed, but became rebuilt status. We're still driving it today w/ 205,000 kms on it, trouble free.


Depends on the people fixing it I guess. If an ICBC approved shop fixes it, they'll go out of their way to fix it back to its previous mechanical and cosmetic state, whereas a 'cheap' body shop will just fix the cosmetics.

Also depends on the car really.. If it's a euro with active steering/electrically adjustable suspension I would probably shy away from say a TSX with theft-recovery (because the interior was stripped).. Way too many variables to give you a definite answer