Bad News on Carfax - Walk away?

[rustybeater]

I had a friend at a dealership run the vin on a Prelude for me and it came back salvage title. Front end collision with another vehicle, and then the curb. The accident happened in 1994 in Wisconsin. The car is a 1993, and I'm assuming if it's been driven for the last 12 years since the accident without another thing showing up on carfax that the damage was not too extensive.

Half of me still wants to buy the car but negotiate the price down, the other half is screaming get my deposit back and walk away. I need help!

[ShoofIsLudin]

I'd further inspect the car, don't be afraid to get dirty and look around. If it does have a problem, and you buy it without looking at everything, you could be paying someone else a lot of money to fix the problem. Look for repair work. The metal from repair will not look the same as the original. even if they painted it, you'll still be able to see correction lines (welds, grinding, etc..) Please test drive the car...make sure it goes straight, and doesn't bump or make noises while driving. If you can't drive it, start it on the lot, and let it warm up to operating temp, and see if it has any check engine lights, ABS lights, brake lights. Check everything including AC and heat. Windows, mirrors, sunroof, just check everything.

How ever, if it was repaired correctly, there's nothing wrong with a salvage title other than it has been in an accident before, and you're getting it cheaper. Just take a good look through out it. You don't have to be a professional mechanic, just look for how dirty things are, how worn hoses and lines and belts are, make sure it doesn't make any funny noises if you can drive it. If you have any other questions ask away.

[rustybeater]

I drove it and everything seemed fine. There was a squeak in the dash on bumps but I figured that's normal for a 13 year old car, and there was a slight rattle from the exhaust, which is aftermarket so I just thought maybe a flange is a little loose or something. Other than that it really seemed like everything was ok. The underbody was free of rust, I noticed some red spray on the radiator, which I mentioned to the owner but he said it had been in no accidents. I'm thinking this guy might not even know the history of the vehicle far enough back to know there was an accident. The title is clear, NY state, but carfax said salvage title as result of front end collision in wisconsin. I really like the car but I'm not going to take it because I can't risk it knowing what I know.

[ShoofIsLudin]

probably a wise decision. How much did they want for it?

[rustybeater]

4000, but now that I have the carfax and I see that it was in a front impact with another vehicle and hit a curb, then was titled in 6 different states over 10 years I'm definitely going to pass. Thank God for carfax cause I was ready to buy. That would have been a bad lesson to learn.

[ShoofIsLudin]

yea i think so too. When I bought my lude, I had it no more than 1 month and boom goes the h23 at 6700rpm. It say for 4 months before the h22a got dropped in than sat for another month because we couldn't figure everything out.