To buy or not to buy

[JhanJo]

I found the car I want on line. 2008 Mustang with 35K miles. The pictures look great but carfax says it was wrecked a year and a half ago, front end impact with another vehicle airbag deployed.

Is this a huge red flag? The owner did drive the car for a year and a half after having it repaired. The car is 3 hours away and I don't want to waste time going to check out something that I ought to leave alone. What kind of impact does it take for airbag deployment?

[LearnAutoBody]

It does not take too much to deploy the air bag. If the car was repaired correctly, you should be alright. The thing is that you do not what quality of repairs were made on the car. I would probably try to find out where the car was repaired and ask them about the car. To determine if the shops is reputable check to see if they are a I-CAR or ASE shop. Most shops are legitimate, there are only a few that gives the entire industry a bad name. You may want o have someone inspect the car before you buy it. Make sure the airbags have been replaced. Ask if it has a salvage title, this is when the car was determined a total loss by the insurance company, but the car was rebuilt by a shop. If this is the case, the car is not going to resell as well if you should ever want to sell it.

It might make a great car for you, but I would do a little research before buying. I would start by asking where the car was repaired and giving the repair shop a call.