[punkassjim]

Since I have SOME faith in humanity, I have not locked this poll. Please don't be rude with your additions.
Here's the deal: I found a 2001 Jetta Wolfsburg today, totaled, salvage title. The car runs fine, the motor and everything under the hood is fine, with the following exception: the driver's inner CV joint is destroyed, and the control arm is probably bad as well.
The exterior of the car is pretty bad, meaning just about ALL of the body panels are dented or dented badly and need replacing...this includes the roof, sunroof glass and the windshield. Two doors are effected badly, a third not bad at all.
EDIT: if anything breaks the deal, it's going to be the roofline. that's the only thing I know I can't fix myself.
The place that has this car also has another car of the same color which has MOST of the body panels, glass and doors that I'll need. In the rest of their lot, I can most likely find the rest, complete, but not the same body color.
Here are the pictures:
http://homepage.mac.com/theoptimist/carpix/jwe/
And a shot to lure people in:

How much would you pay for this car (before buying the body panels, etc, to fix it)?
Modified by punkassjim at 6:27 AM 5-13-2003


Modified by punkassjim at 6:29 AM 5-13-2003

 

[punkassjim]

Re: Should I buy this Jetta? Vote on a reasonable price. (punkassjim)

oh, and I should say: the interior is IMPECCABLE, the BBS RXII's have almost NO curbage, it's a stick, it's got an upgraded-from-stock steering wheel and column (tilt/telescoping and three-spoke)...if I recall more, I will post it.

 

[SAPJetta]

Re: Should I buy this Jetta? Vote on a reasonable price. (punkassjim)

I personally wouldn't buy a salvage title vehicle unless I planned on it being a second car or project car. As a primary car, I wouldn't do it. If whatever happened to it, messed up nearly every panel on the car, then there is bound to be many more problems with it than you initially expect.
My personal opinion is that I wouldn't do it at all. If you are going to buy it though, I would say $3500. You are basically buying the motor/transmission.

 

[punkassjim]

Re: Should I buy this Jetta? Vote on a reasonable price. (SAPJetta)

My daily driver is in my sig. If the Jetta happens (yes, I'm still debating), and it works out, then that becomes my daily, and the GTI becomes the project car/winter rat. But that will take time to sort out, feeling out the problems and fixing them. Keep 'em coming, thanks!

 

[Firestarter]

Re: Should I buy this Jetta? Vote on a reasonable price. (punkassjim)

It sounds like it'd be worth a fair amount for parts alone. If it's going to be a second car, then go for it...it's not meant to be perfect.

 

[MALLMAN]

Re: Should I buy this Jetta? Vote on a reasonable price. (punkassjim)

buy it and build up the motor, and spray paint it flat black and have an almost new mad sleeper, mad beater mk4. that would be cool.
but seriously, the amount it will cost you to do all the work, is going to be more than just buying another one with a salvage title that wasnt crashed as bad.
dave

 

[CoolWhiteJetta1.8T]

Re: Should I buy this Jetta? Vote on a reasonable price. (punkassjim)

NO!!!! Don't get that car, you will be sorry to the day you get rid of it if you do. I know someone who did this, trying to get something for nothing. It backfired in his face eventually, and he couldn't even rocoup his losses when selling it. http://****************.com/smile/emthdown.gif

 

[punkassjim]

Re: Should I buy this Jetta? Vote on a reasonable price. (CoolWhiteJetta1.8T)

I'm not trying to get something for nothing...I'm trying to get an '01 Wolfsburg in presentable condition for 5 grand. And I'm not blind or ignorant. I know enough to check the damn thing from top to bottom before buying it.
Motor is perfect, turbo and intercooler perfect, entire interior and electrical system: perfect. Even the wheels are not bent. Broken glass all over, bent body panels all over. I will see what is under those body panels, and I will find out if it is all intact. If it IS intact, I seriously have to at least consider it, because I believe a salvage titled Wolfsburg in near-perfect condition for 5-6k is a good deal.
What I want to know is, am I right?
Is a near-perfect WE Jetta for 5-6k (with salvage title) a good deal?
PS--waiting for a better-condition totaled car is like waiting for Godot. It's not going to happen, and if it does, it's not going to cost this little. And...people who can't recoup their losses either a) made a bad purchase, or b) sold it off too fast. It takes patience to buy and to sell.

 

[ShockWaveVT]

Re: Should I buy this Jetta? Vote on a reasonable price. (punkassjim)

Quote, originally posted by punkassjim »

oh, and I should say: the interior is IMPECCABLE, the BBS RXII's have almost NO curbage, it's a stick, it's got an upgraded-from-stock steering wheel and column (tilt/telescoping and three-spoke)...if I recall more, I will post it.

just FYI
1. all Jetta Wolfsburgs are 5-speed manuals
2. all Jettas come with tilt/telescoping steering wheels
3. all Jetta Wolfsburgs have 3-spoke steering wheels

 

[punkassjim]

Re: Should I buy this Jetta? Vote on a reasonable price. (ShockWaveVT)

good to know.
I'm an A3 guy, so these newfangled contraptions are foreign in my land.
I am Lothar.
Of the HILL People!

 

[punkassjim]

Re: Should I buy this Jetta? Vote on a reasonable price. (SAPJetta)

SAPJetta: I peeped it...and it is so cool. Funny thing is, your car IS this car I'm looking at. So don't look at the pictures. It might make you sad to see your baby all mangled.

 

[SAPJetta]

Re: Should I buy this Jetta? Vote on a reasonable price. (punkassjim)

I just opened this back up again to see the responses and it does make me sad to see it all mangled

Didn't realize that this would be a second car, or perhaps primary depending on certain things. I still don't know if I would do it, but if the frame is straight and you could build that thing back to new for 5-6k, maybe it is worth it. That is if you are planning on keeping it. If you are just getting it to repair and sell, I honestly don't know if it would be worth the trouble.
What happened to the car anyhow.....

 

[kyokoris]

Re: Should I buy this Jetta? Vote on a reasonable price. (punkassjim)

i'd pay less then 2500...
you can buy it, sell the rims, the engine, the tranny, the brakes, and ECU and ending up with more money, and also you can sell those CD player, etc etc, you get the idea

 

[punkassjim]

Re: Should I buy this Jetta? Vote on a reasonable price. (SAPJetta)

I'm going to ask them tomorrow if I can get some time to shoot the breeze with the dude. they bought it at auction, so I'm pretty sure they have an idea what the history is, at least the basics. My theory is that it lost control on icy pavement and got rolled into a ditch (soft enough to spare the frame and unibody, but hard enough to dent the panels). And I'm guessing the roofline got pulled when they brought it outta the ditch...caught on a tree ersumthin. All just speculation, though.

 

[eastcoastbumps]

Re: Should I buy this Jetta? Vote on a reasonable price. (punkassjim)

You should be able to get a report from the insurance company that totaled it listing all the parts that the car will need. Every salvage (not rebuilt) car has one. You are intitled to see it and have a copy if you are considering buying it. You should also try and get in touch with the adjuster who totaled it.
I bought a flood damaged '00 GLX GTi last summer. I paid way too much for it. $10,900. It needed a new front bumper, front tires, ECM, alternator, battery and a wash from head to toe. It didn't have any electrical bugs so to speak when I looked at it. No problems showed up while I owned it either. After tallying up the bill I had spent about the same as what a used GTi went for. There was no way that I could recoop the money I spent. In hind sight, I should have paid less for the car (a lot less) and done all the work myself. I wasn't confident in my abilites and left it up to my mechanic to get the work done.
If you can get the car cheap and do the work yourself then I'd go for it.
Pete

 

[punkassjim]

Re: Should I buy this Jetta? Vote on a reasonable price. (eastcoastbumps)

the other thing is, since I won't be financing it, it'll cost what it costs...not 1.5 times what it costs. My current GTI (10,900 sticker) ended up costing me about 15k with the high interest I had to pay. If I can make the Wolfsburg work for me at about 5-7k total investment, I think I'd be infinitely happy. But ignorance is bliss, so please, everyone chime in. This all is helping, thank you all.

 

[punkassjim]

Re: Should I buy this Jetta? Vote on a reasonable price. (kyokoris)

Quote, originally posted by kyokoris »

i'd pay less then 2500... you can buy it, sell the rims, the engine, the tranny, the brakes, and ECU and ending up with more money, and also you can sell those CD player, etc etc, you get the idea

of COURSE that'd be a good deal...but what you're talking about is an out-of-this-world type of deal. This seller is not stupid.
In the A3 forum and hybrid/swap forum, I have always lusted after the 1.8T swaps and the VR swaps, cause my n/a 8v 2.0 is just not enough for my driving style. If I wanted to buy the motor and all the fixins for the swap (they said they'd include the rims too), they said it'd be $2000 for that. From what I've heard about the average 1.8T swap in the A3 forum, I'd say that's a good deal with those rims thrown in...aren't they like $300 apiece from the dealer?
But I'm not looking for a swap anymore, so it's probably moot.
oh yeah, and my current car has a salvage title because I totaled it in December. But I have since fixed the front end, and it's almost perfect again. This is why cosmetic stuff doesn't bother me, and a salvage title means even less to me if I know the car is good. The question is, is the car good?


Modified by punkassjim at 8:42 AM 5-13-2003

 

[rgrubb]

Re: Should I buy this Jetta? Vote on a reasonable price. (punkassjim)

Just so you know I just got my car back and I had the following replaced:
Fender, Bumper, 337 Lip, Door, Full Left Suspension, 2 New Montreal II's, 1 New Tire, New Brake Line, New Control Arm, Painting, Labor and it was 9K worth of damage. Don't buy that car, it'll cost you like 12K to fix it after the 2.5K to buy you're looking at 14.5 for a car with a salvage title. Bad move man

 

[stephenSI]

Re: Should I buy this Jetta? Vote on a reasonable price. (punkassjim)

if you can get it for 2000, you can make money on the parts and motor.

 

[punkassjim]

Re: Should I buy this Jetta? Vote on a reasonable price. (rgrubb)

Quote, originally posted by rgrubb »

Just so you know I just got my car back and I had the following replaced: Fender, Bumper, 337 Lip, Door, Full Left Suspension, 2 New Montreal II's, 1 New Tire, New Brake Line, New Control Arm, Painting, Labor and it was 9K worth of damage. Don't buy that car, it'll cost you like 12K to fix it after the 2.5K to buy you're looking at 14.5 for a car with a salvage title. Bad move man

When you damage your own car, and you have a responsibility to your insurance company (and more importantly, they to you), you almost have no choice but to take it to a repair shop. That is why your repairs cost you $9,000. I would not be going to a repair shop. They'd rape me. And I know how to do the work myself, so...WHY?
The repairs to this car can be done almost entirely by me, on the premesis at the junkyard. No paint work required, because the parts cars are the same color. I can swap doors and glass, I've done it before. I can swap fenders, I've done that before too. I can replace the CV Joint and Control Arm with enough time and patience. The only thing that will cost me labor and paint will be the roof and the rear quarter-panels, which I'm pretty sure I can't do myself.
A junkyard is not going to sell a car like that at $2000 or $2500, because they know very well that they can just let it sit there and get scavenged, and over time it will yield them over $4000 easily. The 1.8T will get pulled immediately and sold for $2000 with all components necessary for a swap. People buy motors from them all the time. After that, the interior will get sold, and the rest of the car will bring in money too.
As I said, I totaled my car in December. My insurance company estimated the damages at $4500. I bought a parts car for $250 and made investments in the tools I didn't already own. For $250, my car is back on the road with a new radiator support, radiator, AC condenser, alternator, and other odds and ends. The temporary trade-off is that I have some residual bumps on my hood and my fender has a small ugly spot. But $250 is about what I paid.


Modified by punkassjim at 9:15 AM 5-13-2003