What is Rebuilt title?

Question

Hi, folks

I going to buy a sedan car. The seller said it is Rebuilt title. What's Rebuilt title car? Any problem?

Answer 1

A rebuilt, salvage or reconstructed are all the same types of title. It means the vehicle was hit, stolen, flood or vandalized. We sell some R-title cars/trucks but we have a tough state certification in PA and we avoid frame damage and blown air bags. Most accidents are cosmetic damage such as fenders, grill bumpers. As long as the car was done right by a certified bodyshop the cars are usually good. If the bodyshop did sloppy work or cut corners you could and usually do have problems. But you have to remember that any R-title car is usually unfinanceable thru banks, the value of any R-title car/truck is 50% of the true wholesale value of a non-R-title car. Do not be misled by any dealer telling you that it has a warranty on it, any R-title car can get a warranty on it, it has nothing to do with how it was fixed, the warranty only covers the things that are not body or frame related. Flood cars are a different breed altogether. Flood car usually do not have body damage, the problem they are prone to is usually computer and or electrical problems later down the road. If you buy a R-title carand it was fixed right you will save a lot of money but after a few years it will even out as far as price goes. I have a 1997 Ford Explorer with 87,000 fully loaded, it had only cosmetic damage and I've been driving it for almost 1 year with not a single problem. My daughter has a 2004 Explorer and when I got it for her with repairs it cost her only 4,100 for a vehicle that has every option. If you plan on keeping it for awhile it it well worth it, but if you are looking to buy it cheap then trade it on a newer car you will lose out because of it being R-title. Have it chercked out before buying by a certified body shop an or mechanic.

Answer 2

Some states allow a person to purchase a vehicle with a salvage title, make the necessary repairs to make the vehicle road worthy, and have the title changed from salvage to rebuilt.

Rebuilt titles have an adverse effect on the value of the car. Also, some banks will not lend money on a vehicle with a rebuilt title.

It might be worth your investment to run a car fax report on the vehicle. Was it in a flood, was it rolled, was it stolen, did it have fire damage? All good questions to find out.

Good luck

Answer 3

The vehicle was a total loss to the insurance company due to damage by accident, fire or flood. It will be very hard to insure as it has been written off once. Book values do not show what they are worth as their resale value is normally less than half of a clean title car. They can be a real money-pit. Checking the history through a service like Carfax won't necessarily show what all has happened to it. They are only able to report what has been reported to them. If a car was wrecked and repaired without being put into the system, the Carfax report would come back "clean".

Answer 4

Some states call it a salvage title.

It has been wrecked and repaired to be legally drivable on the roads again.