Written Off Registers and thoughts on buying these cars

[symsy]

I have a couple of connections that have cars that are written off ..  one early car and one a late 2008 car.  Both repairable or technical write offs.

Both cars are collectable and of value , both mint or could be mint and to most people , you would never know ....as these are not structural write offs

There is a chance both can be reregistered and one may have already been reregistered but hasnt been on the road for some years.

In both cases car are technically written off as a $12 Porsche of years ago looked like it cost $13 to repair of one of these cars a 997 turbo , the insurance payout obviously seemed more attractive at 250k+ for a 180k wholesale car.

My question to you all is what your views and general feelings on buying a car thats been written off?

Would you?

How much discount would you want , even if the car passed a PPI with flying colours?

 

 

 

 

[tazzieman]

Depends

[TwoHeadsTas]

In my search for an 00-02 996 I've considered this too.    I think that I would want full disclosure and all documentation such as before / after alignment rack documentation / photos of readouts etc, detail of source of replacement panels (genuine vs aftermarket), details of other part replacements (new, s/h, genuine, after market etc) and of course who did the repairs - word of mouth / personal knowledge will have to be factored in heavily too I would think.

As an example, the sort of cars I'm looking at - say value around $50k for an excellent, unrepaired car, I would factor in a RWOV value reduction of $10-$15k - say 20-25%, which would appear to be a similar discount factor for a UK import........

997 Turbo $, I have no idea though....

Peter in Tassie

 

[StevepGT3]

I would only ever buy one if I had absolutely no intention of ever selling it,as dealing with " superstitious native " buyers is bad enough when there are zero stories associated with a car, depends on how you are personally wired.

[TINGY]

There is always a stigma surrounding these cars, bit of a shame if most of the damage is only cosmetic and no major structural damage, if it was major i wouldn't want it.

[rafikdous]

I would only ever buy one if I had absolutely no intention of ever selling it,as dealing with " superstitious native " buyers is bad enough when there are zero stories associated with a car, depends on how you are personally wired.

I agree, selling it will be the biggest challange

[StevepGT3]

I agree, selling it will be the biggest challange

Unless it`s a genuine 50% discount, then it would make it an easy buy,easy sell proposition. I looked at a few bikes recently that were Statutory wright offs, and the ones that were offering between 10-25% off are still for sale 12 +  months on.

Actually I think that the register-able ones are termed  Repairable Wright off`s

[jakroo]

A car could be written off simply due to economics. 

A car damaged by hail whereby all panels (and the roof) need to fixed is a common way to lose a car to the wrecker.....There's no reason that once the panels are fixed that the car shouldn't live a fully functional and long life.

A car that has some internal damage to an engine could be written off due to the cost of the replacement.

My Evo was almost written off after a sideways glance to my rear quarter area.  2 panels needed to be replaced but the big thing was the yaw control and differential control systems.  They are located in that area, and got smashed.  They are expensive and simply put the car became a financial equation on repair or not.

 

[Rod C]

Stigma is long forgotten at the right price except for maybe a 356 Speedster where stigma is long forgotten at any price.?

[Zelrik911]

Stigma is long forgotten at the right price except for maybe a 356 Speedster where stigma is long forgotten at any price.?

But I think the stigma will never be forgotten, especially if you want to /have to sell through the normal proceedures. But I wonder what happens when a write-off car becomes a Historic/Classic car, do you have disclose the cars past?

[TINGY]

Stigma is long forgotten at the right price except for maybe a 356 Speedster where stigma is long forgotten at any price.?

It might be longforgotten for the current owner, wait until you sell it.

Look at the silver 996 thats on carsales, been sitting for months with full disclosure.

[edgy]

Realistically, I think you need to be talking about being in it for about 40% less to make sense. 

Are the cars repaired and registered again? Because if they are not, there is very, very limited circumstances that will allow you to re-register a car that has hit the register. 

 

[deano]

what about a write off due to flood damage? It seems everyday Qld is in the news for floods.

I think i'd have a go at that, if price was ok.

We bought a cosmetic repairable  writeoff  from the auctions (Toyota camry wagon) when I was young.

With a little tlc, and a respray, it served us well as a family wagon when we were just starting out.

I remember being told of a car that was written off when it had only had a minor collision.

The problem was the new tin of paint that had just been purchased went everywhere.

The cost a a new interior basically made it uneconomical to repair.

[GUT]

I have one

Zero panel damage

Minor electrical damage that must have seemed a good excuse to get a payout - alarm unit replaced and bingo, good to go.

12 years post re-registration and no sign of any residual issues whatsoever 

Funny that we’re comfortable with ground up restos of basket case shells for desirable cars but we run for the hills if the number’s on a register because of a simple value proposition that might have made sense back when it happened but not today.

Case by case

I would hesitate for a flip.

I wouldn’t hesitate for a really desirable car that I wanted if the repair was top notch.

Would you have bought and restored the DB5 had it been on a register?

Would you have let it go for 40% less than market?

[reggiegums]

I have one too.

But have no idea the reason for it. Is there a way to find out?

Got a PPI and the mechanic could not tell and another mechanic I went to also couldn't tell. So whats the issue.

Got it for cheap and I'll sell it for cheap, if I ever do.

It also loses the stigma the older the car gets.

Would buy another without hesitation if the PPI came out decent. 25%-30% discount is about right.

 

[LeeM]

 I'm with Mr Gut in that we all would buy a basket case resto if it pushed our buttons.

 My other brain says if I was in the market for a newer car (996/997 etc) I wouldn't touch a fix and flip car unless it was stupidly cheap, or there was verifiable, itemized documentation of what was repaired. Flood damage I'd personally stay well away from unless the whole look and electrics were replaced 

 

 

[TwoHeadsTas]

It might be longforgotten for the current owner, wait until you sell it.

Look at the silver 996 thats on carsales, been sitting for months with full disclosure.

Trying to arrange to have a look at that one when I'm over in a couple of weeks.  Mileage right, transmission right, colour OK, a couple of years older than I wanted, but if the price is right and the info provided on the repairs is right, I could well make an offer...  Plenty of room to then do the IMS if appropriate...

Hope to also discuss similar a 996.2, which I have full repair details on, just ned to convince owner to sell   Right engine, trans and kms, wrong colour though.....

Can't say I'd ever look at a flood victim though......

Peter

[clean911]

I've been buying and selling WOVR vehicles for a while. 

1. The biggest problem is if you want to sell the vehicle regardless of price and someone wants to get finance they finance company won't even look at it.

2. If you sell it and divulge the WOVR status then people tend to think its been hit by a freight train, bent in half and run a mile.

3. I have been buying Mercedes with minimal damage i.e. no airbags gone off as they tend to be the best value for money and the easiest repairers.

4. All vehicles on the WOVR register have to have a Qld transport individual inspection prior to getting them registered.

Having said all that my family and close friends all have fabulous low KM Mercs at half the price of going Gumtree/Carsales .

Blondes or Redheads???? its all about personal choice.

Sidebar: Family and Friends cars are insured at current market or agreed value so if they get hail damaged or written off in an accident they stand to make a profit.

 

 

[Coastr]

It's the finance thing that is a killer.  People buying newer cars usually finance them and finance companies won't touch them.

I would have no problem driving one but it would need to be a keeper.  With my dirty stinking UK import daily drive I always knew it would be hard or impossible to sell.  Funnily enough it's getting to the age now where that matters less because condition becomes king.   Imports and write offs have the stigma and are hard to sell, but drive just the same.

[Rod C]

It might be longforgotten for the current owner, wait until you sell it.

Look at the silver 996 thats on carsales, been sitting for months with full disclosure.

Like I said at the right price and in my option that car is overpriced. You have to have a cheap entry to allow for a cheap exit.

But I think the stigma will never be forgotten, especially if you want to /have to sell through the normal proceedures. But I wonder what happens when a write-off car becomes a Historic/Classic car, do you have disclose the cars past?

Wouldn't it forever be on the written off register with vin/chassis numbers?

Would be interested in people's views on Ron Goodmans 356 pre and post crash value.

[MFX]

I have owned a few WOVR cars. Always a pain in the ass to sell them, even at a huge discount. The biggest issue I think you will have is that you are talking about high end cars. When you are talking about cars that you are going to be asking over $100k for you are really going to struggle. Cheaper written off cars are much easier to sell than expensive ones.

The car may be perfectly fine, immaculately repaired, pass PPI's with flying colours, and people will still stuff you around when you try to sell it. 

[James P]

Gotta love WOVA cars used as race cars like my old 997.1 GT3, fixed it myself for $7k 

[DJM]

I reckon I took a 25% hit for non matching (but brand new) engine in my GT2.   If it had been WOVR I reckon it would have been a tough sell at any price.

When you are talking about cars that you are going to be asking over $100k for you are really going to struggle. Cheaper written off cars are much easier to sell than expensive ones.

I agree, for cheap thrills, go for it, what have you got to lose.  But if it's a collectible and/or if you need to pull $100k+ at the other end, forget about it.  you start with a small group who can afford to splurge $100k+ for a weekender and then weed out all those who would not risk WOVR and you're left with a very small pool of buyers which hurts the price.

[SammyD]

https://www.carsales.com.au/private/details/Porsche-911-2007/SSE-AD-5058332/?Cr=1

[Troubleshooter]

https://www.carsales.com.au/private/details/Porsche-911-2007/SSE-AD-5058332/?Cr=1

Well that is timely to the discussion! My thoughts are he'll have to knock off another 25k to achieve a sale . If that was totally original and not written off what would it actually sell for? $210k?