opinions on this salvage S4

[dennej1985]

saw this car posted nearby and i'm mildly intrigued. here's the listing
https://www.ksl.com/auto/listing/4641372?ad_cid=2

and here is a link to the salvage auction photos

https://www.google.com/search?q=WAUKGAFL8CA096080&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiA7_L83J7bAhUL0oMKHZRAB-AQ_AUIDCgD&biw=1280&bih=628#imgrc=_

opinions? Price is ok, low miles, prestige with sport diff. The dealer states and pictures indicate it was hit high in the radiator area with no engine or frame damage.

[engineerjet]

seen a few salvage threads from time to time. General consensus is that there are too many unknowns with salvage titles. If you know with certainty that the salvage was due to a specific type of damage and that damage has been completely addressed, then maybe. Check if your insurance will cover it too. Also have to consider they are harder to sell if you ever plan on getting rid of it. Just do your research before you jump into it. Salvage title can work and i'm sure there are people with zero issues, but do your homework before you decide. If possible, try to get a presale inspection done by a competant mechanic.

[EIAlfonso]

Price seems a little high, how long would you keep it?

Just remember when you sell it you may lose a large % of whatever you are saving vs the market, unless you keep it forever

Also check with your insurance before purchasing. It is a nicely optioned car

If you do purchase I'll trade you my peelers for those wheels plus cash

[TEB]

Might be hard to finance. I would do a pretty extensive PPI on that one. Probably want to see it with the bumper removed.

[MrFunk]

I wouldn't spend close to 20k on any salvage title vehicle. Too much risk.
You can get a virtually brand new VW GTI for 22-24k.

[EAFLO88]

While this tool might not be the best optimized device for detecting everything on the car, the Carista is something I’d recommend you buy.

The value out of it is, you’ll be able to read the launch counts on the car to help sense it’s previous driving habits. Plus, you’ll be able to scan for any possible codes that can be given. You’ll be able to then clear the fault codes & if they re appear after a second scan, it could possibly be something to look into as well. This, plus a careful revision of the car’s CARFAX report will add a bit of help to see the mechanical aspects of the car.

[dennej1985]

Thanks guys, it’s about 5 hours away anyways. Not sure I will make the time to go see it. I do have a vag-com cable to read codes and such, would I be able to see launch info with that as well? I’m just kinda feeling out options in a similar price range to swap from my A4 to an S4. Not a thing I really need though. About to drop money on front end paint and film on the A4 to make it perfect.


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[endy1]

Might be hard to finance. I would do a pretty extensive PPI on that one. Probably want to see it with the bumper removed.

No need to remove the bumper. Just the little plastic cover over bumper/radiator and you will see everything you need to see.

That kind of damage is nothing special... If the "frontcage", radiator and so on are changed then there is no problem at all.

[wangshuo1989]

For that price you can find some 2012 s4 with clean title at around 70K miles, why even consider a salvage title one?

[dennej1985]

For that price you can find some 2012 s4 with clean title at around 70K miles, why even consider a salvage title one?

I looked nationwide on sites like cargurus and autotrader in the last few days. There were very few even close to that range. Above 20k for fewer than 80k miles seems to be the going rate. Like I said, found a couple but either on the east coast or missing options. Most are actually listed higher than that.


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[wangshuo1989]

I looked nationwide on sites like cargurus and autotrader in the last few days. There were very few even close to that range. Above 20k for fewer than 80k miles seems to be the going rate. Like I said, found a couple but either on the east coast or missing options. Most are actually listed higher than that.


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I agree there are not that many and I'm glad that's the case (not terrible resale), but I found a few that might be a better buy than the salvage title ones:

https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?listingId=483066868&zip=98006&referrer=%2Fcars-for-sale%2Fsearchresults.xhtml%3Fzip%3D98006%26startYe ar%3D2012%26sortBy%3DderivedpriceASC%26incremental %3Dall%26firstRecord%3D0%26endYear%3D2019%26modelC odeList%3DS4%26makeCodeList%3DAUDI%26searchRadius% 3D0&startYear=2012&numRecords=25&firstRecord=0&endYear=2019&modelCodeList=S4&makeCodeList=AUDI&searchRadius=0&makeCode1=AUDI&modelCode1=S4

https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?listingId=481765592&zip=98006&referrer=%2Fcars-for-sale%2Fsearchresults.xhtml%3Fzip%3D98006%26startYe ar%3D2012%26sortBy%3DderivedpriceASC%26incremental %3Dall%26firstRecord%3D0%26endYear%3D2019%26modelC odeList%3DS4%26makeCodeList%3DAUDI%26searchRadius% 3D0&startYear=2012&numRecords=25&firstRecord=0&endYear=2019&modelCodeList=S4&makeCodeList=AUDI&searchRadius=0&makeCode1=AUDI&modelCode1=S4

https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?listingId=482765273&zip=98006&referrer=%2Fcars-for-sale%2Fsearchresults.xhtml%3Fzip%3D98006%26startYe ar%3D2012%26sortBy%3DderivedpriceASC%26incremental %3Dall%26firstRecord%3D0%26endYear%3D2019%26modelC odeList%3DS4%26makeCodeList%3DAUDI%26searchRadius% 3D0&startYear=2012&numRecords=25&firstRecord=0&endYear=2019&modelCodeList=S4&makeCodeList=AUDI&searchRadius=0&makeCode1=AUDI&modelCode1=S4


Salvage cars are cheap for a reason, especially on german cars, electrics are very fragile and I wouldn't risk it.

[dennej1985]

Thanks for looking. Saw those in my search as well, all are sans sport diff though. Switching rides without increasing my current payment is a bit of a pipe dream anyways. I like my car. My A4 is totally loaded, doesn’t have oil consumption and if the class action goes through for the timing tensioner I can use that extra cash for a ko4. Resale isn’t as much of an issue for me just because this is a weekend car that I will likely have for years.


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[Silver Streakin]

The hood and fender gap looks wider than normal. Likely not perfectly fixed.

I’d want to see a frame alignment and wheel alignment. Then $15k tops.

Keep searching...

[SVG]

Personally, I wouldn’t touch the car with a 10 foot pole at that price.

[Schadenfreude]

saw this car posted nearby and i'm mildly intrigued. here's the listing
https://www.ksl.com/auto/listing/4641372?ad_cid=2

and here is a link to the salvage auction photos

https://www.google.com/search?q=WAUKGAFL8CA096080&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiA7_L83J7bAhUL0oMKHZRAB-AQ_AUIDCgD&biw=1280&bih=628#imgrc=_

opinions? Price is ok, low miles, prestige with sport diff. The dealer states and pictures indicate it was hit high in the radiator area with no engine or frame damage.

My family owned an auto salvage yard for 12 years, dealing with parts and selling repairable vehicles. There will always be exceptions but generally speaking when it comes to salvage cars you are buying someone else's problems. If a car can be fixed so that it is perfect (mechanically and physically), as an owner you keep it. The one's that can't get cleaned up and auctioned. There's too many unknowns. Friends in the business would occasionally buy rebuilt cars for personal use. Standard thinking was no more than 60% fair market value on a salvage titled car. If you can only afford the car in the link, you are better holding off until you can afford a car with no history. My .02

[onlyaudis]

My family owned an auto salvage yard for 12 years, dealing with parts and selling repairable vehicles. There will always be exceptions but generally speaking when it comes to salvage cars you are buying someone else's problems. If a car can be fixed so that it is perfect (mechanically and physically), as an owner you keep it. The one's that can't get cleaned up and auctioned. There's too many unknowns. Friends in the business would occasionally buy rebuilt cars for personal use. Standard thinking was no more than 60% fair market value on a salvage titled car. If you can only afford the car in the link, you are better holding off until you can afford a car with no history. My .02

best advise yet, especially on newish cars. on way older cars (late 80's early to mid 90's) may not be as big of a deal, as those cars can get a salvage title even from minor vandalism + the resale value isn't there to worry about. Ha ha, seems like half the older cars on craigs list around here have a "rebuilt" title

[Fresh.S4]

fk yea rebuilt cars are everywhere.

[GandalfTheIbis]

The car is surely fine regarding the damage. I would say that the price is 3-4k too high for a salvage vehicle at this time. I'd offer 14 or under and see if they want to have a conversation.