Thinking about purchasing a salvaged/rebuilt 2013 S4!

[noops94]

Hi everyone! I've been wanting to purchase an S4 for a while now and I think I may have found a great deal. The car has a rebuilt title and the owner is asking 22k for a 2013 S4 with 45k miles. The person who had the damage repaired says there was no frame damage and the airbags did not deploy. Carfax backs up what they have told me.

Here is a link to some pictures I found of the accident on Salvagedb.com

http://www.salvagedb.com/salvagecarp...bd8a94f8c90824

And here are some pictures of the car post repair.

http://imgur.com/a/bnzEi

Please let me know what you guys think!

[pdqgp]

No thanks IMO. Something that's easy and cost effective to wrench on or have work done perhaps. However, the S4 down the road could be a nightmare for you. Would have to be a very cheap deal to make it worth it. Just my quick thoughts.

[LINDW4LL]

Does he have the itemized invoice/repair details from the collision?

I would not buy a salvage car unless it's an incredible deal and you never plan to sell it. However, if that's the case, take it to get a detailed PPI and frame inspection. If it passes those, your risk is minimal.

[AudiTechS4]

id be afraid of overheating with that accident. no way to tell if it was shut down right away

[LYKUNO]

Does he have the itemized invoice/repair details from the collision?

I would not buy a salvage car unless it's an incredible deal and you never plan to sell it. However, if that's the case, take it to get a detailed PPI and frame inspection. If it passes those, your risk is minimal.

I agree that having the detailed repair invoice is essential. Our 2011 S4's damages were ~$25K. No airbags deployed and there was no damage to the frame rails. All parts replaced were OEM Audi, and were new, not recycled/used, and the damage estimate documentation was around 4-5 pages long. At the conclusion of the repair and paint work, the car was sent to the Audi dealership affiliated with the collision repair facility for a 4 wheel alignment, and alignment of the headlights. It failed the wheel alignment because the front subframe had been bent enough to prevent getting the alignment into specs, though not readily observable visually. Once the subframe was replaced, the alignment passed and we got the car back. I highly recommend getting a copy of the alignment results to ensure it passed alignment, and test drive it thoroughly. Our car drives as well as it did prior to the accident, with no leaks, squeaks or rattles, tracking and braking are straight with no drifting or pulling. All the panel gaps are perfect and the paintwork is superb - as good as it came from the factory. I've also checked for codes it's been error free. Probably have 5-600 miles on since we got it back and zero issues.

If the repair work was done properly and you can have it independently evaluated as such, then I'd say try and negotiate a price commensurate with the condition of the overall car, and the fact that it sustained damage. You might just get a good deal and an S4 that you'll enjoy for a long time.

[Acejam]

Stay away, far far away. They're asking $22k because they spent $20k to fix the damn thing.

[grovlet]

Ummm - Yeah - NOOOOOO!

Really these cars are expensive to fix correctly - and $22K will by the same car with 70K miles minus the accident/repair.... I would be much more inclined to add miles than trust a cheap repair

[bayonet14]

Oh no:
Steering / alignment / tire wear if repairs and body sub frame not repaired correctly
Cooling
Drive train
Transmission

You could have gremlins of problems just pop up and you spend $$$$ just trying to isolate or find the root problem.... I would pass

[kdn0789]

Definitely would pass..... so many things could pop up just as ^^^ was saying. Spend the extra money and get a CPO.

[doughboy17]

Definitely would pass..... so many things could pop up just as ^^^ was saying. Spend the extra money and get a CPO.

Agreed. Pay to play.

[HeymyAudi]

I use to buy rebuildable cars back in the day and we would put them together. But like the others have said this one would cost you a GRIP! During an accident a lot gets shifted around and parts for this car is not cheap. One example was a Mercedes E-Class that we got from an auction. It was a light hit up front but once we stripped it down it became the biggest pain in the rear that we ever dealt with. They said the frame was not bent, however once we put it on the frame rail we saw that it shifted and getting it back in place required hours of work. Just like the Audi the parts was expensive and in the end it was not worth it. I would just get a CPO'd car..

[schirm]

You should buy my car. Clean title 125,000 miles new motor at 105,000 from Audi. Info in Sig.

[Sailingtime]

Stay away for one simple reason resale value of that car is -22k

[jygesq]

run away fast!!

[kobrian85]

I'm going to have to agree with the others... I think you'd be better off steering clear of this one. The price tag is obviously a big plus, but ultimately you have to consider the ability to sell it at some point down the road. You might get it cheap now, but you're also going to have to offload it on the cheap when you're ready to sell it.

Otherwise, if you plan to keep the car "forever", and/or turn it into a track monster, that's probably the only viable reason to consider it. The considerations about future/no-so-future repairs are legit, and probably should be the main consideration - the likelihood of lurking gremlins are real reasons for concern.

[cW6mT mKviGLi]

For 22K, I would buy a well maintained, high mileage, clean title S4. I think the wreck will reveal more problems as the repairs age. I think both scenarios are a gamble but a salvage S4 is a lot more risky.

[734jeant]

You should buy my car. Clean title 125,000 miles new motor at 105,000 from Audi. Info in Sig.

This.

[noops94]

Thanks for all of the replies! I've decided against the purchase. I think I'm going to keep saving money until I can get an s4 with a clean title.

[Mr_kermit]

Stay far away from any car that has a rebuilt title. They always have problems afterwords!!

[MrFunk]

Nope.
There is way too much risk in that purchase. Not to mention priced way too high.

Pictures will not show well obviously but... it's an iceberg of parts and components under that skin... these guys grab these totaled cars and fixed it up as cheaply as possible in order to turn a profit. Always remember that with these salvage/rebuild title cars.
These are expensive and complicated machines - do you really want one that's been totaled and rebuilt for a small profit most likely not by Audi technicians?