I finally decided what’s going to happen in terms of getting a new car.
The story was, originally, my stepmom was going to sell her 1999 Acura Integra GS Coupe. Then she thought that since my car is old and could be on its way to being busted, she’d just give it to me instead and buy a new one. How nice!
But we were also thinking about selling the car and then just taking the money from that and putting it toward another car, something that I would like better (just another Honda Accord, actually).
So, I’ve been staring at this auction for the past few days. This is my dream car. A 2005 Honda Accord LX – exactly what I want – for under $10k… because it has a salvage title. Supposedly, it sustained major flood damage and also was hit by a tree branch, but here it is, in supposed perfect working condition, and with only minor dents on the roof. We called the seller up and received some weird half-truths and had to sort of bully stories out of him.
Although I’m still very torn on it – people have bought flood-damage salvage vehicles before and had fine experiences – I’ve decided to just leave it be.
Instead, I’m going with what the original plan was – I’ll get my stepmom’s car instead. It’s got a small interior, and just two doors, but it’s still a Honda car and I’m sure I’ll like it. It handles similarly to my car, and supposedly has a good amount of power, so there’s no need to complain.
So probably within the next month or so, we’re either giving my 1991 Honda Accord LX away or selling it for around, say, $2k. If anyone’s interested in a high-mileage (185k) car that works perfectly and has undergone no major repairs, talk to me about it.
Where did you get the “major flood damage” bit from? From the auction it looks like it just had the tree fall on it… Did you carfax it or something?
A car with a salvage title means that more damage than the car’s worth has been done to it. Sure, the auction minimizes the actual story, but insurance companies just don’t throw away vehicles if they can be easily fixed.
We called the owner up and he told us that in addition to the tree falling on it, it was flooded up to the seats. That usually means engine trouble. I trust that it works fine – for now – but I’m not going to risk it. And once a vehicle is given a salvage title, it keeps it for the rest of its life.
Ah, I see. That means that the guy lied in the Q&A section, ’cause he said that there was no flood damage. Good choice to stay away!