Damaged 06 LS a good buy?

[nghtshd88]

Had to drop a friend off at a local auto body and stumbled upon a salvaged black on black 06 LS in the lot. 125k on the clock with minor damage, just the passenger door, quarter panel has a small dent and the bumper for the most part is fine, besides that just the rim and a scuff on the driver side skirt, runs fine. They are asking $1600 for it. Googled the VIN and its still on the auction site with pics, etc.

http://www.salvagebid.com/698458545-2006-lincoln-ls/

I assume it will need coils, vcg's, degas, etc. looks like its the original yellow cracked bottle.


Currently have an 04 v6 that I recently tuned up and was thinking of selling.

 

[LS4me]

I would search Autocheck or Carfax to find out the real extent of the damage. Also, if it matters, that's a base '06. VCGs weren't an issue on the '06.

 

[voyeur]

air bags did not deploy, no HID lights to increase the damage total......wonder why it is a salvage? I guess it would now have a salvage title? Are all the X's to highlight if the panel has damage? I am curious where the underlying damage is.

 

[hite337]

wonder why it is a salvage?

Its 8 years old and has over 100k, totalled. Most insurance companies look at the year and mileage and automatically total the car. When I got in my wreck, the ins co automatically totaled mine. The damages were 58% of the value and they didnt even consider fixing it. I had to buy it back and fix it myself.

 

[Kumba]

Are all the X's to highlight if the panel has damage? I am curious where the underlying damage is.

Yeah, the X's all designate body work of some type. Ding, scratch, chip, replacement, whatever. I'm guessing the X's mean replacement. I usually see circles and arrows to ding/scratch/etc aka repairable stuff.

Judging from what you CAN see in the pics he side swiped something. See the dent/crease in the passengers side door just before the B pillar. You can also see where the passengers side of the bumper has been popped off from the impact.

Lights are probably highlighted for replacement cause of issues not related to the crash. On my '06 the plastic started to actually del-aminate on the lens. That means the different layers of plastic they use to make the lens started to peel apart and discolor. Looks like they have the same thing going on there.

 

[Telco]

Might be worth it as a parts car. You might even be able to make some money off of it by stripping it down and selling the parts you don't need here.

 

[nghtshd88]

Its basically just the passenger side. The lights were just going to be polished. I assume it would still be worth about 5k repaired.

 

[StarPower]

If you still plan on doing this, you need to look into it very carefully before you buy the car. A lot of body/frame work can be hidden until they take the car apart, so you could wind up spending a lot more than you can tell from the pictures. Also, aluminum can be more difficult to both weld and paint than steel. Some body shops won't touch it, and some will do it wrong.

For example, when my CL55 was hit, the initial estimate was about $3,000, mostly for cosmetic work and lights. After they got the car apart, the shop requested an additional $24,000 from the insurance company. It's a different car with more expensive parts, but it still illustrates how much costs can rise once you get the car apart and see all the work that needs to be done.

Fixing a car properly usually costs more than it would be worth with a salvage title. There are a lot of people who "fix up" salvage title cars, meaning they do the cosmetic work and hide the real problems. Because of this, many people won't touch a salvage title car at any price. Documentation of all of the damage and repairs by a reputable shop may help convince some people.

If you're looking for a car to fix up properly for yourself, and you can do a lot of the work yourself, then you might get a good deal. However, fixing it up to try to sell it has a much greater chance of losing money than making money.