Hi guys,
I was looking to buy a cheap economic car for around the $4,000 mark and figured that Mazda 2s were out of my range until one seller had one for $3,900 which was clearly cheaper than the going market rate for the other Mazda 2 advertisements.The buyer mentioned that some dents on the body where the reason he was willing to sell the car cheaper than redbook values.
I went and looked at the Mazda 2 Neo 2003 today and it looked and drove great and it is the only Mazda 2 within my price point. I had remarkably low Ks of 99,000 and I found that similar Mazda 2 Neos of the same vintage where selling for $4,500 - $6,000. My mechanically minded brother in law came with me and he identified no significant mechanical issues. There was some panel damage, namely, the front bumper bar which may need some replacing because it doesn't click back into place on one side but is generally stable. There was some minor scuffs down the side and there was some rim damage probably from someone scraping the rims against the concrete gutter when parking. Apart from the minor body damage the car was solid, everything worked fine and there were logbook records. Mechanically, it was exceptional and I wasn't too concerned about the minor body damage because my main intention is to buy an economic car that will serve me for 3-4 years until eventually I will just ditch it for scrap metal.
Due to the bumper bar damage I bargained the seller down to $3,200 and he accepted. I thought this was a good buy until I did a REVS check on the car which showed that it had a repairable write-off in April 2008 following a collision in January 2008. I am getting the vehicle inspected tomorrow by my mechanic.
What I wanted to know was whether repairable write-offs should be avoided at all costs? Are their circumstances where it can be overlooked, such as mine where I am not too concerned about resale value and am paying a relatively small sum of $3,200.
I hear some people advise others that under no circumstances they should buy a repairable write-off vehicle because 'they will give them problems down the track'. What sort of problems are they referring too?
Thanks
