undeRwhelmed

I would definitely follow alSpeeds advice and get the car looked at mechanically and maybe by a good bodyshop as well.

I have read quite a few stories about cars in the US being written off in one state, being repaired at a shop that doesn`t report the work and takes a cash payment and then moved to another state and getting a new title issued showing the car as clean. Lots of states don`t share information between each other regarding registration, titles, etc. So a car could have been in a major accident and repaired but have nothing show up on Carfax. I have read some accounts over on Nasioc of some unsuspecting people buying clean title cars, only to find out later that the whole rear clip had been welded on from another car, for example. I know when I was looking for a car in the US I was warned to be leery of Florida cars because the laws are pretty lax there making it one of the best states to bring flood/salvage titled cars to resell with a clean title.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying i think there's anything wrong with the car per se, just based on the fact that there are VIN stickers missing that don't seem to jive with the accident history shown here in Canada. If it was me looking at the car I would just want to make sure that it's been thoroughly looked over to try and get as much info as possible before deciding to purchase.

zetazeta

Hey, thanks for the advice. I have a while to think about it as the mechanic I'm getting the PPI at isn't available until next week or so and the seller is OK with that. Do you have any more information about the lax laws in FL? I've never heard of this before.

ApePee2

Google "title washing" and you should get plenty of hits of cases with Florida cars.

zetazeta

Thanks for the heads up! Interesting read...

zetazeta

Passed on the Chicane Silver one, currently looking at several others.... Is $1500ish in damage considered significant? It was the on the driver side front fender.

pearl_s2k

No, imo, I wouldn't be overly worried about that. Which car is it? Any pictures of it?

zetazeta

Don't have any good pics as the ones the seller provided was low quality. 07 NFR, 71k km. Current owner bought it in Apr 2013. Claims it is in excellent condition other and only damage shown on the carfax is the $1500.

Currently scheduling with the owner to see the car in person.

pearl_s2k

If you like the car, I'd suggest doing a Carproof too. Is it local? I'd be happy to take a look with my ptg.

zetazeta

Will be doing a carproof to confirm everything but what would you guys say is a fair price for:

2007 AP2
front bumper repainted and mismatched colour
about 3-5 small but deep rock chips on the front bumper and edge of the hood (0.5cm diameter). Several long scratches on the very bottom of the passenger side door
$1500 accident on the driver side back fender
81k km
US import

Also, approximately how much would it cost to repaint the bumper and fix the rock chips?

pearl_s2k

I can't comment on the price of the car, because s2k prices are all over the place nowadays, but I wouldn't pay top dollar for something that's had previous paint work like that. (This is just a personal quirk due to owning old Toyotas that love to rust, but I'm super iffy about quarter panel damage/repairs.) And repaint costs are entirely dependent on you! A bumper respray could range from $200 to $600. Given that it's red (hard to match) and that the hood is rock chipped also, a good shop would likely want to do a blend job. In my experience, good body/paint work is expensive... so unless the car is a screaming deal, I'd maybe take a pass.