Thoughts on buying Rebuilt 2015 - front collision

2015 Tacoma DCSB TRD Off-Road 116k mi - $24,500
VIN: 3TMLU4EN8FM169024
Dealer Listing
Salvage Auction Listing
CarFax attached to this post



Curious on everyone's thoughts on this Taco. The dealership focuses on branded titles. From talking with their representative so far, the Taco came in as a trade in, and was inspected for frame damage by "their shop". They say that they don't touch frame damaged or engine damaged vehicles, but of course that's only their word.

My situation: I've been looking to move to a double cab to make room for the little one. Of course with the market right now its a seemingly bad time to try and do so. Also posting this thread for any future perspective buyer or owner, either coming from Google or already a member here.

 

So insurance deemed it a total loss, it sold at auction for 15.9k, and was repaired and re-listed for 24.5k. Leaving less than 8k to repair if they want to make any $. I don't think insurance would total it out for only 8k in repairs. I suspect they cut corners somewhere.

 

Yeah the fact that insurance totaled it had me questioning as well. Also that this car came in on trade in and not bought at auction by the dealership. So who knows who did the repair work.

 

fly to alaska and buy my 2010 double cab with 120k on it with a clean title, and drive it home

 

I feel sorry for anyone having to spend that kind of loot for a branded title. I guess I did get lucky paying that for the truck in my signature and avatar in May 2020

 

What was repaired? the front end is a mess still

 

My entire life I have never driven vehicles other than salvage titles, so I can tell you a bit about what I see. Its possible the vehicle has been repaired to a great standard. The best thing you can do is visit the dealer in person and inspect everything you can yourself or with someone who knows repair work. It looks like they have found the facia from another blue Tacoma to swap with and possibly just repaired the sheet metal in the engine bay, quarter panel, and hood. Things to look at on this one would be the left side frame rail (looks okay from the photo though) and left side suspension mount points/frame areas. Also the area where the front quarter panel, hood, and headlight meet. The dealership showed a closeup pic of the right side and the fit up looks good, but not the left side. Inspect the sheet metal behind the front facia as well, in the photo it looks a bit damaged and would be unfortunate if it was seriously out of shape. Test drive it thoroughly and pay attention to the front end doing anything out of the ordinary. There's probably some areas that aren't %100 the way they should be and that's what's important. Plus all the regular used car details to get a sense for if the previous guy took care of it.

Kelly blue books website says a fair value for a car of this spec in "Excellent condition" is near 23k, but a lot of listings are for more than that. Often the value of a car after a repair like this can be reduced by %20-30 (structural repairs closer to 30, sheet metal closer to 20) for the first sale after the repair, especially if goes through the auction and repair process because there is now no recent history of the ownership in this repaired condition. This is pretty much the most important rule I use to evaluate the price of salvaged vehicles, second is the quality of repair. I think an 8k increase in price post repair doesn't suggest they cut corners. Best case scenario I think the truck is good and they're asking too much money. Insurance companies make the decision to total based on many things including often repairs for less than %50 of current value, whatever pressure the owner might exert to push for a total, and what the ins. company thinks they can profit on the repair/liquidation side. I kinda think they money they're asking would be only fair if it was very nicely repaired and it seems they still wanna add on the used Toyota premium.

I bought a 2015 tacoma with 50k on it that was totaled for what would have been probably less than 4k in damage of mostly metal parts, hopefully on this one a lot of the damage was just plastic.

 

It's possible that all they did to repair it was what you see in this thread, plus maybe tweaking the hood, quarter panel, and engine bay area. Guy in this thread says he spent like $1500 (probably installed himself). That 16k initial sale presents a pretty lucrative repair opportunity.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-complete-list-2nd-gen-tacoma-front-end-conversion.597308/

 

A little google search revealed that the dealer is likely doing a quick flip on this truck. Bought at Copart auction for $16200 and the estimate cost of repair at $15707. I am certain that there's frame damage given that repair estimate:
OP, salvage title on a beater is one thing but not a $24k for one that your family's safety is at stake.

2015 TOYOTA TACOMA DOUBLE CAB - 3TMLU4EN8FM169024 Insurance




+4 photos

Lot soldWinning bet: $ 16 200 USD
Vin: 3TMLU4EN8FM169024
Mileage: 114 033 (actual)
Auction Date: 10/18/2021 19:00 UTC
Engine: 4.0L 6
Color: BLUE
Transmission: AUTOMATIC
Fuel: GAS
Drive: 4x4 w/Rear Wheel Drv
Key: Keys Present
Start Code: RUNS AND DRIVES
Location: WOODBURN, OREGON
Cost of repair: $ 15 707 USD
Market value: $ 29 931 USD
Documents: OR - SALVAGE TITLE CERTIFICATE
Loss: OTHER COMPREHENSIVE
Primary damage: FRONT END

 

Important questions........

Are you paying cash? Many lenders will decline a salvage title.

Will your insurance write for a salvage title? Not all will.

If both of those have the wrong answer, none of the other questions matter.

 

Will likely stay away from this one. If it was more local to me I would maybe take an in person look for fun. Wonder if we ever see the new owner here on the forum lol.

 

Almost $16,000 to repair it and none of the airbags went off. Red flag.