I saw a 2015 2LT with 14k miles go for less than $5k. It was a salvage, but only had some light scratches, no real damage. I think it may have been a theft recovery maybe?? With fees, would have still been about $5500. Couldn't get in contact with my wife before the auction ended, or I would have picked it up. Would have been a great driver, or could have probably flipped it and still made a couple grand. I see others with clean titles selling for $13k or so. Definitely going to keep my eye out for these at auction now. Even some with a little superficial damage (maybe a vandalized one). I need a new autocross car...
If it was a wholesale auction, there is a reason it's $5000. Those folk who run the auction and those who attend to stock their junkyards or lots are pretty savvy.
Best guess if you didn't see collision damage? Normally water damage, which can be a real problem.
That Saved you much more than the final price, Volts are not your flip from auction vehicle of choice, parts prices will break the bank in a blink of the eye.
Thats why I steered clear of wrecks for the last few years but now that they can be had for under $5k with low miles and minimal damage I picked up a couple of them. Is the warranty on the batteries so critical? From what I am seeing it is highly likely they will last 200k miles or more. As for parts, air bags can be had for as little as $100 and most and most of these cars are still under warranty so many parts have no real market yet except for us doing a builder. I agree they are not a good flip car, It is very hard to beat the system and do insurance quality repairs and be able to make a buck. I hate selling salvage title cars but once they are $1000 cars you can just donate them or give them away.
Buying it and driving it was my original thought. Wife wants to stop driving the Suburban daily. Still think it could be a decent car. As for water damage, didn't see any, usually you can see the discoloration/dirt from the water line.
I'm going to keep my eye out. Like I said I would even like to have one for an autocross car.
Going from a suburban to a spark EV is a bit extreme, isn't it? Biggest gas guzzler to no gas at all. Passenger and cargo space galore, to itty bitty living space. The ability to tow several tons to no towing at all. SUV to SUV bait.
I have rebuilt a salvage Spark EV that I bought at the auction.
The forklift at the auction will damage the plastics underneath, but it is impossible to damage battery or drivetrain.
The car will be s/w disabled if any airbags popped. One will need GDS-2 s/w and adapter to re-enable the car. Or tow it to a stealership and pay a lot to have it inspected / re-enabled. I did it myself.
The car has 4 radiators that are expensive - avoid ones that have radiator stack damaged.
The car is very low production - used parts are virtually un-available.
My wrecked Spark EV was "fluffed" to look better than it actually was. Copart calls is "enhanced vehicle" service that the insurance company pay to get the vehicle "fluffed" at copart. Pay attention if you are buying an "enhanced vehicle" because the car will not be as good as it looks....
Expect to add $700 to a winning price (broker + all the copart fees).
The rebuilding part is fairly straight forward.
You will be competing with people getting sparks for their battery projects. Battery itself fetches $2k-$3k.
Good feedback. Yeah I probably only would do it with one I could see in person. Now that the Spark EV is available out this way, I have a better shot, but will still be few and far between.
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