Should I Buy FRS R-Titled From Hail Damage?

[Rally]

Damn haha yea maybe i will learn from your mistakes lol. Hopefully you come across another good deal some time.

[JRobes]

If I had a 2 stall garage at the time, it would have definitely been bought. Like others have said, if you plan on holding on to it for a long time and there isn't any permanent damage, I'd jump on it if its a few thousand less than it would have been if not totaled. BUT, definitely dig and try to see if there are other hidden reasons why it might have actually been totaled.

[Rally]

Yea I will be digging haha. Hopefully I find it was just from the hail storm. Already contacted my insurance provider with the VIN to see what kind of coverage I'm available for. Now to hope I can get a $4000-5000 lone with no problems.

[fledonfoot]

Also, any rebuilt/reconstructed/salvaged title (anything "branded" title) carries NO warranty at all from Toyota once the title has the brand. The car is strictly as-is.

That 13,000 mile car that's only 1-2 years old and was totaled by hail has zero factory coverage at all, and very very few aftermarket companies will offer some kind of warranty on it.

Blow the engine at 18K? 58k? Oil leak?

No help from Toyota on that one, not even from a customer goodwill standpoint. The car was declared a total loss at some point and Toyota will make no exceptions to that rule.

Your only covered components will be anything covered by the federal emissions warranty.

Take that into consideration before you buy. If you plan on going heavy with the power adders, heavy body mods and don't care about a warranty anyway... go right ahead.

[Rally]

Yea I would probably cause a void in warrenty if purchased clean title anyway. But I do here what your saying. I did see online that in some cases power-train warranties still exist on cars totaled from hail damage. I will look more into this though. Also the dealer I'm looking to purchase through specializes in Paint-less dent removal and their cars have an option to be bought with a 5 year 100,000 mile warranty.

[Caspeed]

I've worked at a dealer that purchased some "Hail Damaged" cars. I saw them before the repairs. There is NO WAY that I would buy one. Most people think of hail as small pieces of ice...Thats not enough to total a car. Think softball sized chunks of ice hitting the car at over 100mph. Even the dashboards were broken... the A/C system was full of broken glass from the defrost vents....they looked like a roided out linebacker went after them with a baseball bat. My personal opinion is keep looking...IMHO

penny hail= terminal velocity of 35 mph, quarter hail = 50mph, golfball hail = 66mph, baseball hail = 85mph and softball hail = 117mph.

[Rally]

Yea I can imagine lol. I requested before and after pics. But even so it looks brand new and you no the engine was kept safe. For the price it may be worth a shot. Also i can purchase the 5 year 100,000 mile warrenty for $1000 and its transferable. I also contacted a toyota dealership to see if the drive train warrenty is still valid. They said they will look into it and let me no soon.

[Rally]

Here is how the car looked before they purchased it at an auction. The company i am possibly purchasing it through has a real good reputation. The damage does not appear to be harsh. He rated it a 3 out of 10 on how hard it was fixing compared to hail damaged vehicles he had fixed in the past

[Caspeed]

Originally Posted by Rally

Yea I can imagine lol. I requested before and after pics. But even so it looks brand new and you no the engine was kept safe. For the price it may be worth a shot. Also i can purchase the 5 year 100,000 mile warrenty for $1000 and its transferable. I also contacted a toyota dealership to see if the drive train warrenty is still valid. They said they will look into it and let me no soon.

Remember that mechanical can always be repaired, replaced or upgraded. The concern is the bodywork and electrical systems. If the car flooded at all, you might end up with nagging electrical problems as the connectors corrode. Adjustors often have paint thickness gauges that would help you check if it had paint or bondo work done to it. DO NOT take the sellers word for it. Verify!!! And Good Luck!!!

[fledonfoot]

Originally Posted by Rally

Yea I would probably cause a void in warrenty if purchased clean title anyway. But I do here what your saying. I did see online that in some cases power-train warranties still exist on cars totaled from hail damage. I will look more into this though. Also the dealer I'm looking to purchase through specializes in Paint-less dent removal and their cars have an option to be bought with a 5 year 100,000 mile warranty.

I work as a service writer for a large Toyota dealer. I can tell you first hand that if the title is branded, the warranty claim will be denied UNLESS it's one of the few federal emissions components - ECU, Catalytic converter, etc. The balance of any basic or powertrain warranty will not be honored at all after it's declared a total loss.

If a dealer submits the claim without checking eligibility in TIS, it'll bounce and the dealer will be charged back for the repair. The dealer may then come after you for the balance of the repair. If you give a dealer a vin, they can check in a matter of minutes. PM me the vin if you need to and I can run it tomorrow when I get to work.

I also see every side of aftermarket warranties... call that warranty company, ask if their coverage is in effect for salvage/recon/branded titles. If you get a positive answer, get it in writing. I've seen a customer pay $3800 before for a powertrain warranty that eventually blew a head gasket. The company declined the claim because the customer didn't pay an additional $650 for the "seal and gasket" coverage on the warranty.

Buyer beware, obviously.

[Rally]

Originally Posted by Caspeed

Remember that mechanical can always be repaired, replaced or upgraded. The concern is the bodywork and electrical systems. If the car flooded at all, you might end up with nagging electrical problems as the connectors corrode. Adjustors often have paint thickness gauges that would help you check if it had paint or bondo work done to it. DO NOT take the sellers word for it. Verify!!! And Good Luck!!!

Yea that is true. I was glad to see just the rear window collapsed. Much less electrical issues that would start from the rear if flooded then right over the radio area. Im still up in the air about it, but its promising that they trust their work enough to offer a 5 year warrenty. Hopefully the toyota dealer gets back to me soon to see if toyota will still cover its warranty partially. Thanks man!

[Rally]

Originally Posted by fledonfoot

I work as a service writer for a large Toyota dealer. I can tell you first hand that if the title is branded, the warranty claim will be denied UNLESS it's one of the few federal emissions components - ECU, Catalytic converter, etc. The balance of any basic or powertrain warranty will not be honored at all after it's declared a total loss.

If a dealer submits the claim without checking eligibility in TIS, it'll bounce and the dealer will be charged back for the repair. The dealer may then come after you for the balance of the repair. If you give a dealer a vin, they can check in a matter of minutes. PM me the vin if you need to and I can run it tomorrow when I get to work.

I also see every side of aftermarket warranties... call that warranty company, ask if their coverage is in effect for salvage/recon/branded titles. If you get a positive answer, get it in writing. I've seen a customer pay $3800 before for a powertrain warranty that eventually blew a head gasket. The company declined the claim because the customer didn't pay an additional $650 for the "seal and gasket" coverage on the warranty.

Buyer beware, obviously.

Awesome great advice. Ill pm you the vin number! Thanks a lot for the help

[Caspeed]

Originally Posted by Rally

Here is how the car looked before they purchased it at an auction. The company i am possibly purchasing it through has a real good reputation. The damage does not appear to be harsh. He rated it a 3 out of 10 on how hard it was fixing compared to hail damaged vehicles he had fixed in the past

Just saw the pics...dosen't look too bad...the headlights are intact the rear window is busted out.... that would take a big enough impact to also damage the body work, but the the body doesn't look too bad... look the car over for signs of flooding....high water mark, grass or debris in the suspension, radiator, engine bay. Just be careful.

[Rally]

Originally Posted by Caspeed

Just saw the pics...dosen't look too bad...the headlights are intact the rear window is busted out.... that would take a big enough impact to also damage the body work, but the the body doesn't look too bad... look the car over for signs of flooding....high water mark, grass or debris in the suspension, radiator, engine bay. Just be careful.

Yea they said headlights and tail lights required no work just used paintless dent removal on majority of the car. I will look it over really good when I go to check it out (hopefully next week). Ill take pics to