Advice on 1999 GTS Purchase with title issues

sfzobie

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Greetings and thanks for your help. Sorry in advance for the long post. I have searched through the forums and found a majority of the questions that I have but here is the situation:

1999 GTS in Silver with 50k miles.

The good: BBS 19" ACR Rims, new tires, new clutch, new master/slave cylinder. Overall 7.5-8 I would say. Wear on drivers seat and some of the weather stripping. Nice driver, not a show car.


The bad:

Current owner has owned car about about 10 years and purchased from insurance company in Colorado with a salvage title. He was very upfront with everything including many pictures of all the damage. The car was in a low speed fender bender resulting in damage to the front and rear bumpers and hood. No airbag deployment or frame issues from the notes from inspection, the front subframe had little to no damage, and the new parts bolted right on.

Since we live in California, he naturally registered the car in California but apparently California doesn't carry salvage titles from other states, so in turn it has a clean California title.
Owner provided a carfax and I ran my own as well, both showing a salvage title that was issued in Colorado in 2005. He had the clean California title in hand.

I then called two insurance companies telling them specifically that I was wondering if they showed the title as being salvaged and neither company said anything looked out of order and both provided very reasonable quotes for full coverage. I am a little worried that down the road the insurance company would come back and say something about it, but at the same time, the
owner has had full coverage without issue (according to him).

I ran the KBB numbers and they came back with $26-27 for good to very good condition from private party. I have not seen a clean title anywhere near that price, and I think if this had a clean title, 32-34k would probably make for a pretty quick sale.

He is asking 25k, which I will negotiate based on the KBB, but if this can be had for low 20's would this be a good deal? I've
read that you need to deduct 20-25% of the normal price based on the title issues, even though in California it's technically
clean. I'm not planning on selling this anytime soon, but know that if/when I go to sell it in the future I can expect a diminished price due to the title issue.

Or should I just walk from this deal?

If it passes a PPI inspection at a viper only performance facility would any of you guys go for it?


Thanks!
 

Mopar Steve

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If it passes a thorough inspection and you're happy with the car, buy it. You could probably part It out for that money.
 

luc

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Original ACR/BBS wheels were 18", not 19".

It's all depend on your financial situation, you are not going to find a "no issue" Gen2 for low to mid 20, so if you can't afford to spend more money, buy it and enjoy it.
 
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sfzobie

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Sorry that was a typo on my part, they are bbs rims styled like the ACR rims but not factory. I can afford more money but I have decided that since this will be car #5 I don't need to spend more than 20-25k for this type of toy.
 

csmwiese

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Pass on it.....
A Non Salvage title 1999 GTS with 50k is worth close to $25k, Keep looking
 

Free2go

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Dude, you seem to have done your research. It's your money...do what makes you feel good.
 

Bonkers

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Pass on it.....
A Non Salvage title 1999 GTS with 50k is worth close to $25k

I disagree - most GTSs have been running solid $30ks of late with
the 96, 99, and 02s holding the premiums. I do agree however with
passing it up. For an experienced Viper Owner $25k is about market
but only if you know what youre looking for - rebuilt Vipers can
hide some VERY nasty issues. If you dont know the car personally,
dont know the rebuilder, or just starting your journey I advise
sticking with the most prestine example you can afford.
 

mbccenter

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Sounds like a good deal. You should be able to look at the pics from before to determine what way to go. You can send them to me and I will give you my opinion. I am going to be listing a salvage title 2002 GTS in Lamborghini Orange. I would be in the 30's on it but it has only 13k miles and the overall car is a 9.5 out of 10. That should give you a good idea.
 

TWISTED METAL

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I bought my "no issue" gen2 gts for mid 20's and it r6ns great....but for a salvage title I would either not buy it or offer no more than 20k cuz salv title cars can awesome buys or huge money pits....I have had both
 

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