Should I jump on this deal for an '06 Scion tC?

[Justinw303 10+ year member]

Alright, I spotted an '06 Scion tC for sale by a private party as I was drving around the other day. I called and asked about it and was told it only had 6k miles and he was selling it for 12,500...

Seemed too low, so I asked why. It's a rebuilt title, he bought it and fixed it up from how it was. Apparently it was a roll-over, and most of the damage was to the side mirrors and the sunroof and deck lid for the hatchback. He replaced all that, looks good.

The only problems on the exterior now are a couple of the rims and tires are a little scratched from the rollover, but besides that everything else was just nit-picky. Drove pretty good.

So for $12,500 I'm getting a $16-17,000 car, maybe more depending on where it was bought, and I'm going to college soon so I need the gas mileage and something that will be more reliable than my 1990 F-150.

So what do you guys think?

Click to read more...

 

[williams22 10+ year member]

It's too small to be going back and forth to college in...I looked at it before I choose a Mazda 6.

 

[Imtjnotu 5,000+ posts]

is it a salvage..cause i unno if i trust those cause there could be more wrong then wat he is saying..but it is a toyota so its pretty good on gas so go for it

 

[M@nJo 10+ year member]

i would do a carfax and ask for all reciepts of work done to the car prior.

 

[rtillaree 10+ year member]

ive bought fully loaded dodge ram 1500's for that price in rebuilt condition...but whatever....

if im not mistaken in Alabama, like many states they stamp the tiles salvage "rebuilt" and cannot carry full coverage even if returned to prior loss condition...so its up to you if you dont want to carry full coverage..

 

[jiggy2dmax 10+ year member]

Salvage=New car with no warranty...not worth it in the long run. I would buy a salvage older car but now a newer one. For about 2-3k more, you can have the warranty and the same car. Not worth it..

 

[rtillaree 10+ year member]

Salvage=New car with no warranty...not worth it in the long run. I would buy a salvage older car but now a newer one. For about 2-3k more, you can have the warranty and the same car. Not worth it..

not always, i would actually never say that...if i did the work i could say pretty close to new, but in a roll over, its nowhere near new...

and it depends on how hard you get screwed on a rebuild...

i did a few 2003 DTS's and sold them both for 11k

a rebuilt car is great for a 2nd car, or if you just flat out want a nice car to drive around and dont care about insurance...

 

[Justinw303 10+ year member]

Well my dad is paranoid about water leaks because it was a rollever, and he's worried about insurance, so it's no longer an option. I guess I'll be driving my piece of SHlT around for the rest of my life...

 

[CaliforniabOY5 10+ year member]

you can find nice used cars for that same price range. . . . i wouldnt buy a salvaged car.

 

[theCybe 5,000+ posts]

Water leaks? Hm.

 

[mattmcss 10+ year member]

haha, if you want me to run a carfax on it I will, just PM me the vin #

 

[azbass 5,000+ posts]

if your going to spend that much money, id get a new car, that was not rolled.

 

[bigbangtheory 5,000+ posts]

Well at least your dad has some smarts, cause you could have had many problems with that car. Especially when you could buy one for a few more thousand dollars w/warranty.

 

[bk12321 10+ year member]

11k there are hundreds of better options

 

[ndnbolla 10+ year member]

The car itself is good for college but I wouldn't buy a salvaged one for many of the reasons stated before me.