Salvage car rebuild (muscle car, insurance, vehicle, SUV)
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I want to buy salvage cars, rebuild them, use for some time and then sell them. I am a individual and not a dealer, do you know how many cars can i buy and get rebuild certificate in year ? Anybody has experience in getting rebuild title in Virginia ?
I want to buy salvage cars, rebuild them, use for some time and then sell them. I am a individual and not a dealer, do you know how many cars can i buy and get rebuild certificate in year ? Anybody has experience in getting rebuild title in Virginia ?
The biggest thing doing this is to find customers/suckers that don't know vehicles with rebuilder/totaled titles are almost worthless.
I want to buy salvage cars, rebuild them, use for some time and then sell them. I am a individual and not a dealer, do you know how many cars can i buy and get rebuild certificate in year ? Anybody has experience in getting rebuild title in Virginia ?
If you drive them it is your safety at play if not properly repaired.
But most people steer away from them no matter how well you fix them, so resell is a money loosing proposition.
I want to buy salvage cars, rebuild them, use for some time and then sell them. I am a individual and not a dealer, do you know how many cars can i buy and get rebuild certificate in year ? Anybody has experience in getting rebuild title in Virginia ?
Unless you're a state licensed rebuilder, individuals can not schedule or present a rebuilt salvage vehicle to the state for inspection/examination. Without that state inspection/exmainati0on certification, it can not be registered for use on any road in Virginia. You can buy a salvage vehicle from anywhere yourself, fix it, get some state licensed rebuilder to do the paperwork and take the vehicle to have it inspected/examined under their license so you can get the certification to change the title from salvage to rebuilt. Just know that the title will still show branded.
ETA: The salvage/rebuilt inspection/examination is not the same as the annual required state inspection. This one is just for rebuilt vehicles to ensure all work performed is proper and the vehicle is safe to return to the road. Think of it as the annual inspection on steroids!
Rebuilding wrecked automobiles is a hit or miss proposition. To get them inspected after being fixed is quite a hassle in most states. You've got to purchase new parts or used parts and document the serial numbers used parts are coming off of.
Our state requires a special license for a rebuilding shop. That requires business insurance and a commercial building. I know two big body shops and neither has the special business license to rebuild salvage vehicles. They say it's just not worth the time required to come up to state regulations.
The states are careful as they're trying to minimize chop shops and stealing cars for their specific parts.
Got a Lexus truck for wife a few years ago from an auction. Minor damage. Was repaired in Florida by a friend and given a rebuilt title.
Registered it in NY and they required a state inspection within 2 years. Inspection was easy and the car passed with no issues. I was worried hearing about horror stories.
Far has been great so far.
Overall, got the car for half the price of a regular car, similar year and spec. It’s a daily car I think we will reach 200k before parting ways.
I like saving money and using it for investing. Id buy a S class for half the price if I knew the repair history.
Got a Lexus truck for wife a few years ago from an auction. Minor damage. Was repaired in Florida by a friend and given a rebuilt title.
Registered it in NY and they required a state inspection within 2 years. Inspection was easy and the car passed with no issues. I was worried hearing about horror stories.
Far has been great so far.
Overall, got the car for half the price of a regular car, similar year and spec. It’s a daily car I think we will reach 200k before parting ways.
I like saving money and using it for investing. Id buy a S class for half the price if I knew the repair history.
You hit the good and bad of rebuilders. They can be a very nice cheap vehicle that only had some minor cosmetic damage. The bad, you think you got it cheap wait till you try to sell it and then you will know what cheap is. Here(South Dakota) dealers won't even take them in on trade.
It has been a while but we used to get 4 vehicles per year per person before you have to be a dealer. We also don't have any type of inspection.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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How many cars can you sell in one year in Virginia?
In Virginia, private vehicle owners can sell or display to sell up to five total vehicles over a 12 consecutive month time period. Any vehicles above five within that time period requires the seller to become a licensed an authorized dealer in Virginia.
Rebuilding totaled cars was what kept me off the streets from age 14 - 18, good thing, since I rebuilt several muscle cars, including a Hemi Cuda and 340 Duster and 66 Nova SS. My SS teacher was a licensed rebuilder and had interest in keeping me off the streets . They are about 50% value after repair, but I did it for fun, and also made enough $$ to buy my parents a house when I was age 19.
We could do (5) cars / yr without dealer license (at the time). Some states make it nearly impossible, but foruntately my neighboring state is very easy, so I title there (but not register), then I re-title and register in my state, no hassle, no questions, 100% legal. Since you are so close to Vermont, you could explore that avenue (The only state that will title with a 'bill-of-sale' AFAIK).
Of my 48 cars I have at the moment, 3 are wearing 'builder' titles. One of them has over 300,000 miles and is still fine. It got rear-ended due to a chain reaction of SUV traveling too fast on wet roads, while talking in cell phone rather than driving. (Very common). Since the majority of my daily drivers can no longer be replaced by re-buying used (50+ mpg on home brew), I have to buy them back and rebuild them when some idiot smacks them (3x in parking lots).
Buying a wreck is very inexpensive way to get a fun car that you could not afford otherwise. Fix'em, drive'em, sell them (cheap, but a very good deal to someone else who wants to drive and enjoy them for awhile (or forever).
You learn a lot of useful skills rebuilding totalled cars, I use those skills everyday (50 yrs later).
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. They are about 50% value after repair, but I did it for fun, and also made enough $$ to buy my parents a house when I was age 19. 
