If you're looking for a salvage donor, there's a website for you

[JBrown88]

So, I was surfing around different sites to see how much I need to save up for a donor and came across this site: http://www.copart.com

I remember reading someone's suggestion to look for a salvage (or otherwise unattractive to most drivers) car instead of tearing apart a perfectly good driver. This site works a lot like eBay, in the sense that you bid on different cars online. The bonus of it is that the company has several different locations where you can go and inspect a car you pick out online. I don't believe it costs anything to sign up (although there is a Premium membership option, which does cost money), but I'm not sure. Certainly not for everyone, and definitely a more risky route. If you're looking to really low buck your build though, might be worth it. Don't know if this site has popped up before, so I thought I'd share what I found.

[65 Cobra Dude]

Be aware that you need to have a dealer's license to bid on anything over $1K.

Henry

[RM1SepEx]

Be aware that you need to have a dealer's license to bid on anything over $1K.

Henry

not true, depends on the state the car is in.
Mass and NH do have that requirement, Maine, Penn, and Michigan do not (based on my search)

You do have to put a deposit of 10% down for each 1000 additional that you want to bid on Copart

Copart is where I bought mine... be aware that some fees apply besides the cost of the car, it can be 3-400 additional to your purchase price and you pay that state sales tax as an individual.

I still got my 70k mile 05 roll over for about $3500 delivered to Maine from Michigan... Est. Delivery 5-23-12

[shim2]

not true, depends on the state the car is in.
Mass and NH do have that requirement, Maine, Penn, and Michigan do not (based on my search)

You do have to put a deposit of 10% down for each 1000 additional that you want to bid on Copart

Copart is where I bought mine... be aware that some fees apply besides the cost of the car, it can be 3-400 additional to your purchase price and you pay that state sales tax as an individual.

I still got my 70k mile 05 roll over for about $3500 delivered to Maine from Michigan... Est. Delivery 5-23-12

That's a pretty good deal.

[RM1SepEx]

I hope so, hard to buy something like that 900 miles away (1000 if you don't want to go through Canadian customs, TWICE) I'll see what I got when it arrives next week. I had a autocheck report, mileage was correct, single accident for all the damage and all the wheels looked straight, opened hood showed no signifigant damage to the engine bay so the parts I need should be in fne shape.

[65 Cobra Dude]

Thanks for the clarification RM1 - who da thunk that would be State specific ;)

Henry

[Evan78]

Copart is where I bought mine... be aware that some fees apply besides the cost of the car, it can be 3-400 additional to your purchase price and you pay that state sales tax as an individual.

I still got my 70k mile 05 roll over for about $3500 delivered to Maine from Michigan... Est. Delivery 5-23-12If you're up for it, maybe you should start a new thread about your purchase once you get the car and have time to check it over and perhaps snap some photos. I've asked you some questions about your purchase in another thread, but clearly this is something many members are interested in and warrants a new thread about your experience, in my opinion.

[shim2]

I was on copart's website they say they require a $400 deposit prior to bidding. If you would could you explain the entire process, that'd be great if you could.

[ddorrer]

This website is open to the public. They have locations all over the US.

https://www.iaai.com/auctions/AuctionSingleDateView.aspx

[RM1SepEx]

976897699770

I watched the iaai site too

you can join copart for nothing and bid to 1000
for anything more you need to provide a 10% deposit on a credit card for each 1000 "bidding power"
I provided a deposit to be able to bid to 6000 a bit over my self imposed limit of 5000
just join and watch some auctions
search for likely donors and watch the auctions live to benchmark what your likely donor sells for.
I wanted a 06 or 07 and was willing to go to 5,000 but most were not damaged enough and sold for too much.
I picked up the low mileage 05 with 70K, damn low because it is butt fugly , pay tax, lot fees, several days storage at $20 a day, a $185 auction fee... it adds up.

I'd watch to avoid such a long distance shipment. Uship gave very unrealistic estimates... my shipping was higher than I expected

[clintavo]

Thanks for posting this! This makes it a much easier decision to do the build.

Anyone know in California if you have you pay sales tax on a donor if you never intend on registering it? Seems like double taxation when you register the 818.

[RM1SepEx]

here it doesn't matter, you buy ANYTHING you pay sales tax. I paid Michigan sales tax so I won't have to pay Maine's

[NonProfit]

Anyone know in California if you have you pay sales tax on a donor if you never intend on registering it? Seems like double taxation when you register the 818.
I don't have any firsthand knowledge, but know you'd pay sales tax on parts from the store.

The crazy thing is, at least in my town, the city states "Unregistered, unlicensed, abandoned, or inoperative vehicles will be removed at owner's expense." I've already had this problem simply when a tire went flat. They came into my driveway and, although the didn't tow, they stuck an 8.5 X 11" bright orange "we're coming back for 'ya" sticker on the back window. It took half a Saturday (and a jar of mayonnaise -- not sure why that helps, but it does) to scrape it off. That was a car which was licensed, insured and looked like a car. If I hide a wrecked donor in a garage, I suspect it would be safe, but the law does not stipulate it is acceptable to do so.

[Kalstar]

Ok I'll try this again, I wrote I a book last night in this thread and lost it before it posted so I will paraphrase.

I have helped many GTM builders buy through copart for free, I am a dealer and was doing it for free for the forum folk. It became too much of a job so I pulled back, but I will always give advise and direction for free.

Though copart is a great resource, know the issues. They use a reseller model, meaning select resellers do most of the paperwork "for a fee". There is always a 200-400.00 security fee, 200.00 paperwork fee and some charge a percentage of the purchase cost. Choose your reseller wisely as the wrong choose will cost you 100's of dollars. Second, copart itself charges a few " buy fees". I have purchased 7 cars through copart with a range of $2700-$6200, the buyer fees ranged from $485-$696 and the least expensive purchase was not the least expensive buy fee. They have a "secret" formula for factoring cost.

Shipping.... be careful. All but one of the shipping was through the copart approved vendor list, every time I set up a shipment there would be storage fees added because their approved hauler did not show up when they were suppose to and copart would charge a daily yard fee. They would not honor it was their issue as it is their vendor, on the second to last purchase I made from them, I used a outside transporter, they charged him a fee to get into the yard and a pick up fee, so they frown on outside haulers, they must get a kick back from them.

Lastly.....condition. The cars are raped before you get them. I haven't got one car with all the radio/ heater control knobs even though they are in the photos. I had two cars come in with only 2 lug nuts per wheel, had one come in with a different set of wheels, any relay not need to drive the car onto the carrier is gone, Nav disks or owners manuals (forget about them). Basically anything that can be sold on eBay is missing. Anything worth a buck and I mean a dollar is gone, shift knobs, cup holder liners, you name it......it's in the photo when purchasing not there when you get the car.

All that said, I will be getting my 818 donor through copart, just know the true costs.

[NonProfit]

All that said, I will be getting my 818 donor through copart, just know the true costs.
Thanks for the warning! This surprises me; it seems like the supply of wrecked cars would far outpace the demand and customer satisfaction would be a higher priority. Why is Copart your vendor of choice and do you have any knowledge regading similar sites such as https://www.iaai.com/, http://www.salvageworld.net/, http://erepairables.com/, or http://www.ridesafely.com/?

[Kalstar]

I use them because I know their system. I signed up for Iaai but kept going back to copart mostly because of familiarity. It is not a bad company but it has many short comings. The other sites might have as many or more problems but I am not sure as I have had no experience with them. I have been happy with my purchases and it was mostly worth the extra hassle.

[Smitty911]

I think, I'll have a Car Wholesaler find a running one at auction, they can buy wreaked ones also. We'll see, I should start shopping.

Smitty

[formfollowsfunction]

speaking of that 600hp lotus

http://member.copart.com/c2/search.html?_eventId=lotDetails&execution=e18s1&lotId=17340962

[kach22i]

speaking of that 600hp lotus

http://member.copart.com/c2/search.html?_eventId=lotDetails&execution=e18s1&lotId=17340962
Takes me to a member log-in page.

[formfollowsfunction]

guess you have to register to see it, the bids are private for some reason.

[Evan78]

Anyone know in California if you have you pay sales tax on a donor if you never intend on registering it? Seems like double taxation when you register the 818.In my experience, you pay sales tax in California when you go register the car in your name. If you never transfer the title, I don't see how you'd pay California sales tax on it. If you're purchasing from an out of state retailer, I'm guessing that they would charge their local sales tax, but I don't have any first hand experience with that situation, I've only done one purchase from out of state and it was a private party.

[clintavo]

In my experience, you pay sales tax in California when you go register the car in your name. If you never transfer the title, I don't see how you'd pay California sales tax on it. If you're purchasing from an out of state retailer, I'm guessing that they would charge their local sales tax, but I don't have any first hand experience with that situation, I've only done one purchase from out of state and it was a private party.

That's what I was thinking. Just buy a donor, and never change the title.


There's a number of donors at the North Hollywood auction site near me, I hope to be able to get one that will limp home... or at least out of the lot where I can call AAA.

[clintavo]

Ok I'll try this again, I wrote I a book last night in this thread and lost it before it posted so I will paraphrase.

I have helped many GTM builders buy through copart for free, I am a dealer and was doing it for free for the forum folk. It became too much of a job so I pulled back, but I will always give advise and direction for free.

Though copart is a great resource, know the issues. They use a reseller model, meaning select resellers do most of the paperwork "for a fee". There is always a 200-400.00 security fee, 200.00 paperwork fee and some charge a percentage of the purchase cost. Choose your reseller wisely as the wrong choose will cost you 100's of dollars. Second, copart itself charges a few " buy fees". I have purchased 7 cars through copart with a range of $2700-$6200, the buyer fees ranged from $485-$696 and the least expensive purchase was not the least expensive buy fee. They have a "secret" formula for factoring cost.

Shipping.... be careful. All but one of the shipping was through the copart approved vendor list, every time I set up a shipment there would be storage fees added because their approved hauler did not show up when they were suppose to and copart would charge a daily yard fee. They would not honor it was their issue as it is their vendor, on the second to last purchase I made from them, I used a outside transporter, they charged him a fee to get into the yard and a pick up fee, so they frown on outside haulers, they must get a kick back from them.

Lastly.....condition. The cars are raped before you get them. I haven't got one car with all the radio/ heater control knobs even though they are in the photos. I had two cars come in with only 2 lug nuts per wheel, had one come in with a different set of wheels, any relay not need to drive the car onto the carrier is gone, Nav disks or owners manuals (forget about them). Basically anything that can be sold on eBay is missing. Anything worth a buck and I mean a dollar is gone, shift knobs, cup holder liners, you name it......it's in the photo when purchasing not there when you get the car.

All that said, I will be getting my 818 donor through copart, just know the true costs.

Great info. Hopefully they won't be raped if I pick up the car in person?

[RMB]

That's what I was thinking. Just buy a donor, and never change the title.


There's a number of donors at the North Hollywood auction site near me, I hope to be able to get one that will limp home... or at least out of the lot where I can call AAA.

In Texas I'm pretty sure that is illegal. You have a certain amount of time to change the title to your name before penalties start piling up. And when you go to register your car, you have to prove where the engine and trans came from, and you need the title in your name for that. I keep my donor title with my FFR title just in case anything ever comes up.

Rob

[Xusia]

So what happens if/when you drop the donor carcass off at the local junkyard? Wouldn't they need the title? That would tend to indicate that once you title the new vehicle, you no longer need to keep the old title (though copies of it wouldn't be a bad idea!)...

[clintavo]

Do these auction sites charge tax when you buy them?

[RM1SepEx]

Takes me to a member log-in page.

Anyone can see it BUT you sent a link when signed in as a member...

I couldn't find that lot

try this link, all 02-07 subaru impreza

http://www.copart.com/c2/onSaleResults.html?execution=e10s1&listType=DETAILED_SEARCH_ON_SALE_NOW&_eventId=detailSearch&onSale=true&showImage=true&filterBaseLabel=Automobile+SUBARU&searchType=detailedSearch&criteriaType=detailedSearch&returnPage=search&freshRequired=true&oSearchByType=Y&vehicleType=V&startYear=2002&endYear=2007&make=SUBA&model=IMPREZA&titleGroupCode=&location=facility&stateFacility=*&zipPostalCode=&mileageRange=99999

[DrieStone]

Here's the list of registered brokers that apparently we have to use:

http://www.copart.com/c2/online_salvage_car_auction_brokers.html

Is there a benefit to using a local broker (not that any of them are in-state for me)?

Here's a chart to see if you need to have a broker or not:

http://www.copart.com/c2/buyingOverview.html

[DrieStone]

That's crazy... the closest Copart location is 4.6 miles from my house.

[DrieStone]

Ok, last post (I promise)....

I wonder if this is any good (seems like a big scam to me):

http://www.salvagereseller.com

[shim2]

I think salvagerseller.com is another website that is part of copart. I found the chart very useful and lucky for me NC doesn't require a broker. Going to keep my eyes on a car that I like for sale in NC, that way I don't have to deal with shipping companies.

[NonProfit]

I wonder if this is any good (seems like a big scam to me):

http://www.salvagereseller.com

I don't know, but I did find http://www.salvagereseller.com/copart_fees which may help figure out some of Copart's fees:


They have a "secret" formula for factoring cost.

Please note, the $250 Transaction Fee is from SR, everything else is Copart.

Assuming a $5,000 bid is won:
$250 Transaction Fee
$700 or $750 Buyer Fee
$75 Internet Bid Fee
$30 Gate Fee
$10 Copart Mailing Fee

All this adds $1065, or over 20%.

Plus sales tax, shipment, and possible Late Payment Fee, Storage Fee, Relisting Fee, Sales "Cancelation" Fee, Visits to the yards Fee, and Broker Mailing Fee.

So...bid accordingly.