Do the math before buying a wrecked GT

[NorthwoodGT]

I've been looking for a stripe delete car without too much success until yesterday. found a wrecked car that needs a new frame assembly and rear hatch among other things. to my utter surprise, I was quothed the following prices at my local Ford dealer. as of July 2009, SRP on a new frame is $94,487.40 and SRP on a rear hatch is $21,436.00. That would put me at over $186K buying the car at $70K and still ending up with a salvage title. Think I'll pass even getting a discount on the parts.

 

[shelbyelite]

I never have understood people buying these heavily damaged cars with salvage titles and rebuilding them. I guarantee that 75% of the people that have done it have within $10k to 20k of a no stories car if not the same. Makes no sense..... :frown

 

[NorthwoodGT]

I never have understood people buying these heavily damaged cars with salvage titles and rebuilding them. I guarantee that 75% of the people that have done it have within $10k to 20k of a no stories car if not the same. Makes no sense..... :frown

shelby elite you are absolutely correct! I had never considered a wrecked car before until I had this one come my way. once doing the math you're right, it doesn't make any sense whatsoever! just had a friend buy a wreck with the Hennessey upgrades on the engine at $84K and it has nothing from the windshield forward. why?

 

[shelbyelite]

On a salemans note, We just got a 360 mile Black Stripe delete car in! See our site!

 

[RALPHIE]

Shelby -

You're obviously correct - for a licensed road car.

But what about for a track-only car, where many of the stock parts would have to be taken off - e.g. fuel filler system, adding a roll cage, replace the fuel tank with one mounted in the trunk area, and other modifications necessary to make it competitive and track worthy? I think this is where they'll eventually wind up, as the headlights could be replaced with cheaper functional headlamps, etc.

What do you think?

 

[NorthwoodGT]

Shelby -

You're obviously correct - for a licensed road car.

But what about for a track-only car, where many of the stock parts would have to be taken off - e.g. fuel filler system, adding a roll cage, replace the fuel tank with one mounted in the trunk area, and other modifications necessary to make it competitive and track worthy? I think this is where they'll eventually wind up, as the headlights could be replaced with cheaper functional headlamps, etc.


What do you think?

Ralphie you are correct on that thinking. a repaired wrecked car would be the perfect candidate for a road race car. I made that mistake with a brand new 93 Cobra R I was running on the track. it finally clicked with me that running a new Cobra R wasn;t the smartest thing to do when I could easily duplicate the car with a wrecked Mustang GT and have just as much fun if not more!

 

[steved57]

While I think I am in a position to offer an opinion on this subject I agree with the above statements depending on what you pay for the car. I have a car with 431 miles and with what I paid for the car, plus my parts which are all OEM Ford parts, painting the parts that require painting I will be just under 120K and yes it does have a salvage title. But for me I was able to pony up
what I paid for the car and buying parts over a period of time it just made it
easier for me. Now if I were to count my time (hours rebuilding) I would be
way upside down !! Just my 2 cents !!

Steve

 

[Gill Jr.]

Is it not possible to repair a damaged GT frame? If not, why?

 

[shelbyelite]

Is it not possible to repair a damaged GT frame? If not, why?

Depends on the damage etc. I personally would not travel 200 MPH + on a repaired frame. My life is worth far more! :frown

 

[427Aggie]

shelby elite you are absolutely correct! I had never considered a wrecked car before until I had this one come my way. once doing the math you're right, it doesn't make any sense whatsoever! just had a friend buy a wreck with the Hennessey upgrades on the engine at $84K and it has nothing from the windshield forward. why?

Nothing in front? Wasn't a black and silver car was it? Sounds like Fubars!

 

[Gill Jr.]

Depends on the damage etc. I personally would not travel 200 MPH + on a repaired frame. My life is worth far more! :frown

I would have no trouble whatsoever doing 200 mph with a repaired frame if it was repaired correctly. Race cars have frames repaired due to crash damage all the time!

My question was can a GT with frame damage be repaired "correctly"?

I don't recall ever reading a thread on this forum about a member having a frame repaired.

 

[PL510*Jeff]

I would have no trouble whatsoever doing 200 mph with a repaired frame if it was repaired correctly. Race cars have frames repaired due to crash damage all the time!

My question was can a GT with frame damage be repaired "correctly"?

I don't recall ever reading a thread on this forum about a member having a frame repaired.

Odd but the frame price seems to have gone up 4k in the last month or so.

To "correctly" repair a GT frame one needs to buy a new one and then cut & fit the pieces that are in need of repair.

I would certainly defer to The GT Guy (s) on this for a better understanding of what can be repaired rather then total replacement of a GT frame.

 

[Empty Pockets]

To "correctly" repair a GT frame one needs to buy a new one and then cut & fit the pieces that are in need of repair.

Uhhhhhh...what sense is there in doin' THAT? :skep Why the devil would ANYBODY hack up a NEW, perfectly sound frame to supply pieces to "cut 'n' past" onto a damaged one??? :shrug If I bought a new frame I'd install THAT unmolested and "toss" the wrecked unit (or mebbe keep it for "patch work pieces" later if needed)! :willy

Whuddam I missin' here???


Perplexed Pockets

 

[GTRob]

No one should paid more then half the cost of a clean one and that's being completely repaired and all you have to do it put plates on it. No matter what model of car it is only worth half.

Remember it is an aluminum frame and not steel so pulling it require special techniques and is not as simple as bolt it to the Caroliner and pull it to spec.

If interested check out the Caroliner site videos http://www.car-o-liner.com/caroliner/export/sites/caroliner/en/ and click the video link in the right side labeled 'Repair Process'

http://193.44.3.50:8080/caroliner/opencms/en/common/galleries/vision_campaign_downloads/repair_process.swf

 

[BlackICE]

Uhhhhhh...what sense is there in doin' THAT? :skep Why the devil would ANYBODY hack up a NEW, perfectly sound frame to supply pieces to "cut 'n' past" onto a damaged one??? :shrug If I bought a new frame I'd install THAT unmolested and "toss" the wrecked unit (or mebbe keep it for "patch work pieces" later if needed)! :willy

Whuddam I missin' here???


Perplexed Pockets

If I were to guess,

1. To save labor costs.
2. One spare frame can be used to fix more than one car, so you can amortize the frame cost over many salvaged FGTs.

 

[PL510*Jeff]

Uhhhhhh...what sense is there in doin' THAT? :skep Why the devil would ANYBODY hack up a NEW, perfectly sound frame to supply pieces to "cut 'n' past" onto a damaged one??? :shrug If I bought a new frame I'd install THAT unmolested and "toss" the wrecked unit (or mebbe keep it for "patch work pieces" later if needed)! :willy

Whuddam I missin' here???


Perplexed Pockets

The cost to strip a GT completely and then re-install the thousands of parts, correctly, is many times more expensive and potentially more troublesome than repairing an area of damage.

 

[Gill Jr.]

No one should paid more then half the cost of a clean one and that's being completely repaired and all you have to do it put plates on it. No matter what model of car it is only worth half.

Good luck finding a repaired salvaged FGT for 70 - 85K.

 

[Fast Freddy]

what scares me is the shortage of replacement parts for our GT's and the cost to buy them :eek just because you can afford to buy a GT does not guarantee that you can afford to fix it when something goes wrong :thumbsdow as a result i have cut way back on the amount of miles i put on my GT :frown

good luck trying to get your doors to line up correctly with the body and roof of the car with a bent frame that has been straightened. i don't believe that it can be done......

 

[Empty Pockets]

The cost to strip a GT completely and then re-install the thousands of parts, correctly, is many times more expensive and potentially more troublesome than repairing an area of damage.

Ya, I do understand that now that you mention it(!) :lol, but, lemme see...a new frame is $100K (round figs)...plus labor to cut and paste...plus whatever OTHER replacement body/mechanical/suspension parts are needed...then repainting or whatever...I should think if costs were the controling factor, one would be better off to simply buy a REPLACEMENT, no stories car with a "no stories" title for about the same total money - and keep the wreck ITSELF for 'future project' parts down the road (per 'ICE).

Admittedly, I'm looking at this from the standpoint of what one will have when the whole thing is finished - a salvage title car. I wince thinking of chopping up a new frame:ack and still end up with a salvage title.

But, mebbe that's just me...:wink :cheers


Mr. Persnickity

 

[B.M.F.]

Nothing in front? Wasn't a black and silver car was it? Sounds like Fubars!

Fubars car is in Kansas right now sitting in storage.

Northwoodgt/ The car your talking about is hit in the drivers rear behind the door? If that's the car its been for sale for a long time.

One other thing to think about is with the frames being this much people are going to have to part out frame damaged cars instead of fixin them due to the cost of the frame and this is going to make less of these cars out there. For what the parts cost to fix these cars the cars should be way over the $200000 dollar range.