Opinion on buying an accident vehicle

[OHP]

I would like to know everyone's opinion on purchasing a runner that was involved in an accident. This particular truck was hit on the right front and professionally repaired. The accident shows on the carfax report but I doubt it has a rebuilt title. From the seller's description it sounds like light damage. He gave me the name and the number to the body shop that did the repair. It was wrecked at ~20,000 miles and the owner drove it another 80 after that. Opinions?

 

[mrpanic7]

I would like to know everyone's opinion on purchasing a runner that was involved in an accident. This particular truck was hit on the right front and professionally repaired. The accident shows on the carfax report but I doubt it has a rebuilt title. From the seller's description it sounds like light damage. He gave me the name and the number to the body shop that did the repair. It was wrecked at ~20,000 miles and the owner drove it another 80 after that. Opinions?

It depends on what was damaged in the accident. If I was you I would simply do a very thorough inspection of all the suspension and drivetrain components. Also if the seller can provide accurate info as to what was repaired that would be great also. Main things I would be worried about is frame damage and and damage to the 4x4 actuators and drivetrain.

Also make sure to test the vehicle going into 4H as well as 4Lo a few times back and forth also locking the center diff just making sure everything engages correctly. Good Luck hope it works out

 

[Zuke]

I bought mine from a friend who hit a deer. She had new front bumper/grill/radiator and headlights installed from the impact. It shows on the carfax but the repair work looked good and I got some new parts out of it.

 

[mach1diesel]

I would ask for a copy of the repair order and make sure it's a reputable shop.

I had someone hit me on the front corner myself. $4k in cosmetic damage. One of the first things they do is put it on a machine to check the frame, so you could ask about that. Along with the above suggestion of testing the 4WD, have a look at the tires and/or ask about chronic alignment issues. If something is out of whack in the suspension, that might be a good indicator.

 

[Gecko123]

I would like to know everyone's opinion on purchasing a runner that was involved in an accident. This particular truck was hit on the right front and professionally repaired. The accident shows on the carfax report but I doubt it has a rebuilt title. From the seller's description it sounds like light damage. He gave me the name and the number to the body shop that did the repair. It was wrecked at ~20,000 miles and the owner drove it another 80 after that. Opinions?

It depends what was damaged. If it was mostly cosmetic it is not so bad. For me, I would not touch anything over 1000 dollar damage but that is just me. Mine had 300 dollar damage which is peanuts.

 

[NJshadow93]

Mine had like 3 accidents I think. All of them minor. Have put on roughly 12K miles since I bought it and it has been great.

 

[bergs]

It's a crapshoot, really, and all dependent on the quality of work.



My story:

I bought my 4Runner several months ago and knew it hit a deer when it had 45,xxx miles on it. Not a problem. All repairs were completed in a professional manner.

The surprise I got, however, was after I passed the check and had the vehicle in my driveway. As I was cleaning out the glovebox of various receipts I found a dealer slip for something like $7200 for an engine replacement shortly after the time of the accident......yes, a fricken engine replacement!! Luckily is was a dealer slip which eased the pain a bit but holy crap!! A small detail that the seller mysteriously "forgot".

:nono:

That all said, no issues so far and the vehicle currently has 127,xxx on the meter.

 

[NJshadow93]

It's a crapshoot, really, and all dependent on the quality of work.



My story:

I bought my 4Runner several months ago and knew it hit a deer when it had 45,xxx miles on it. Not a problem. All repairs were completed in a professional manner.

The surprise I got, however, was after I passed the check and had the vehicle in my driveway. As I was cleaning out the glovebox of various receipts I found a dealer slip for something like $7200 for an engine replacement shortly after the time of the accident......yes, a fricken engine replacement!! Luckily is was a dealer slip which eased the pain a bit but holy crap!! A small detail that the seller mysteriously "forgot".

:nono:

That all said, no issues so far and the vehicle currently has 127,xxx on the meter.

Wow! Did you ever call the dealer and find out the story? If you have the receipt they can probably look in their records and find out the reason.

 

[92-SR5]

I bought mine with a reconstructed title due to front end damage. I knew it was a risk but I was willing to risk it, turned out great. You can't hardly tell that it had ever been wrecked.

 

[bergs]

Wow! Did you ever call the dealer and find out the story? If you have the receipt they can probably look in their records and find out the reason.

Spent about an hour on the phone with the dealer. The replacement (used) engine was installed due to an overheating condition that developed shortly after the accident but they could not tell me whether or not the timing belt service was performed on the replacement engine.

There's more to the rest of the story but the main point is the truck has been wonderful so far.