I Have an Addiction

Now that I have admitted it, maybe I can figure out the cure ....Ok, I really don't want to find a cure I WANT THIS CAR! As some of you know, I enjoy rebuilding salvage vehicles. Some of them are worth the effort. I have rebuilt my 99 996, a 99 SL600, and talked my dad into purchasing a rebuilt 2000 XJR. We bought the three vehicles from Silver Star Recycling. I had to go there today to take care of some paperwork on the SL. They had this vehicle sitting on their showroom floor. The price is $60,000 and it is currently listed on ebay. I'm going to lose sleep trying to figure out how I can talk wifey into this one. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Aston...ayphotohosting

I wish I could do what you can do to F'd up car's. That would be one sweet ride after you finnished. How do banks and insurance companies feel about they kind of cars? Will banks give money to buy these types of cars, and will insurace "insure" these cars agian? Your body shop must love you

AAron, banks won't touch salvage vehicles. Insurance companies don't care, they will insure them in whatever state they are in. I am working on learning to do the bodywork myself. A local restoration shop is going to let me do some volunteer work to learn the trade (for my hobby only). I'm going through withdrawls not having one to work on right now.

Very cool hobby... An costly one at that

Mfletch, If I lived anywhere near ya I would be going in on it with you. Always wanted to this as well. You see some really cool cars with mostly cosmetic stuff or a theft recovery where there is nothing wrong except all the bling stuff from the inside and out is taken (track car! ) -Paul

Make that two, I did the same thing with street bikes for a number of years. Bought them from insurance companies and rebuilt and re deliver to you, for a huge savings!

Ok and a decent profit. You guys are sharp!!

Paul, I wish you were closer also. I could really get into trouble if I had someone else to share the addiction with. My wife has been very tolerant...she even helps me. The only problem is, she doesn't want to get rid of them either. She was more then willing to sell the Rover to finance the Aston Martin. She wasn't so keen when I told her we would have to sell the Mercedes and Porsche as well. Michael, did you ever get it out of your system? The decent profit part is my problem....I can't bear to part with them once I'm finished.

Mfletch.... thats an awesome hobby, something I would love to do... if you can swing it more power to you... GL, if it doesnt work out........... theres always the SC project for your 99 that you can do yourself

Get her a !NICE! diamond ring.

You never get it out of your system. Its a design issue. It has infected my everyday life. I look for fixer uppers over new. I like the challenge and the opportunity to add my preferences in every project.

Hey, I know those guys... ended up dealing with Ryan at Silver Star when I needed to get the parts to rebuild my project 1999 911. I also am into fixing up cars, I was just lucky in that my latest project does not have an accident record or salvage title. You should have been up there around January, they had a Ferrari 360 Modena in blue. Now that would have been a project!! Too bad it still costs a fortune even wrecked! David

David, we need to hook up. Wifey and I saw the Ferrari...they have had a few that were tempting. I would love to see pictures of your 996 as you rebuilt it. If you search under my user name (mfletch) and the word "rebuilt", you will see the pictures of my 996 restoration. Give me a call sometime, I would enjoy talking. [phone removed]. Ryan at Silver Star is great to work with. Michael, it sounds like you and I have a lot in common. I really enjoy making something damaged beautiful again. Redridge, I went there again today to drool over it. It is definately out of my price range for a project car. I went to the insurance auction headquarters and got an application to bid on the cars directly, so I can bypass the middleman. I'm hoping to rebuild a couple fun cars and make a small profit, so I can afford to do the SC on my 996. It was a treat to see the newest pictures of your car with the polished turbo twist wheels. I now have an idea what mine would look like with the aerokit. Your car is an inspiration. Between the performance and the appearance, it is what I would like mine to eventually evolve into. hi8ha, my wife liked your idea.

I am not trying to rain on anyone's parade, but is there really profit in fixing these cars and selling them? I would guess that the Vanquish would be worth $80K fixed up (a guess really), but it is really viable to fix it and sell with a salvage title? I cannot imagine paying $60K for a car with a salvage title unless I really wanted to fix it and keep it for myself. Is the body work a significant cost of the total fix up, or is that peanuts compared to the cost of the parts?

Joe, you can purchase a used Vanquish in mint condition for about $135,000. I have owned several salvage titled vehicles. I have never had a problem selling them. You don't expect to get the same money for a salvaged car as you would for a car with no previous damage. The cars that I have rebuilt, I have extensively documented the process with photographs and receipts. Without doing extensive research, I would guess that I could fix this vehicle so it looked like new for about $30,000 provided the frame is undamaged. I would have to factor in the time and money that I spent rebuilding it in order to come up with a sale price. I would only rebuild a car that I wouldn't mind keeping myself. That way, I wouldn't be too sad if I couldn't sell it for what I had into it. Rebuilding salvage cars has allowed me to own vehicles that I wouldn't otherwise have been able to afford. If I could rebuild a car and sell it for enough to pay myself a reasonable salary while making the car a bargain for the buyer, I would consider that a win-win situation. I would much rather own a rebuilt Porsche, Aston Martin, Ferrari, Maserati, etc. then have a new Toyota.

Mark: You need to get well and get back to work. You're going to run out of money salivating over all those Silverstar cars. Tell you what....let's talk about going in on a nice one. I wouldn't mind a good project. I'll come up and go out to coffee with you. I've been having fun with your G Tek...but I'm not getting the times you did with your tip.

Chuck, you are are right about the going back to work part....I need a project to help keep my sanity. Lets get together soon. It's easy to get good times with the tip because it doesn't require any skill.

Hey guys, have not met any of the local Porsche people yet... not many in Tracy except for Steve. Would love to meet up with you guys and talk shop. I did get some pics of my project in progress but they are on the work laptop. Mark, will try to give you a call sometime this weekend to chat. David [phone removed])

David, I'll look forward to talking to you. I'll talk to Chuck about organizing a get-together for all the local Rennlist guys...he is friends with Loren from Renntech.

I just took a trip with Loren over to see Alex at SharkWerks...and we talked about getting organized and putting on "fix your car day"...or whatever he called it. Essentially, we need to identify some guys who would be willing to let a set number of fellow Porsche afficianados come over and use their tools and collective expertise to do some of the less complex DIY projects. We were considering things like a Short Shifter install, brake job, coolant tank replacement, certain mods, PIWIS readouts etc. We'd try to stay away from the things like oil changes unless the gusy brought their own containers and hauled it away...but those sorts of things tend to be messy. I had a garage makeover done not too long ago, but I've still got 25 years worth of crap that I've got to get rid of...then I'd be able to offer mine in Elk Grove as one location. We'll be doing some planning here in the not-too=distant future in an effort to get something going. I know that there would be a lot of folks who would either have a specific DIY project they'd like to do, or perhaps just to come by and see how things are done, yak it up with other Pcar guys, and maybe just to gain a little more insight, information, and confidence to tackle DIY projects on their own.

Cool idea Chuck. When you guys get something together be sure to post it here. I would be interested as a local Bay Area resident and new pcar owner! Short Shifter install is on my list of future mods...

hey chuck... talk to loren about it since you guys are close together and I'm up for it. PS The RS will be here in a couple of weeks

60k is too much for that car IMHO....

Should be a fun project.

My family is also in the rebuilding business but nothing high-end like this. If you're doing it for yourself and you enjoy building them as a hobby, then it can be a lot of fun and you learn a lot about your car. I personally have no problem driving rebuilt cars if I've seen them 'pre fix' so I can determine the level of damage they've sustained and if I'm okay with it. In my lifetime I've owned 5 rebuilt cars I put together and in fact my current pickup truck is a rebuild (2004 Ranger Edge I have about $4800 in). But the problem with rebuilding expensive autos like this Aston is that the majority of potential buyers are not going to want a car that expensive with a salvage title. But if it's for your personal use, you'll do fine and end up with some cool toys. When I bought my Carrera I looked around at insurance auctions but the math for car cost+parts+labor+depreciation just didn't make any sense. I probably would have only saved $3-5k at the time. Plus I know from experience that trying to sell it later (in the event that I didn't like it) is a pain. I'd love to have an Aston in the driveway though, those are beautiful cars.

K996, it's nice to talk to someone else who enjoys rebuilding salvage cars. It is a lot of fun and it allows you to get to know your car inside and out. Your observations regarding salvage cars are 100% accurate. I don't mind owning a salvage car that I have rebuilt because I am extremely **** when it comes to my cars. I am not satisfied unless they look like new when I'm done. It has allowed me to own cars that I otherwise could not have afforded. You are absolutely right that there is a limited market for high end salvage titled cars. If you can afford a rebuilt Aston Martin, you can probably afford one with a clean title. At most, you might save 25% off the price of a car like this by rebuilding the car yourself. If you could buy it directly from the insurance auction...it becomes a lot more economical...then you could probably turn a reasonable profit when you are done. The bottom line is that rebuilding salvage cars is a labor of love. You should never rebuild one that you wouldn't want to own yourself. If you do them for profit, you also run into the danger of not wanting to part with them when you are done. I know that if I rebuilt the Aston Martin, I would not be able to part with it.

Hello: a member suggested that I contact you. I am currently re-building a '99 996 from the ground up. Every piece was transferred from a non-repairable tub to to new tub from a fire damaged car. I am nearly finished, however, I am having difficulty determining where all of the fuel lines, vent lines, and emission lines go that are under the front trunk. (not even sure is I have all of the lines) Any help would be greatly appreciated. Perhaps we could speak by phone. Thanks so much.

gsbeane, please feel free to call me at [phone removed]. I can probably point you in the right direction and send you pictures if needed. You are really going to love it when you finally get to drive it. Good Luck, Mark.