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looking at a 2010 WRX

2K views 10 replies 4 participants last post by  rgrafton 
#1 ·
Just took a look at this car and everything looked good. a little over 70,000 miles. Pretty clean. Ran smooth and strong. Brand new tires.

He said that the car had been in an accident and that it would show up on the carfax report. It was enough for the rear right air bag to deploy.... This has me kind of worried. I would have never known it was in an accident from looking.

How much damage was there to have caused the side air bag to deploy? could it have been a really minor bump/side swipe or would the car have to be t-boned with pretty good force??

Do you think it's even worth paying the money for the carfax at this point or looking elsewhere?
 
#2 ·
rgrafton,

If you decide to move forward with that car be EXTREMELY DETAILED in your research. the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration suggests that an impact of 10 miles per hour with a solid object will cause most airbags to deploy, that can mean that the car was T boned at a stop sign or that it was rear ended at an angle. If you are interested in the car still I would pay for the carfax and look at the kind of accident/damage was reported and the kind of work that was done.

Frame damage is the part that would scare me, especially on a performance car, everything needs to be even and true. I would look in the carfax report for an alignment after the accident. that's usually a good indicator that there was sufficient force to damage suspension parts or mis-allign the frame.

just my .02 cents, if your looking for used cars a carfax subscription is worth the money.
 
#3 ·
Thanks for your reply.

I went ahead and did the 5 Reports for $50... just in case this one doesn't work out and I continue searching.

Shows up that there was an accident that caused air bag to deploy just as the seller stated. I'm kind of confused why the source is Maryland Damage Report when the guy lives in Colorado. I'm guessing he has family or something here?? thus why he sold it at a dealer here in Maryland?? the 20k miles a year makes some sense now.

It says that it was functional damage which is kind of confusing in the wording because the key says "functional" means the vehicle was driven away from the scene, but I would think functional damage to mean it was not functional after the accident...

I do not see anything dealing with alignment in the history, but it did have some stuff done at the dealer (where it was traded in). see the attached pic of the report.

FYI - I'm not buying from the dealer. In the report, you can see "Vehicle offered for sale" on 9/24/13 and sometime between then and now this guy bought it (he is a wholesale cars sales guy...).
 

Attachments

#4 ·
The next question is: what price is reasonable for this 2010 WRX base model?(seller claimed it was premium, but it doesn't have fogs or a sunroof, so my guess is that it is not)

It is in Good condition (has some cosmetic imperfections here and there, the most noticeable being what looks like someone backed the car into a trailer hitch and there's a somewhat deep gouge)...

Seller says he doesn't know history of accident. All we have is this car fax report. Given that it was in an accident, even a minor one, I feel some money should be taken off for that alone. One wheel has a little curb rash as well.

There are no maintenance logs or receipts or anything that came with the car either. I don't know what has been maintenanced or replaced (besides I guess whatever SHOULD be included in the 60k mile maintenance that was done according to Carfax)

Fair kelley blue book value: $13,421
Good blue book value: $14,871

Auction on ebay ended at $12,000 reserve not met. Should I offer $12,500 and go from there?

Thanks!
 
#8 ·
rgrafton,

I would be super cautious with this one. there's no maintenance logged, no receipts, and no info reported about the repairs. best case they took it to a reputable shop where they didn't report the repairs, worst case it wasn't performed by a reliable shop or it was handled outside insurance ( $$$ very expensive if the airbags deployed). In either case after an accident there is usually some paper trail you can get a hold of. Without a paper trail and evidence of the types of repairs that were done your placing a pretty big bet.

Again I would be super cautious but id love to welcome another driver to the WRX community.
 
#9 ·
I got him to come down to 15,300 (he literally said that he has had it for 3 months and can't get rid of it. He claims he's got 15,300 wrapped up into it).

My last offer was 13,500 just given the overall condition being good, but not very good or excellent and the fact there's not even a stock radio, wires are ran for an amp, so I guess that's cool, but I would buy a decent aftermarket radio to put in. And, lastly, like you say, there's no history really on this vehicle. I have no idea whether it was maintained or not (that's why I keep my receipts and mark down when I do oil changes, so I can hand it off to the next person when I sell my car). I also, like you said, have no details about the accident... I have a feeling it was something minor, maybe something in a parking lot, but who knows... It seems like it was put back together pretty well.

The car seem to run pretty damn good. My dad came with me to check the car out and the older guy selling the car sat in the back. I started her right up. Gave it a minute to let the oil get through the engine, and then I took it easy for the first few minutes of driving. (I've had good luck with my '94 Saturn with over 200k miles, so I think my treatment has been paying off.) Once it was off the cold mark a good bit, I got into it a little. The only way to test drive a car ;). I gotta say I really want one now. I dig it. No mods necessary. I'm not into that. It handled well and had just enough power to make it an enjoyable ride. I think it's just right. That's why I was looking at the Pontiac GTO. All of the necessary power for a commuter/pleasure car is there, no need for any more. My mom actually has a '04 GTO. I like it, but it's automatic... :eek: .. I know, right?
 
#10 ·
This is what you're looking for.
That all of your body lines meet and that all your gaps are even. All of the gaps should be exactly the same.
Hood to fender, fender to door, door to door, door to quarter and finally quarter to trunk.
About a 8mm gap all around.

A good reference point would be the hood to fender or hood to grill. Since you were hot in the rear.

Make sure the alignment is on point and put your eyes on the rear wheels to do a visual inspection of their camber.
Also make sure the seam from your trunk to bumper on the bottom, follows through from left to right.

Hope this helps.


....... CHEERS!!!
 
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