What would you do
What would you do
You're looking to buy a bike. You find a 2017 that has all the mods you would do (stage one, detachable sissy bar, and an extended warranty). Bike is priced $1500 under NADA book value. Sounds good. Then you find out the bike was in a major accident when it was just a month old. Lots of damage but not enough to total it. Frame was replaced along with all damaged parts by a Harley dealer. Would you buy it? This is a real scenario. My son was looking at this bike but I advised him not to buy it. Am I being a little too paranoid?
Banned
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 1,192
Likes: 261
From: Ohio
With just the data points posted I would agree. If stuff starts to break I would wonder if it was caused by the accident. Future resale/trade-in values are impacted as well.
Curious, is that $1,500 lower than suggested list price, low retail, or average retail?
Curious, is that $1,500 lower than suggested list price, low retail, or average retail?
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Joined: Oct 2008
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From: Missouri City,TX
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Joe Kucinski
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Joined: Jun 2018
Posts: 39
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From: SWPA
I've purchased several salvage titled vehicles and repaired them myself (had enhanced inspections performed and they were re-titled "reconstructed"), put MANY miles on them with little to no issues. However, I'd expect a little more than <$1500> on the selling price on that bike. I'd also want to know how many miles have been put on it since the repairs were completed and if any issues were encountered. Not that it necessarily applies in your case, but you'd be very surprised at some of the vehicles that end up with salvage titles. For instance, if a vehicle is stolen and not recovered within a certain timeframe (some as little as 2 weeks), it is automatically given a salvage title. Often, these vehicles are found afterwards with no damage and must be sold with a salvage title. Last year I put a 2012 Volkswagen CC R-Line (49K miles) back on the road that was hit in the rear. No airbags went off, but the seatbelt actuators did. Replaced all 4 seatbelts, trunk lid, bumper reinforcement and foam, one taillight and bumper cover. After buying those parts and the car itself, I had about $6K in it, private party value was near $12K - wife loves it.
Unofficial HDF Chaplain
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 21,160
Likes: 18,083
From: san diego
It doesn't sound like its a salvage titled bike, wasn't totaled, and a new frame added, with same #'s. The big problem with this, is the insurance company paid for the repairs, and the labor allotment is very low, compared to the time it takes to do this right. The Tech on the bike had to either, go extremely fast to make money, or cut corners, to do the same. Or, more likely both. So many issues can arise from that repair, and you might be visiting the dealer service department a lot more than you counted on. There's a lot of bikes out there, find one that odds on are less trouble.