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I had been looking for a 2010-2012 salvage hatchback for a few weeks, I had 6K to spend and have found alot of value in salvage vehicles. Most people wanted 8k and would go down to 7K, this didnt make as much sense since if I looked hard enough a clean title was around 10K.
I thought about buying my own wrecked car and fixing it myself that way it can be done right. You have to becareful buying a salvage car since car flippers generally want to fix it as cheaply as possible (but can get a good deal if you know what youre doing like using epicvin to find pictures of the damage before it was fixed).
I watch B is for Build on youtube (great channel BTW) and one day he posted this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6xYGcnaGuA
Along with some research it was all I needed to dive headfirst into insurance write of cars.
Looking at the salvage auction I saw this beauty:
Bad auction picture angle makes it look like a mini SUV lol
3rd gen, 2.5L, 8k miles, tons of options, black interior, and white????? :nerd:
My dad went in person to inspect it and said it looked easily fixable, we estimated $2k in parts and paint. So I bid and won it for $4k after fees. I used autobidmaster as my broker since in NM the public cant buy from copart or iaai. I found IAAI to not be as friendly, both copart and autobidmaster have been great to deal with.
Always check the trunk of insurance auction cars, you dont know what youll find (well usually car parts lol):
But not always:
Day 1:
The front end has alot of plastic pieces, probably helps mazda save $$$ and decreases weight. Good for me since it makes rebuilding easier and also makes the accident look that much worse helping to scare bidders away.
Removed the radiator, ac condenser, crash bar, headlights, all the plastic stuff, and intake manifold
Damage is a joke, its all cosmetic having to do with headlight alignment and fender alignment; no structural damage:
The metal is very soft and easy to work with, already getting things unbent (just need parts so I can get everything aligned perfectly).
Day 2:
We removed the rear bumper and looked at the exhaust
Removed the fender to make sure there isnt any structural damage (looks squeaky clean to me):
Pretty happy with our progress for 1 weekend. Need some parts before I can go forward and finish it.
I thought about buying my own wrecked car and fixing it myself that way it can be done right. You have to becareful buying a salvage car since car flippers generally want to fix it as cheaply as possible (but can get a good deal if you know what youre doing like using epicvin to find pictures of the damage before it was fixed).
I watch B is for Build on youtube (great channel BTW) and one day he posted this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6xYGcnaGuA
Along with some research it was all I needed to dive headfirst into insurance write of cars.
Looking at the salvage auction I saw this beauty:


Bad auction picture angle makes it look like a mini SUV lol


3rd gen, 2.5L, 8k miles, tons of options, black interior, and white????? :nerd:

My dad went in person to inspect it and said it looked easily fixable, we estimated $2k in parts and paint. So I bid and won it for $4k after fees. I used autobidmaster as my broker since in NM the public cant buy from copart or iaai. I found IAAI to not be as friendly, both copart and autobidmaster have been great to deal with.
Always check the trunk of insurance auction cars, you dont know what youll find (well usually car parts lol):

But not always:

Day 1:
The front end has alot of plastic pieces, probably helps mazda save $$$ and decreases weight. Good for me since it makes rebuilding easier and also makes the accident look that much worse helping to scare bidders away.
Removed the radiator, ac condenser, crash bar, headlights, all the plastic stuff, and intake manifold


Damage is a joke, its all cosmetic having to do with headlight alignment and fender alignment; no structural damage:


The metal is very soft and easy to work with, already getting things unbent (just need parts so I can get everything aligned perfectly).
Day 2:
We removed the rear bumper and looked at the exhaust


Removed the fender to make sure there isnt any structural damage (looks squeaky clean to me):

Pretty happy with our progress for 1 weekend. Need some parts before I can go forward and finish it.