The Rover-Landers of BC

So yes this is a Land Rover forum but how do you guys feel about people who buy total loss cars and rehash them into ... rehashed versions of the original.

I recently came across a car I used to care for a 2002 VW Jetta Tdi and found it was rebuilt. I know my old rides very well I can pick them out of pictures, especially from reference pictures.

AD:
http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/bnc/c ... 67669.html

My photos of it just after the accident:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/45956954@N07/4221627194/

The front left vent is missing, the engine emblem is still in my possession, I put those nexen tires on it and still have the receipts, you can tell the rear glass was replaced as it is tinted and the rest of the glass is clear. The rear bumper is not a TDI bumper. The foot rest plastic is missing because I broke it fixing the sunroof drains and pulled the whole interior out to dry it out.

VIN # : 3VWSP29M32M041757

Sad day that was. :(

As a general rule is it right to rebuild total losses

personally as long as it is done properly with no safety issues and it is disclosed to the buyer i dont see an issue with it.

its the same as buying a 60's era series rover with totally rusted out frame and seized drivetrain, restoring it and then having to sell it. most people dont seem to have an issue with this but see it as wrong when done to a newer vehicle.

As a general rule ICBC will consider something a total loss when the repair cost exceeds the bluebook value or comes close to it, but they have to pay a shop 80 dollars an hour to repair a crashed vehicle. someone else will pick up the same vehicle from the auction and can repair it for thousands less as they are doing it themselves.
a lot of cars and trucks came up from the states that had flood damage a few years back, brand new cars with flooded interiors sold as total losses, but they were actually in great shape and a full interior replacement from another vehicle brought them up to brand new. i had a friend who bought himself and his wife two brand new trucks written off in florida hurricanes for 2500 dollars each and fixed them up for another 7000 in total and now he owns two vehicles that would normally cost him in the average of 28000 each to but a couple of years back. I am sure at some point he will sell them but they are safe and reliable that he trusts his family to drive around in.

there are the very shady sellers that will not disclose rebuilt vehicles and will sell you something with a bent frame but they should be shut down and charged for doing something like that.

Nice to see the seller is upfront about the crash repair on the car!!!! There is way more questionable repair work that can be hidden in this kind of car (unibody) things are not always fixed the correct way with correct materials and is not that obvious!!!
With almost any repair to a rover body-chassis it is easy to see... I would be walking away from this if I knew about it!!!

It should be required for all repaired vehicles to be sold with before repair pictures so the prospective new owner can at least see how "bad" it actually was hit!!!!

I am not sure about icbc but if we buy a total loss and rebuild it and write it off again we only get a % of the full book value of the vehicle!!