R is for "Reconstructed"

"Tristan" (casselts) 11/11/2018 at 01:22 • Filed to: None

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V70 and S60 Rs are getting extremely hard to find these days, but for some reason, there’s a dealer near me with SEVEN of them. Each one is nice, with the roughest example being a 6-speed manual (!). The gorgeous blue one above only has 30k miles!

Each and every one of them has a reconstructed title. How? Why? Of course the listings have the requisite disclaimer that comes with every dirty-title listing “Rare, clean, low-mileage, $40,000 msrp car has reconstructed title because a car wash broke the antenna ” or some such completely unbelievable nonsense.

I’ve been scouring the country for these things for the last couple of weeks and can’t find squat. It’s just weird that this local place has so many and they all have branded titles.

Kim Jong - Healthy > Tristan 11/11/2018 at 01:36

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are you in oregon?

when I lived there last year (Astoria), and before I found my wagon, I came across a lot very similar on CL.

atfsgeoff > Tristan 11/11/2018 at 01:41

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Make lemonade out of lemons. Check em out, carfax em, figure out why they have R titles.

To me, an R title is not the end of the world.

Tristan > atfsgeoff 11/11/2018 at 01:48

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I’ve owned several cars with recon titles... I’m not scared of the cars, I’m scared of selling the cars when I’m done with them. I had a ‘98 SVT Cobra with just over 100k miles about 5 years ago. It was a nice clean car with e dirty title. The carfax revealed it was totalled in 1998 with 189 miles on the clock. No one would touch it. I ended up trading it in for pennies on the dollar. Prior to that, I had an ‘07 F-150 4x4 Scab with 83k miles. Dirty title. Ended up selling it for way too cheap because it was the only way out of it after trying for months to sell it. Both were great vehicles, but I’m not one to keep a car for more than a year or two. If I could commit to a vehicle for years and years, I wouldn’t have a problem with it.

Tristan > Kim Jong - Healthy 11/11/2018 at 01:50

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Yessir. Astoria is a wonderful little town. Don’t you have a BMW wagon?

Kim Jong - Healthy > Tristan 11/11/2018 at 02:27

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It was absolutely gorgeous, I found the hipsters to be even more pretentious than Portland, which was funny and sad at the same time.

Regardless, I am indeed the proud owner of an e39 wagon! Of course after a year of searching in Oregon, I find the wagon literally the same week I move to Arizona. Seemed like destiny to me.

Kim Jong - Healthy > Tristan 11/11/2018 at 02:29

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also, I may have what you’re looking for. I’ve been harboring this post for a year, literally.

https://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/cto/d/volvo-2004-v70r-silver-6/6741008820.html

this guy has been updating it weekly for the past year or so. i’ve been watching it drop down in price, but who am I kidding, I don’t have the room for another wagon. 

Tristan > Kim Jong - Healthy 11/11/2018 at 02:48

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That is quite nice... It’s a bit out of my price range, sadly. :(

AestheticsInMotion > Tristan 11/11/2018 at 03:19

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Millennium Motors right? They always popped up on my searches. I seem to recall they specialize in reconstructed title Volvos. If that blue R above is super low miles, I believe there may be s omething... Fishy... About it. It came up on the swedespeed classifieds watch a few months ago and I guess it was recognized by a few people. I’m blanking on details but it raised some red flags.

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > Tristan 11/11/2018 at 03:19

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The trick is to buy them then cheap to start with. You can sell low if you buy low.

Spamfeller Loves Nazi Clicks > Tristan 11/11/2018 at 03:27

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Guarantee you every one of them is flood damage. Those cars are still coming onto market.

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > Tristan 11/11/2018 at 03:44

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If you’d seen the things I have (or do see everyday) on dirty title vehicles, you would be scared. 9/10 are sooooooo badly put together it’s a wonder they work at all.

Customer is in the last stages of restoring his salvage title vehicle. Like he thinks a couple minor tweaks and less than $500 will get him there. But the thing has major structural damage that hasn’t been addressed. And the things that have been... Well, I wouldn’t put my daughter in this thing. And that’s normal.

To make it worse, these are issues that only experienced ey es tend to notice, and with some thorough looking. I never buy salvage cars because you never know just how bad they are until it’s too late.

Tristan > AMGtech - now with more recalls! 11/11/2018 at 03:47

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This is pretty solid advice. The ‘07 F-150 and ‘01 Impala I bought wrecked , so I knew what they looked like. The ‘98 Cobra was cheap enough I didn’t care and I didn’t have kids at the time, but it had evidence of a rollover.

Tristan > AestheticsInMotion 11/11/2018 at 03:49

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Interesting... Yeah, I stopped in there to look at an XC90 once. I didn’t get the best vibe.

Usually if they’re sold at insurance auctions you can google the VIN and find something.

Tristan > AestheticsInMotion 11/11/2018 at 03:52

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Google and ye shall receive...

TheRealBicycleBuck > AMGtech - now with more recalls! 11/11/2018 at 05:30

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My buddy’s uncle used to reconstruct cars. I watched as he took  two Mustang Cobras, one with front end damage, the other with rear-end damage, both totaled, and combined them into one car. He literally cut both of them in half and welded the two halves together to make one car.

Sovande > Tristan 11/11/2018 at 06:39

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What’s your budget?

Here's the ugliest color combo ever.  https://forums.swedespeed.com/showthread.php?580893-2004-v70R

shop-teacher > AMGtech - now with more recalls! 11/11/2018 at 06:42

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“To make it worse, these are issues that only experienced eyes tend to notice, and with some thorough looking”

Which is why I stay the hell away from them! Because I am not that guy.

shop-teacher > TheRealBicycleBuck 11/11/2018 at 06:43

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That's called a cut and shut. 

Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras > Tristan 11/11/2018 at 09:03

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Buffed right out

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > Tristan 11/11/2018 at 10:54

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Yeah those are the only times I would consider it too, but even then only if my budget dictated it or it was something I really really loved and "needed" right that minute.

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > TheRealBicycleBuck 11/11/2018 at 10:56

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That is terrifying. I know people who've come across cars like this. And their owners had no idea.

Tristan > Sovande 11/11/2018 at 11:32

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Wow... Red on Atacama is terrible!

I’m thinking the sub-$7k range. I'm probably not going to get too serious about buying anything for another month or two.

dogisbadob > Sovande 11/11/2018 at 11:43

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That color combo is awesome. Stop the hate :p

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > Tristan 11/11/2018 at 12:40

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Minor boopage

Sovande > Tristan 11/11/2018 at 13:35

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You aren't going to find an R for that price. Unless you really want ant to get deep into fixing one up. 

Sovande > dogisbadob 11/11/2018 at 13:36

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It's not. Atacama is cool. Red is okay. Red with orange interior is bad. 

Tristan > Sovande 11/11/2018 at 13:56

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I’m not scared of miles as long as it's well kept. I've found a few with 130-150k miles in the $5-6k range.

Tristan > Sovande 11/11/2018 at 13:59

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I’m also strongly considering a P80 R. A ‘98 will only have a 4 speed auto, but it's a much simpler car that would be easier to maintain/repair.

Tristan > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 11/11/2018 at 14:11

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Tis but a scratch!

dogisbadob > Sovande 11/11/2018 at 15:02

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I’d rather have that than boring-ass silver on black shit

Sovande > Tristan 11/11/2018 at 16:19

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The 99 is 4 speed too and drive by wire instead of cable driven throttle. I think the 5 speed was only offered on the 2000. 

Sovande > dogisbadob 11/11/2018 at 16:21

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My new car is Black Ember (which is black until the sun hits and then there is some bronze) with brown interior. I am so happy not to have silver over black. 

Tristan > Sovande 11/11/2018 at 18:08

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The early dbw cars had a lot of issues, though- right? Or was that an issue that most likely has been resolved?

Sovande > Tristan 11/11/2018 at 22:49

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It’s the Xemodex throttle module thingy that goes bad. You can get a new or reman’d unit and install it and fi x the problem. I think it’s about $500.

The feeling is that the $500 is worth it for the benefits the dbw has over the old style. 

Tristan > Sovande 11/11/2018 at 23:51

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Benefits? What are they? I can honestly say I have never driven a DBW vehicle and thought “wow, this is so much better!” Usually it’s more along the lines of “the throttle response on this thing SUCKS. I hate DBW.”

Sovande > Tristan 11/12/2018 at 06:52

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Upgraded ECU - Motronic ME7 vs Motronic 4.3. The biggest difference is the 99/00 is coil on plugs vs a distributor and plug wires. The 99/00 is a more advanced car as ME7 is torque on demand a nd actually senses boost.  

The potential to extract safe horsepower out of the block is better in the 99. There are a number of improvements with turbo exit, intake, variable exhaust valve timing.  

Tristan > Sovande 11/12/2018 at 11:08

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Huh... I didn’t know all that! I thought the only difference was the dbw. Okay, I’ll include ‘99 in my search. Is the ‘00 transmission something to be avoided like I think it is, or are the issues exaggerated?

Sovande > Tristan 11/12/2018 at 11:58

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I have never heard anything good about the 2000 transmission. I’m sure it’s nice to have when its working right. I think they tend to fail at higher mileages (over 150k) , and they tend to fail without warning. Works one day, doesn’t work the next day.  I would avoid it, considering the 4 speed is pretty stout.  The 2000 does have the 19T turbo which is why it has the 5 speed transmission.  The 98 has the 18T, I think.  I am off the opinion that the 16T found in the T5M is just as good as the 18T and 19T as you can run it very close to it’s limits without any downsides.