Bandits96ss

If you could get this for $8-9 that would be an absolute steal....if a firehawk was not salvaged through insurance my only concern would be did the owner self repair or was the damage so minor that it wasn't salvaged. If it was the prior stay the hell away unless the owner has well documented pictures and receipts of all the work....if it was minor damage handled through the insurance I would be all over that in a heartbeat.

speedychevy

I pulled the autocheck report on eBay it says "Major title or other problem(s) reported" and then in the detailed history it states the following:
TITLE (Title #:401692021353904)
SALVAGE
POSSIBLE TOTAL LOSS - VEHICLE TITLED/REGISTERED TO AN INSURANCE COMPANY

The dealer selling the car specializes in salvaged vehicles and it seems like about 90% of the cars they sell are salvaged. This one is being advertised as a clean title though. The story is that the car was purchased from an insurance auction back in 2001 and has been a personal car for the owners since then. The car looks to be in beautiful shape with no signs of any accidents. I've talked to them a few times and it sounds like they have every piece of documentation with the car. And in my mind they would have no reason to try and hide a salvage title because it would be obvious when going to actually buy the vehicle.

GimmeLSx

iTrader: (4)

I wouldn't mess with a car that has a branded or bad title history unless you can get it dirt cheap and plan on driving it until the wheels fall off. Most prospective buyers will be turned off and few will be willing to shell out hard earned money for it.

Case in point: this car has 22k miles on it and appears to be in really nice condition. However, it has been for sale off and on for at least two years now:

http://jxn.craigslist.org/cto/5543083757.html

70T/A400

iTrader: (2)

There are some good examples of very clean daily driver candidates by you SpeedyChevy

http://raleigh.craigslist.org/cto/5545610118.html

http://raleigh.craigslist.org/cto/5534736822.html

Don't fret over the cars that have extremely low mileage and are never driven. Those cars are the ones to stay away from. Their owners haven't repaired any of the trouble spots and even some think it is alright to start their car and let it idle without running it. Mechanical pieces of machinery from large presses to front end loaders to ships need to work otherwise seals and rings dry up, spark plugs seize in the heads, and all the fluids lose their properties over time.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

This is definitely not true in all cases. If you are referring to ultra low mileage cars that have sat for 10-15+ years without moving and have been completely neglected, then I would agree that they are likely going to have some issues if put back into service. I also agree that it's bad news when you find an owner who thinks it's "beneficial" to start the engine and just let the car idle for 15-30 minutes every 2-4 weeks for years on end without ever driving it. Either method is certainly not ideal.

However, some of us take proper care of our limited use vehicles. My '98 has only 17k miles, but it has never sat for more than 6 months at a time. During the on-season I drive it every 2-4 weeks, anywhere from 10-50 miles for each event. It sees varying speeds and loads, is always allowed to warm up fully and properly. Fluids are changed on an appropriate schedule for a limited use vehicle (not a single fluid in mine has been left untouched since the assembly line; I've changed, freshened and/or flushed all of them on varying schedules.) Fuel is properly treated with Stabil and Red Line; the engine starts on 2-3 cranks whether it's after 6 months of winter storage or 2 weeks between summer events. The spark plugs are not seized at all, in fact I changed them once (really a waste as they don't *need* changing very often on modern stock EFI engines) and I've checked them more than once over the years. Yes, after 18 years it has developed a couple minor seeps/weeps, but in all honesty it's nothing compared to the leaks/seeps/weeps I experienced with the '02 Z28 that I owned until 2014 as my daily driver. The '02 car saw action almost every day, and it had a bunch more issues related to wear & tear than this '98 has ever suffered from, even though it was 4 years newer. The rigors of daily/regular operation and the general wear created by such, including heat cycling and exposure to various ambient conditions, proved to be far more harmful to my '02 Z28 than garage queen life has been for my '98 Z28 during the same extended period.

Ultimately, they will eventually suffer from some form of mechanical issues whether they sit or get driven, though the "sitting" issues can be mitigated with proper maintenance/storage techniques, but when you drive them regularly they will also suffer from considerably more cosmetic issues. There is no free lunch either way.