Did I Screw Up?!? (Salvage Title)

[u/ConnorDColeman]

About 5 months ago, I bought a salvage title car, (e85 bmw z4), from someone locally. He didn't know why it was salvage, says it ran great. I got an inspection, and everything seemed fine. Looking up the carfax, it's supposedly a salvage due to vandalism. Anyways I bought the car, and apart from some general maintenance there have been no problems so far. I decided to try to trace it's history, and so reached back out to the seller. I discovered that he purchased the vehicle off copart. Using autoauctionhistory.com, I got a auction report. According to the report, the damage was from vandalism. There are a couple pictures, but they must be from after repairs because nothing is amiss. However, the repair price is listed at almost 15,000 dollars. Almost the same as the listed value of the vehicle. Contacting copart directly, they refuse to put me into contact with the seller because I am not a member. If there are no problems so far, it seems like the car was repaired well. However, how could they have sold the car at half the declared repair cost? Something seems off. Any suggestions? How could i reach the seller? Do you think the car is fine if it's been 5 months without problems?

[u/AngryBaconGod]

You bought a salvage car. You are going to drive yourself crazy trying to get it 100% in your head.

My advice is drive it and forget it.

[u/badcoupe]

Estimated repair cost they list is nowhere near accurate, generally a value input by a keyboard pusher.

[u/x-psycho]

Where’s the part where you got screwed? If it drives fine you’re good.

[u/ConnorDColeman → u/x-psycho]

I'm sorry, I have worded this poorly. I am moreso curious how it could have been so damaged and sold so low despite the fact that I can't see any issues. I'm mostly looking for advice as how to contact the previous owners. If there haven't been any issues yet I assume I'm fine, and it's a great car. 

[u/imothers → u/ConnorDColeman]

It was sold at auction, if there was only one bidder then they got a good price. That's how it goes sometimes.

[u/NeighborhoodBig2286]

Probably stolen and recovered and insurance just wrote it off. Owners don’t want cars back after they have been stolen.

[u/ConnorDColeman → u/NeighborhoodBig2286]

I've checked official government records. If it was stolen there are no records. That would make sense though.

[u/Aveeye]

Why are you trying to find a problem?

[u/ConnorDColeman → u/Aveeye]

This was poorly worded. I'm mostly just curious. The price to condition discrepancy seems odd. From the little I know, salvage titles usually have some signs of previous damage. 

[u/Aveeye → u/ConnorDColeman]

I get that, but you're seeking something that either may not exist, or if it DOES, it's going to make you feel bad / ripped off. Accept the answer you got and move on.

[u/CuriosTiger]

If you've driven it for five months and haven't noticed a problem, it hopefully has no major problems. If the damage was from vandalism and not a collision, unless these were unusually thorough vandals, it should be fine structurally.

Was the repair price listed a quote or the price someone actually paid? Actually, it doesn't matter. It could be an insurance writeoff. It could be that the original owner got the car back but no longer wanted it after it had been vandalized.

Either way, it doesn't matter. You bought it, you're stuck with it, and with a salvage title, it will be worth basically scrap value if you try to sell it. So you might as well enjoy it and drive it until it quits.

[u/ConnorDColeman → u/CuriosTiger]

Unless I discover some major mechanical problem, I will definitely keep it. It's got a soft top, and I've been having an absolute blast with it. 

[u/ahj3939]

I would have preferred a E89 35is, but the M54 or N52 engine in the E85 is going to be super reliable.

[u/ConnorDColeman → u/ahj3939]

E89 would've been great, but out of my budget. As it is, I'm very satisfied. 2.5i, so not particularly fast, but the most fun I've ever had in car!