Hi Ray,

First off, thanks for helping me overvthe phone a couple of months ago. As a result, I am denying my instinct to rationalize faults, prices, uncertainties and ambiguous answers, and have thus far managed to avoid getting sucked into the car buying vortex with all its false urgencies and immediacies.

The car I have been waiting for has now popped up in the marketplace, at a franchise dealer no less. It has taken a while as it is fairly rare. An '07 luxury european import, loaded, with 125 k on it, good reliability and performance reputation. Problem is that the carproof shows two apparent minor accidents: first one in 07 for $4500, and the next in 08 for $6500.

So my instinct is kicking in and I am busy rationalizing that the accidents were minor, occurred long ago with alot of km's put on the car since, the car currently looks and drives great, and is being sold by a franchise dealer (as opposed to them wholesaling it or auctioning off).

But before I make an offer and invest in a pre-purchase inspection, I wanted to ask if my rationalizations are reasonable, or, whether the experts, pundits, and commentators are correct in their general advice that one should walk away from an "accident" vehicle. Put another way, is it possible that accident damage can be remediated to its original condition, or, does an accident guarantee an impairment in structure, operability, service life, and/or value? Could there be hidden value in a minir accident car (presuming you could pick it up at a great price and then drive it for another 5-10 years, which would be my plan)?

Thanks,

DS

As I mentioned in the website, accidents around $5000 take or give a bit I would consider minor in todays marketplace with the cost of labour and parts, however 2 accidents one will have to think twice. The most important factor is not to find frame damage along with aftermarket parts having been installed.

You will be buying this car under market value right ?......... and if you can drive same into the ground you will have made a good investment