If I was to sum up what I have learned from watching quite a few of these rebuilds, it is the following; 1) The damage that needs repairing is never restricted to just what you can see from photos, or even an on site inspection. Every rebuild has uncovered multiple, and often difficult (and expensive) to fix issues. This can often involve welding structural elements or having to source difficult to obtain parts. 2) The time that it takes to complete these rebuilds means that it would almost only ever be viable if you can do the vast majority of the work yourself (as @kezo has done). If you had to pay someone commercial rates to undertake the work I can’t see the sense in it. It’s also worth keeping in mind that due to the size of Mat Armstrong’s following, and his savvy use of YouTube as an income stream (he makes his money from YouTube, not the cars), he won’t pay anything like the rates that a normal punter would pay for using third parties (bodywork, paintwork, electrics etc) due to the publicity that these companies generate from his vast following (I suspect that much work is done free of charge as a result). 3) Mat Armstrong keeps most of the cars that he rebuilds, or ‘gives them away’ through raffles at £10 a ticket (raffles that generate an income per car of many times what they are worth), so you never really hear about resale value post rebuild. However, any car that has been written off or crash damaged, even when rebuilt, is never going to be worth the same as a car that hasn’t. I’m sure that there are some great success stories out there from people who have managed to buy their dream car for a fraction of the price and, even after the cost of the rebuild, have still saved a chunk of money, but I strongly suspect that just as many people have had their fingers seriously burned by completely underestimating the level of damage. After all, cars are written off for a reason! In summary, I would only go down this route if I could do the work myself and did it as a hobby, not expecting to make any money from it then, if you do end up making money, it’s a bonus.
I agree in general, but would assume bids like this are very (not 100% of course) safe:
Nissan
Sent from a mobile device.
Apologies for briefness and spelling mistakes.
Motability Skoda Enyaq SportLine 85x April 2024 (unhappy customer - Ombudsman pending)
Motability Mazda CX-60 PHEV July 2023 (unhappy customer - early termination on mechanical grounds)
Motability VW Touran Family Pack May 2019 (happy customer)