Weary purchaser

[Yaris17]

Ok all, before you read this ... Disclaimer: yes I will have a mechanic look the car over before any decisions are made!
I saw a 2009 Toyota yaris (red sedan) on a local car lot in my town.
I initially passed it up because the car fax showed an accident.
Well today I had some free time and I thought what the heck I might as well at least test drive it.
I drove it and here are my initial thoughts:
The transmission shifted slightly rough into 3rd, but once the car warmed up it seemed to shift smoothly.
I had test driven another yaris AT and I remember it doing the same thing: is this a common annoyance?
Also, I noticed the car slightly downshifting when I completely stopped.
Normal?

The car looked good inside and out; however, on the right front hood doesn't exactly match perfectly like the left side.
According to the carfax this is where the car was hit
"accident reported vehicle involved in head-on collision involving right front impact it hit a motor vehicle moderate damage reported"
The good has the same VIN number as car so I'm assuming it is the original hood. There doesn't seem to be any paint work on the car.
also on the carfax there doesn't show any indication that the airbag deployed .
The car was listed as a rental vehicle at time of accident.

Then the car was Then sold to a lady that drove it another year and a half putting 33,000 miles on it.
The car has a total of 49,000 miles now.

So, I know I had a post about rental vehicles and now I'm asking if anyone has input on whether or not to stay far away from this vehicle or it wouldn't be a bad decision depending on price point. Have any of you ever purchased a wrecked car before? Was it reliable?
How is resell (impossible)?

[WeeYari]

In a market where availability of these vehicles has not completely dried up, I'd personally stay away from it.

Airbag deployment really means nothing. There are plenty of accident threads on here which show how extensive damage can be and still not have deployed the bags.

[CrankyOldMan]

weary = wary? Are you tired or skeptical? =)

[Yaris17]

Haha both! I didn't even realize! Thanks for the grammar correction :)
Any input for buying a wrecked yaris ?

[CrankyOldMan]

Any input for buying a wrecked yaris ?

I'd have to agree with WeeYari on this one: unless you're in a position financially that prevents you from purchasing an undamaged car, or have the skills/tools to perform lots of maintenance on it, stay away from it. There's bound to be lots of little quirks/gremlins that sneak up on you.

[Hamster]

No surprise, looks like the rental agency got it fixed as cheaply as possible, thus explaining the misaligned hood. I'd personally pass, because who knows what else the body shop cheaped out on. If you still want to give it a shot, go ahead and have a trusted mechanic look over it. If he says there are no problems, you should only buy the car if it cost significantly less than a Yaris with comparable milage. And when I say significantly, I mean thousands less, not hundreds.

[Yaris17]

I agree. It is listed about 2,000 less than a comparable vehicle that is undamaged.
Does the hard shifts into 3rd before the car is warmed up normal for this model of car 2009 yaris sedan AT?

[UTVitz]

The shifting issue could either be a worn synchro due to improper shifting habits, or it could be it needs RedLine MT-90 put in to improve shift feel, and that might help as well with the synchro. A lot of owners including me switched to RedLine MT-90 to improve cold shift feel and eliminate notchiness-which it did. Do a little research on worn synchro symptoms and see if it matches what you're experiencing. Worn synchros are expensive to replace and not worth digging into, so if you go for it you'd probably just have to live with the issues. I have not experienced this problem with my Yaris, I do however have a Miata that has this issue from first to second-till it warms up, but is a built in glitch with this car and has never gotten worse in 100K miles.

[NZ-FE Vios]

The shifting issue could either be a worn synchro due to improper shifting habits, or it could be it needs RedLine MT-90 put in to improve shift feel, and that might help as well with the synchro. A lot of owners including me switched to RedLine MT-90 to improve cold shift feel and eliminate notchiness-which it did. Do a little research on worn synchro symptoms and see if it matches what you're experiencing. Worn synchros are expensive to replace and not worth digging into, so if you go for it you'd probably just have to live with the issues. I have not experienced this problem with my Yaris, I do however have a Miata that has this issue from first to second-till it warms up, but is a built in glitch with this car and has never gotten worse in 100K miles.

The OP has an automatic transmission. Isn't the MT-90 for manual transmission?

[MadMax]

The shifting issue could either be a worn synchro due to improper shifting habits, or it could be it needs RedLine MT-90 put in to improve shift feel, and that might help as well with the synchro. A lot of owners including me switched to RedLine MT-90 to improve cold shift feel and eliminate notchiness-which it did. Do a little research on worn synchro symptoms and see if it matches what you're experiencing. Worn synchros are expensive to replace and not worth digging into, so if you go for it you'd probably just have to live with the issues. I have not experienced this problem with my Yaris, I do however have a Miata that has this issue from first to second-till it warms up, but is a built in glitch with this car and has never gotten worse in 100K miles.

It's not that complicated, the auto in the Yaris will not shift into top gear until it is properly warmed up.

[Dadams]

Personally I would spend the extra money to have a slightly used, un-wrecked car. Which is what I have now and I love my Yaris! If you plan on getting a car I would highly recommend getting a Yaris the are great on gas and very reliable.

[NZ-FE Vios]

A wreck can be fine as long as no frame damage and if the repairs are done properly. If it was too banged up or the work is not up to par, then leave it.

If you are anything like me, then you will see all imperfections over time. It's really hard to grasp all and catch everything when the car is up for potential purchase.

They are really good cars. A tribute to an older Toyota but in modern clothing. Has newer technology like: electronic ignition (no need to hold key when cranking, just flick to start position and release), tpms and, variable valve timing.

[A-Dingo-Ate-My-Baby]

don't do it.

if it had front end damage water could or could have
been introduced into the automatic transmission limiting
it's life drastically, unless you know for sure the radiator
was not damaged. even then, the ATcooler inside cannot be
checked and it may be weakened

yes it is normal: until the car is warmed up, it won't go from 3 to overdrive

but stay away from any wrecked car unless you are seriously getting it cheap
(2 grand less is not cheap enough) or you are ready to deal with problems
like uneven tire wear or spooky handling (which is incredibly common on tweaked cars)

[Yaris17]

Thanks for the replies, you all! I do agree that Buying a wrecked car is a gamble, but really buying any used car is. My father used to buy wrecked cars, repair them and resell; he never had a problem??
I do not think the car was hit hard enough to cause damage to the radiator ; all parts are original on the car with the exception of the right fender . Other than the obvious body work is there any tips out there to evaluate the mechanical portion of the car ?
Correction to price, the seller is offering the car for what trade in is around 8,500 and retail which is what most dealers sell cars for( or at least try to) is around 12,000.