Salvage title... How bad?

[Moses]

Looking for a good used car I sometimes run across a salvage listing. This one for example, indicates that; "Driver fender and door was replaced. Airbags didn't deploy. It wasn't hit but was badly scratched. " Can something so minor earn you a salvage title? I thought the car had to be totaled...


http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/cto/799730401.html

[id10t]

Depends on the insurance company. Coworkers son was driving a T-top camaro (I think) and the top came off at-speed on the highway. Replacing the top would be $12k, the ins. co. totaled the car. Nothing wrong with it otherwise... but the cost to fix it, etc. is what drove their decision.

[VincentVega]

My pops truck was totaled after it was rear ended. Only the rear bumper was damaged, ~$150 from Pep Boys. Call your ins co, mine didnt want to insure a salvage vehicle.

[TerryBPP]

To make a $20k car salvage it must have been one hell of a scratch.

As previously stated, most big insurance companies will not cover salvage titles and you can never trade them in at a big dealer because their financing will not allow them to purchase salvage cars.

[on2wheels52]

My understanding is a salvage title nets an instant 30% off the value of the vehicle. It doesn't seem fair in all instances but I'd start any bargaining from that point.
Jim

[lendaddy]

IMHO that's too much for a salvage titled vehicle. I drive a salvage titled truck but I paid so little that it was worth the risk. At $18k that's a lotta risk.

[Laneco]

If it were only "scratched" then the driver's fender and door would not have needed to be replaced. They would have been painted in place. Even a three stage paint would not have totalled the car. Even replacing the door and fender including painting them would not have totalled the car.

Salvage titles bring up the fight for insurance. You can get insurance for them, but the battle begins when the car is damaged and the insurance company decides that the car is worth 50% of the lowest comparable value they can find. So let's say the low value on your car is $20,000, then it is stolen - now you get $10,000 and probably only after a fight. You can just eat the rest.

As pointed out above, some companies will not insure them at all. They are difficult or impossible to finance.

I drive my salvage title 1981 911 evey day. But I only paid $3500 for the car. If it is damaged and the insurance company (we have State Farm) goes sideways, then I still wouldn't be out any money. You on the other hand, in this car, will be completely hosed. You should only buy a salvage title car when it is so cheap that it doesn't matter or when you can literally part the car out for more than you have paid for it.

angela

[tcar]

Originally Posted by Laneco

As pointed out above, some companies will not insure them at all. They are difficult or impossible to finance.

This is important.

And true.

Financing WAS impossible, I found.

[Scuba Steve]

Originally Posted by on2wheels52

My understanding is a salvage title nets an instant 30% off the value of the vehicle. It doesn't seem fair in all instances but I'd start any bargaining from that point.
Jim

That's about how much I discounted the salvage-titled car I sold. I never had any insurance problems with it, but it was older and I only wanted liability. I got a TON of questions about the title from people during the sale, and I'll never buy one again because resale is more tedious.

[the]

Selling a used car is tough enough, selling a salvage is really hard (tedious, like Steve says), unless it is in the $2500 or under range.

But in the end, it's all about money. $18K too much for a salvage titled car? Depends on what it is. If it's a nice running, nice condition GT3, I'd take it!

But an '06 Acura? Not so sure. That car, in "no story" condition, would retail for what, $24-25K or so? Maybe at half retail I'd be interested.

It's funny, though, how every salvage titled car "only had a scratch" or "was stolen but only had a broken window, no other damage" etc., but they NEVER have any paperwork documenting the repairs. I mean, a $25,000 car is repaired, using insurance money, and NO ONE kept any of the paperwork, or can ever find it. All the hard copies have somehow been lost, and any copies kept on everyone's computer systems have been lost too.

[Don Plumley]

For everyday cars, in addition to the insurance problems and resale problems listed above, a real kicker is that you are paying insurance based upon the retail value of the car but will receive benefit for the reduced value of the car. But if you get the car cheaply enough, consider just getting liability and comprehensive, not collision coverage.

[onewhippedpuppy]

I've been told that the typical insurance company guideline is if the repair cost is 80% of the car's book value, they typically total. So if retail on that TL is $25k, the "scratch" amounted to $20k worth of damage. Your friend Serg is FOS, that car was in a serious accident. I wouldn't even look at a salvage vehicle unless it was 50% the price of a comparable clean title one.

For the record, I've owned a salvage Silverado truck. The owner was rear-ended, the truck needed a new bed and the frame was damaged behind the spring attachment points. New bed and frame work drove the repair cost too high, so the company salvaged it. The owner bought back the truck (cheap), bought a used bed, straightened the frame, and repainted the bed. He was a DIY body guy, and was able to walk me through the damage and his repair. I paid about 50% of what it would have otherwise been worth. I had zero problems getting it insured (Geico), and when it was hit in a parking lot, the other guy's insurance company paid out without argument. When I sold it, the buyer financed it without issue because it was significantly less than the book value.

[pwd72s]

Literally, depends on the vehicle. My neighbor makes his living buying totaled cars & repairing. Perfectly legit, he doesn't try to cover up anything, sells them as salvage vehicles. The shop behind his home is a car guy's dream, even a paint booth. Divorced, now living alone, he's been talking of selling before long. Anybody want me to tell you when he decides to move? Nice large home on an acreage, even a rec room with a pool table. Great family place. He and his ex raised two girls there.

Anyway, he once showed Cindy & I a total before he started. A Ford Ranger 4X4, loaded, all the comfort stuff plus a 4.0 engine. All that had happened was a damaged bed section...skidded into a stump. Yet the insurance company totaled it, Duayne picked it up for peanuts at an insurance auction. Yes, the frame was straight. Only 9,000 miles on this one. He explained how knowing cross referenced parts was part of the game. He named the many years where bed sections of Ford Ranger were identical, and the earliest year replacement part sold for much less than the later years. I looked at this Ranger after it had been finished, and was tempted even though I had no need for it. Duayne does good
work...it looked like a new Ranger.

Knowing Superman was looking for a parts hauler, I P.M.'d him about this one, but Super had already found his replacement.

Salvage titles can be good or bad, so you need to do your homework.
I doubt I'd buy any car considered top level that had a salvage title...BMW, Mercedes, P-Car, etc. But for an appliance car? Maybe.

[serge944]

Insurance companies not covering salvaged vehicles is BS.

However, you will be very hard pressed to find an institution that will let you finance a salvaged vehicle.

There is no one answer to this question - get a comprehensive PPI and then decide.

My 325is got a salvaged title when it was broken into. The damage was a missing stereo and broken trunk and door locks. The insurance company totalled my car. It cost me $100 to fix all of the damage, minus a minor dent and paint chip.

[Bob's Flat-Six]

Ask to see pictures of the big scratch before they replaced the door.

A newer car will be saved because of it's value, where an older vehicle with the SAME damage will get totaled.
At least with the salvage title you know somethings up.

Ask your insurance co it's value...what they would cover it for.

[Laneco]

Oh one more thing - I had a dealership in town very adamantly tell me that salvage title voids factory power train warranties. I've had others tell me only the items directly effected by the salvage are not covered (such as doors hit - not going to fix the power windows, but they would fix a power train issue).

That's something to confirm with the exact car you buy, but could be a huge factor in your purchase decision for a late model salvage vehicle.

angela

[schamp]

I would think a salvage title and any accidents would show up on a carfax report. You might be able to get some additional information about the scratch. Without lots of pictures and paperwork offering 1/2 could be risky.

[wrecktech]

I buy salvage cars and rebuild them all the time. I probably have at least 10 I will rebuild right now. In Indiana to license the vehicle you must transfer the salvage title into a "rebuilt" title. The paperwork needed is a list of all parts used and the source whether new or used. This paperwork must be verified under oath and notorized. If someone is selling a salvage titled car with a salvage and not rebuilt title I would wonder where the parts came from. Any reputible rebuilder will transfer the salvage title to a rebuilt. I never have problems selling, or have a buyer have problems with financing or insurance. I am selling a 1998 Dodge Avenger this week for a price halfway between low retail and clean retail according to NADA values where clean would not have any title brandings. I have seen cars with hardly any damage sell as salvage and I have seen a heavy theft where only a frame is left sell as a clean title. I can tell you it is very rare when we don't have all the paperwork and several before and afters.