Salvage Title

[Instrument 41]

Looking at buying a 2005 Suburban for wife's business. It has 13k and overall in really good condition....however it has a salvage title. The seller took pictures of the damage and it was very minor. It was hit from the rear passenger side. Replaced rear bumper and had some work to done to the panel behind the back tire. So..questions-Would insurance total this vehicle for that minor damage? Any issues with getting liability insurance on something like tis?

[stomachmonkey]

An 05 with only 13k?

That's ~1,300 miles a year.

Why so low?

Worth roughly $12ish.

Ins co would have totaled it if damage was around $6-7k

[Arizona_928]

I would be concerned with engine hours... Might have been a commercial that was auctioned. check out truck planet.... You will see lots of low miles but with 8k hours, or high miles.

You should be able to get liability with salvage title. Some ins. co won't do full coverage...

[strupgolf]

A 2005 with 13,000 miles? Very strange. I'd walk away.

[gshase]

Run some type of car fax to see mileage set back or some history. I have looked at salvage titled cars and some have had krazy small amounts of damage and are still good cars. The statement on some of the paperwork says salvage title and the former insurance company wants no liability. You should buy it at lets say a 30% discount and you will sell it at a discount.

[ckelly78z]

Was a new speedometer/odometer part of the new parts put on the car ? People don't baby Suburbans, they drive the hell out of them with alot of miles, and alot of throttle.

[Instrument 41]

Hey guys its not 13K but 137K miles. Sorry for the confusion and thanks for the feedback. I need to find out if Louisiana will take a salvage title from another state

[jyl]

Look for the usual wear on a typical 2005. Pedal rubbers, steering wheel, drivers seat bolsters, seatbelts, plastic rocker cover trim, plastic trim on tailgate, etc. At 13K miles those should look practically pristine. There are also also drivetrain mechanical things that should be utterly pristine at 13K.

Edit: oh, 137K.

I avoid salvage title cars because AFAIK you can't get collision or comprehensive coverage, so a small shunt leaves you with a total loss. Unless you have a buddy who owns a body shop.

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by Instrument 41

Hey guys its not 13K but 137K miles. Sorry for the confusion and thanks for the feedback. I need to find out if Louisiana will take a salvage title from another state

At that mileage worth less than $7k so would have only taken ~$4ish to total it.

[aigel]

My concern would be if the air bags deployed and if they were replaced properly.

[Laneco]

A quarter panel hit will salvage that car pretty easily. If the frame is good and the price is right, OK to grab up. That said, there are ALOT of these out there for cheap that have clean titles, so the price needs to be REALLY right.

As far as full coverage insurance goes, your results will vary. I've got full coverage on a salvage car with no issues. The value of the car is lower due to the salvage title, so your replacement cost will be correspondingly low.

angela

[cabmandone]

I own 2 cars with salvage/rebuilt title. No problems getting them insured. Even something that appears to be light damage doesn't take much to rack up cost in repairing. As long as you can get verification the work was done properly I wouldn't hesitate to buy it providing there is significant savings over one without a branded title.

[CJFusco]

My Cayman S has a "Rebuilt Salvage" title due to the fact that the insurance adjuster insisted on totaling it. The only damage (it was rear-ended) was to the bumper, rear gate, rear quarter, tail light, and rear wing. I tried arguing that it shouldn't be totaled, and the guys at Auto Associates tried to back me up, but you know how that goes.

I have had no trouble at all registering or insuring the car, and it drives like new.

[Oracle]

I bough a write-off car and no issues with insurance, just make sure the certificate is with the documents that certify the vehicle is road-worthy.
Once the car is certified the car is just another car from the insurance perspective but can't be written off twice.. so at least you'll get book value and at most what you paid minus fees, deductible, etc..

Long story short: Just drive it, hope it lasts and forget about it.

[Instrument 41]

Thanks again for the "food for thought". The asking price is $4500 and that's not firm. Any other burb at that year and mileage are around 75 to 9500. So its a great deal but until I lay my eyes on it in person I'm still uneasy.

[SeanPizzle]

offer $3500 and steal it from them. We have an 05 2500 Yukon XL and it has been damn reliable. 120K miles and still 60+% brakes left. Comfortable, great towrig and safe DD for wife. I would crawl underneath and look at the frame rails in the rear and make sure there is no deformation or wrinkles in the metal. If it's 4x4 make sure it shifts in and out well and make sure the HVAC is working fine. Those are the only two hiccups we have had, and they weren't too costly too fix.

[aigel]

So, if it was hit hard enough, wouldn't the air bags have deployed? Do you want your wife to drive around in a car that may have no airbags? Do they have documentation of the repairs showing an assessment, pictures etc. that prove the air bags are original?

G

[Porsche-O-Phile]

You can check the expiration dates on them for one thing.

[Arizona_928]

I have been picking up a few 05/06 subs and silverados with clean titles with on avg. 30-40k more miles for 1,800-2,5000 at auction. the $2,500 ones are the 4x4's...
$4,500 is avg price for them, and hard to sell even at that price. I have been unloading them around 3kish. Not bad for just driving to Tejas to pick them up from oil/drill companies...

At that price I would shy away from a salvage. The maintenance is another huge thing. check the trans fluid. You'll notice right away if it has been taken care of, or not.

[VincentVega]

Road trip. I always have my ear to the ground for a decent 2500 long bed extended cab.

I wouldnt touch a salvage unless I planned to drive it into the ground.