salvage title question

gamma · 09-19-2005, 08:29 PM

Just to get a few opinions. If a car were repaired, and looking good, what effect on value would a salvage title have on a car? I am thinking it should be in the neighborhood of 20%, and deduct 100% for all needed repairs to bring the car up to 100%. Any one ever heard a good figure on this? Or have good experience with this? Thanks, Kevin

brianc944 · 09-19-2005, 08:43 PM

depends on the repair an why it's listed as a salave title. Some are just stolen etc, I would say that might justify 20% as long as no serious damage, other avenues I would think changes the % up(off).

gamma · 09-19-2005, 09:23 PM

So is your opinion a minimum of 20%? And more for damage repaired car?

porschenut66 · 09-19-2005, 09:39 PM

In the world of cars, salvage is a bad word. Dealers won't touch them. Porsche's tend to do better than most, but to put it in perspective I was looking at a salvaged '95 BMW 740i. Book on it was between $9k-$15k, depending on which book. The guy still wanted $8k firm, and WOULD not budge. I later was able to pick up a cherry condition one with a clean title for $7k. You just have to wait and look...they're out there. A buddy of mine runs a BMW dealership and I ran it past him. He'd run from a salvaged car, but if someone were to trade it he'd offer $500. Yeah, $500. Now I know that's extreme but most will say knock at least 50% off. The problem is that even when it looks like it was repaired correctly, bodyshops OFTEN will do the minimum needed for it to "pass" again for the title. Welds are often compromised, wiring often done incorrectly, etc etc... You get my point. Good luck.

K9Torro · 09-20-2005, 03:36 AM

I think it depends on why the car was branded as " salvage " also depends on what state a person lives in and how good a " deal " they perceive the car to be.

My state makes it very difficult to purchase a " salvage " car, even after it has been repaired you have to take it to Atlanta to be inspected which can take days, pay a fee for this service and then they might or might not issue a tag for the car, on the flip side if the car is 20 years old or older they don't even issue a title just a tag and registration so the " salvage " would not even come into play on a older car as long as you have a noterized bill of sale.

From what I have seen the price mark down on a " fully repaired " car is between 25-35 % with most being about 30 %.

Todd

Rob McConnell · 09-20-2005, 06:17 AM

Hi

How do you know if a car has a salvage title, is it shown on the registration document (Title doc). I am in the UK and have seen salvage titled cars for sale, I am not thinking of buying one but was just interested, my 912 was from US just like to know how to avoid this.

Thks
Rob
91 964 Cab
66 912 Coupe
Jersey, UK

gamma · 09-20-2005, 06:18 AM

Good information. Of course I am not seeing this in the asking prices, but they have little to do with what a car really sells for. It seems that most sellers start at full retail for a salvage title car, and sit on the cars for a good while. I know that re-selling the car would be a headache.

I had a hard time getting the full story on the car I am going to look at, usually that means you should run and hide, but I am going to be in the nieghborhood where the car is, so I will take a peek. Thanks again, Kevin

K9Torro · 09-20-2005, 06:44 AM

Hi UK guy,

Yes it will be listed on the title, often times stamped BOLD' ly in red ink, " salvage " or if it had been a salvage vehicle and repaired it might indicate " rebuilt " on the title, also some states place the same information on the vehicle registration document which goes with the license tag.

Just a heads up, after living in the greater Miami area after hurricane Andrew in 1992 we saw a whole pack of vehicles that were sold as " salvage " due to hurricane damage, and after they were cleaned up and dried out they did not " look " that bad, but down the road they were all kinds of problems, so there is no telling what will happen with all the " salvage " cars from Katrina,
and we are talking about thousands of cars they will end up someplace...

Todd

Gamma - if he will not provide entire history, documentation on why the car was " salvaged " I would not only walk I would run away.

wholberg · wholberg's Garage

Example of a good salvage buy: Owner of a '74 911 gets in a fender bender that causes no structural damage, but the $$$ to repair are over blue book and the ins. co. totals it. Owner buys it back and has it fixed right but cannot get "salvage" off the title (depends upon the state). You buy it and drive it happily for years.

Example of a bad salvage buy: Car is in a flood. Silt is sucked into the engine intake, transmission breather, all greasable joints. Ins. Co. totals the car. Disreputable dealer buys it, puts in a new interior, dries out the car and blows the cylinders and intake "clean" with compressed air, changes all the fluids, steam cleans the undercarriage, and puts it up for sale. You buy it and 5-10K miles later, residual silt in the crankcase eats all the bearings and cylinder walls--full rebuild. You get that done and 10K miles after that the transmission starts to make noise, so you open it up and have to just pitch the entire thing and replace it. Sometime before this the silt that got into the wheel bearings, tie rods, A-arms, etc, has worn them out and they have been replaced, etc, etc.

Unfortunately, this last scenario will likely be repeated many times over the next couple of years as cars that were flooded from Katrina find their way to a local car dealer or EBay.

So, if the reason for salvaging the car is not extremely well documented, run away.

Zeke · 09-20-2005, 07:34 AM

I can't get comprehensive or collision insurance on my salvage titled PU truck which was a victim of the same scenario wholeberg pointed out where the repairs were less than 4K. No structural damage and it continues to be a good truck driving straight and all that. But, naked AFA ins goes.

K9Torro · 09-20-2005, 07:36 AM

Exactly, well written on the flood vehicle. Having lived and worked through several major hurricanes I can tell you that the a whole lot of those car's get resold to unknowing buyers.

Todd

jgporsche · jgporsche's Garage

In reference to Katrina. The vehicles in New Orleans were in SALT water. I’ve seen fresh water flood cars go through the local auction here. I’ve never seen a SALT water car at a regular auction or have ever heard of one. A friend of mine bought a fresh water flood car and didn’t know by the paperwork or title. I doubt half the cars in New Orleans have insurance that covers floods.

deanp · 09-20-2005, 10:14 AM

We had a '91 300ZX TT that had a salvage title. It had been totalled due to having been in an accident. A friend that runs an auto body ship bought it, fixed for himself and drove it for three or four years, putting 40000 miles on it. He then bought a '93 the same way and we bought the 91. We put another ~40,000 miles on it with no issues.

The key here is the car had a background and I was buying it from someone I trusted. We sold the car this spring and were honest with all potential buyers. The person who bought the car couldn't have cared less about the marked title as the car had seen at this point nearly 80000 miles since the incident that had branded it.

I would say we got fair market value for the car with no penalty for the salvage title.

K9Torro · 09-20-2005, 10:23 AM

The vehicles from Andrew were in SALT water, and alot of them were sold as salvage.

The vehicles from Katrina will be sold as salvage as well, they all wont go to the crusher/landfill.

glenndeweirdt · glenndeweirdt's Garage

Why even screw around with a Salvage title? personally, I would rather buy an older or higher mileage P-car with a clean title than a newer or lower mileage vehicle with a salvage title.

serge944 · serge944's Garage

In a nutshell: use common sense.

There are horror stories and gold mines in regards to salvaged vehicles - it's up to you to conclude if the risk is worth the cost savings.

My uncle bought a 2002 Olds Alero w/ 15k miles for 3k. Vehicle was salvaged due to a minor accident. It was repaired legitimately for pennies on the dollar. I know because I helped.

slfergy · 09-20-2005, 05:20 PM

I was able to pick up a nice c2 turbo with a Salvage title for a great price. I went back to the DMV and bought all the transfers and records and researched the paper trail and found an error in Re-Titlement. Then the insurance company issued a letter about the error to the DMV which then issued a clear title and now Carfax is removing it from their system.
A little work just made the car double.

S4drifter · 09-22-2005, 06:41 PM

Slfergy,

This thread made me pull out my title. According to carfax and the previous owner, my car is a salvage and was priced accordingly. So for some boneheaded reason, I never checked. Now, as I look at the title, I see absolutely no mention of it anywhere, in red ink, black ink etc....

Could there be an error in my favor here? Can I show the title to carfax and have the information removed?

Any help is appreciated as it greatly affects the resale value of the car.

slfergy · 09-30-2005, 06:09 PM

Yes, I was able to remove Salvage from my Carfax listing by taking the time to research the DMV's records back to purchase point. It cost some money and lots of time, perhaps 1 year to finish the job, but it made me $30,000 on a Porsche.
Stacy

unclebilly · unclebilly's Garage

Here's a scenario for you. Your 911 SC gets in a minor accident, and you didn't have it appraised. The insurance company figures it will cost $5000 to fix it so they offer you $8000 for it knowing they can get $3000 for the salvage. Not many of us would accept $8000 for our cars so we decide to keep the car and fix it - most insurance cos will give you the $8K and let you buy it back for 30% ($2400). You get your car fixed for the $5k and you're good to go excpt that your cat now has a salvage title.

I just went through this this spring on my pick up after it got stolen. The bastards first wanted to write my truck off and give me $1600 for it. I eventually got $3500 out of them - 30% (which I was still unhappy with). I ended taking my multi vehicle policy (2 trucks, 2 cars, 1 motorcycle, and 2 quads) elsewhere the day after I settled. So now my truck that was stolen for the wheels and tires, keyed on one side, and had the stereo stolen has a salvage title - does this make sense?