Buying salvage titled vehicles?

mikef

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Is it a crap shoot? Are the savings worth the potential downsides? Anyone have experience? Ty
 


riverview

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most cant be financed, take a huge hit when you try to sell, good deal if you just plan to keep long term should be 1/2 to 2/3rd of kelly blue book used price.
 

Ruttin

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It really depends on the prior damage. Banks will finance them up to 75 % of the current value of an alike non damaged vehicle. Also will need an inspection by a 3rd party for DOT purposes, typically about $25. I have had great luck with them in the past but they seem to be going for way more money in these current times. Good Luck!
 

KDM

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If you plan on driving it into the ground and then donating it to become an artificial reef in it's next life.....then it's a reasonable option IMO assuming you can use completely disposable income the likes of which you could gamble away at the blackjack table without the wife removing your spleen for you. If you plan on using it for a year or two and then sell it.....No Bueno in my book. Good Luck!!
 

mikef

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If you plan on driving it into the ground and then donating it to become an artificial reef in it's next life.....then it's a reasonable option IMO assuming you can use completely disposable income the likes of which you could gamble away at the blackjack table without the wife removing your spleen for you. If you plan on using it for a year or two and then sell it.....No Bueno in my book. Good Luck!!

no wife and paying cash
 


eyexer

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It honestly depends on what caused the salvage title and who repaired it and what parts were used
 

dukgnfsn

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some insurance companies won't insure and may need to go thru a different company, just something to check on and consider. don't ask how I would know. It was more for the underwriting company than a non-salvage thru my company.
 

LBrandt

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Wife hit a deer with a little Saturn, I forget what model. Wrecked the hood and slid right over the top of the car. Never even set off the air bags. Insurance adjuster totaled it and I bought it back for 450.00 .Bodyman friend of mine got new hood and straighten some on the front end and painted hood to match the car. Had to have Highway Patrol inspect and got a salvage title for it. 1300.00 total and a supper for my friend and his wife. Put another 100,000 miles on it and sold it for 3,000 so sometimes it works. I think you just need to know why and how much damage there was and where. Good luck. LB
 

Davey Crockett

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I'd run a background check and run away from anything that had water damage. I see it often on the local news when there is a flood there are usually people driving around in a foot or two of water.
 

db-2

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Bought a savage title Goldwing which i drove for a few years and then sold it for same price i bought it for (4000). But then it was a Goldwing. db
 


FlatTopPete

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Some people have awesome luck with salvaged title vehicles and swear by them.

In my own personal experience though, I have not had good luck. Have had several of them. A lot of dealerships will not touch them when you want to trade in. We have had multiple issues with them. Nickel and dime type stuff but still annoying. And lastly, I have not seen enough of a discount off of a non-salvaged title to justify it.
 

mikef

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Some people have awesome luck with salvaged title vehicles and swear by them.

In my own personal experience though, I have not had good luck. Have had several of them. A lot of dealerships will not touch them when you want to trade in. We have had multiple issues with them. Nickel and dime type stuff but still annoying. And lastly, I have not seen enough of a discount off of a non-salvaged title to justify it.
Wound up buying new in 12/22 as used prices were so crazy
 

Fester

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I have fixed a number of salvage title vehicles. I like getting direct from the auction as I believe a number of re-sellers will pre pull the damage to make it not look as bad(would rather know what I am getting into). If fixed correctly there is nothing wrong with a salvage car. I personally take a large number of pictures to show anybody that may buy how it was fixed. Think about it this way. You buy a 2023 Chevy pickup that gets hit and to have that damage fixed it would cost 4k. The insurance company would fix it hands down. You are now driving a pickup where the title shows an accident. That exact same damage may not be repaired at let’s say 5 years old and would therefore be salvaged. Does that make the pickup not worth driving? I would say no it’s just based off the insurance company and where the loss is the least amount for them. Again if fixed right nothing wrong with them…water damage is a whole different game….never believe low water damage sale tactic. Yes transmissions these days are mostly all sealed but again some re-sellers will claim low water and I have pulled the carpet back and looked and the water was up in the dash..not so much low water. These sellers give a bad name to water damage vehicles as if it is truly low water it would be no big deal.
 

Allen

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I bought a 2003 F150 from the Ford dealership in Fargo that had obviously been crashed. It only had 14k miles on it, mismatched tires, uncharged AC, and in need of an alignment. It didn't come with a salvage title, probably because it was a Canadian truck, but if you looked close enough you could see most of the front suspension had been replaced. I probably spent 2 hours crawling around that truck trying to get a grip on what all had been replaced. I had the dealership replace the tires, fix the AC and alignment before I bought it. I drove that truck until it had 120k miles on it and the only problem I ever really had with it were coils. I think I had to put 3 coils and an alternator in it over the years.

As with any major purchase, due diligence is required.
 

Fester

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Just to touch on pricing and insurance since I didn’t on my prior post. If completely fixed usually 20-25% of book value is a fair amount. Most major insurance companies should insure the car for liability with no issues. Full coverage I have never had a problem insuring either. I have had to provide photos to the insurance company showing the vehicle in a fixed state. If somebody else is fixing or has fixed I would probably ask for the frame specs on it regardless of it having frame damage. I would say they would want to put it on a frame machine just to make sure nothing was tweaked. The frame machines these days you can print the before and after specs on it. If nothing to hide it should be no issue providing it.
 


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