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Is this an automatic stay-the-hell-away-from-this-car? Or not necessarily?
I've owned three salvaged vehicles in my life, and all have turned out to be better than non-salvaged. Possibly due to the care in which they were rebuilt (or my perception since I was soooo happy saving all that cash!).
I realize buying a car with a branded title can be scary, but if you go about it intelligently it can result in you buying a quality car with a lot less miles and for a price that won’t make you cry. A branded title can mean many things, and this is the first thing to find out with buying a car. If the car is branded for salvage or flood damage, these are two brands that you should probably steer clear of. If the car has a rebuilt brand you can ask the dealer what was rebuilt and that can help you consider how much original damage was caused. There is also a brand on the title if the dealership has to buy back a car from an owner. I heard a story of a woman who didn’t like the color of the car she bought, so she made the dealership buy it back and that car received a branded title. I’ve have owned two cars with a rebuilt brand on the title, and both have been fantastic cars that on both I’ve paid seven to ten thousand dollars less than the value if the title wasn’t branded. If you are looking for a car that is very affordable yet reliable you should look for a car with a branded title. Just find out what kind of brand and if it’s rebuilt that it was rebuilt by a reputable company.
We had:
1. 99 Ranger, 35 000 miles, salvage title, $3500, most reliable vehicle ever owned; repairs - zerks installed into ball joints to lube them
2. 2007 or so Honda CR-V, with about 40K miles on, $10 000 cash, still running like a champ, repairs - none.
3. 1996 Honda Civic, 120 000 miles, $2000, son put another 100 or so thousand miles on, before she quit starting; sold same day for $1600 (was bad dizzy); repairs - none. 45mpg.
Our entire community here runs on rebuilds and salvage titles. People have POSH cars for fraction of a cost. Same person that bought that CR-V, bought 2010 Lexus rx 350 for $10 000 cash and paid $4K in repairs to a local mech. Runs like a champ. My best buddy owned and owns about half a dozen of salvage title cars. All run fine, including 96 Ranger extended cab, that is somewhere close to 300 000 miles on ticker. Never repaired since bought. And he just bought a Dodge pickup and Subaru, both rebuilt.
I wouldn't take advice from people over the internet on whether to buy or not to buy a salvage vehicle. This, as Omaha has stated, is purely a case by case type of situation. Everyone here is just spewing conjecture, you should have a knowledgeable person come and inspect the vehicle with you. .
I just would not plan to be able to sell the car when I bought.
If it runs fine go for it, but as stated will be harder to get rid of so assume worse case scenario, that you will have to sell for scrap. I'd be reluctant to drop $10k on one. Maybe $5k if its low milege
you will still be able to insure it on your policy with both liability and comprehensive/collision coverage. However, when a loss occurs we pay to replace or repair the insured vehicle based on the actual cash value. When a vehicle has a salvage or branded title the actual cash value will be significantly lower than that of the same vehicle with an original title. Please be aware full premium will be charged for a salvage or branded title and future claims will be taken into account.
Depends on the situation. I know of two people who bought salvaged vehicles and got many years out of them. I don't know of anyone who bought salvaged vehicles and had bad experiences. So based only on my personal experience I think it's an excellent idea.
I looked at a lot of salvage title vehicles. Every single one of them, the seller claimed it was only minor damage, they could not understand why it was totaled and they fixed it by merely replacing some body panels. Every single one. It is virtually impossible for this to be true. Hence, some of them are lying.
Second consideration. We had a very nice conversion van. It got rear ended. The damage did not look bad at all. In pictures, it would have looked very minor. Because the van was newish, it was not totaled. The insurance company spent $8,500 for repairs. We ended up wishing it had been totaled. It had endless problems related to the damage. Some of the repairs were not done correctly, some of he damage was missed. Something was bent and the car never aligned properly again. We had a very minor shudder and weird wear issues on the rear tires. However we were not aware of this until it was too late to lay it back on the insurance company. Further the multitudes of little things that broke or were eventually discovered to be never fixed properly, could not be definitively pinned on the accident and repairs. Thus, the insurance company woudl not pay for them. We went from loving our van to hating it.
You could not see any of the problems. When we got the van back we inspected it and had it inspected and driven by a professional. Nothing seemed amiss - but a whole lot of problems were hiding.
To me, unless you buy a totaled car ad repair it yourself, the risk is huge. The discount for salvaged titled better be at least half the value of the car to make it worth the risk - and it never is. The sellers will tall you all kinds of BS to get you to buy it. They may even have photographs, repair records etc. However you do not know the photographs show all the damage or they seller is giving you all the repair records. Also the repairs are usually done on the cheap. Not always, but usually, Thus you must assume the repairs were poorly done because there is no wa to verify they were well done.
It is gambling. You could save a ton and get a great car, or you could get something you end up scrapping in four months. Personally, when I gamble, I might gamble with $500 or maybe even $1000. I am not going to gamble with $8,500 or $15,000.
Are you the kind of person who would put $8,500 on the pass line at a craps table? If so, go for it. If not, then you probably should skip salvage titles. However I am not sure you do not have better odds when you place your $8,500 on the craps table.
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