Conquer Club

I'm thinking about getting a car. Should I consider a car with a salvage title? How bad are they?

For reference, these are really good deals on cars and I'm afraid they may be salvage titles, that's why I'm asking.

http://www.cars.com/for-sale/searchresu ... type=newcc

chapcrap wrote:For reference, these are really good deals on cars and I'm afraid they may be salvage titles, that's why I'm asking.

http://www.cars.com/for-sale/searchresu ... type=newcc

oh those americans and their big ass cars

buy a motorcycle, i did.

Ride on greenoak's motorcycle.


--Andy

chapcrap wrote:I'm thinking about getting a car. Should I consider a car with a salvage title? How bad are they?

my friend's dad buys only salvage title car's because he can find some that say they have terrible damage but in actuality they had to be labeled a certain damage level because of the situation they went through. For instance my friend has a really nice Acura TSX that was in a flood. But the water didn't actually go any higher than 1 inch above the floor. So all he had to do was have the carpetting replaced and then nothing was damaged by the water because it never actually got anywhere to the vehicle. So I thinkit can be hit or miss. (My friend's dad is a private investor for severl proffesional golfers, so he doesn't do anything bad with his money)

swimmerdude99 wrote:

chapcrap wrote:I'm thinking about getting a car. Should I consider a car with a salvage title? How bad are they?

my friend's dad buys only salvage title car's because he can find some that say they have terrible damage but in actuality they had to be labeled a certain damage level because of the situation they went through. For instance my friend has a really nice Acura TSX that was in a flood. But the water didn't actually go any higher than 1 inch above the floor. So all he had to do was have the carpetting replaced and then nothing was damaged by the water because it never actually got anywhere to the vehicle. So I thinkit can be hit or miss. (My friend's dad is a private investor for severl proffesional golfers, so he doesn't do anything bad with his money)

Just like madoff! Always trust him!

Don't buy it.

Here's the run dude,

Insurance companies have to appraise a car in order to determine if it's going to be totaled out or sold as salvage. They all use a similar method whereby they figure out the blue book value of the vehicle, then subtract the cost of the damage to the vehicle. If the damage equates a certain percentage of the vehicle's total value, hypothetically let's say the damage is over 60% of a cars sale value, then it's issued a salvage title. The older the car is, the less damage it takes for it to get a salvage title, because those cars have the least value... but the newer the car is then the more expensive the damage has to be. So a $30,000 car may need $16,000 in damages to get issued a salvage title, and I don't think you want to deal with that. Also, salvage cars have almost no trade-in value, and the resale value is always going to be around 40% of the blue-book value for the same car with a clear title. The only way you can get a good deal (mechanically) is if the vehicle truly only received cosmetic damage. That requires the shell of the car to be beaten in, but absolutely nothing else can be touched. What are the odds of that happening? Pretty slim, but every seller is going to try to convince you that that's exactly what happened. And then you'll still have a hard time ever unloading the vehicle if you need to.

Buy one of those police cruisers at an auction. Then everyone that sees you will rush to put on their seatbelt from fear of a $150 ticket and almost swerve off the road while doing so.

win win

Phatscotty wrote:Buy one of those police cruisers at an auction. Then everyone that sees you will rush to put on their seatbelt from fear of a $150 ticket and almost swerve off the road while doing so.

win win

Thanks for the help guys. Got a little help via PM too.

You can only judge a salvage car on an individual basis,
as the circumstances of each will vary a lot. Definitely
some opportunities to get a good deal there though.

I'm currently repairing a Toyota 4 Runner that is mechanically
very sound, but was totaled out by the insurance company
after it was hit on the front driver side. It's front left fender,
bumper and dimmer light are the sum of the damage.

Sweat equity can really create a super bargain.