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Currently looking for a new car and every car that catches my eye seems to be salvage titled. I generally try to stay away from these but I’m starting to wonder what the actual downsides are. The only things I know about salvaged cars are what I hear from other people, and so much of it sounds like made up bs that I don’t really know what to believe. So, can someone on here who actually knows about the differences between a clean and salvage title tell me about the pros and cons of the latter?
P.S. I understand the fact that since a salvaged car was obviously in a crash, it may have damage that you may or may not be able to see. I really mean more along the lines of legal issues, such as whether or not insurance will cover a salvaged car, HOW insurance will cover the car, etc.
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No dealers will touch a S title vehicle. There have been people that have ways to WASH the titles and they get back in the network, unethical, yes, for sure. For a driver, it shouldn’t matter if it has the dreaded S or not, if the car suits you, then buy it, cheap, just read my piece below. Many wrecked cars don’t get S titles. Other good cars that are abandoned for no reason get S titles. Think about it.
I bought a wrecked Nissan 4×4 truck for cheap, cheap and drove it for a few years. Replaced the crashed fender, straighted out the front suspension, changed the broken wheel. Decent truck really, worth nothing, but oh well. It was never going to win any handling contests before or after it was wrecked, what was the difference really. The worst damage actually came from a bent driveshaft, this was not from the accident it was in, but from the forklift moving it around the storage yard it was in. Luckily this little truck had a frame and nothing else was crushed besides the driveshaft, but I could see the potential of a forklift ruining a car like a Honda in one lift by smashing the underpinnings of the unibody. Junkyard/Salvage/tow guys are beyond butchers I would be careful.
I would stay far far away from a salvage title. Besides being a money pit, you run into other issues that vary by state. The only way I’d purchase a salvage titled vehicle is if it was going to be a drag car or offroad vehicle. A salvage title is detriment to the value of the car as well as registering it, insuring it, and if your state requires inspections inspecting it.
A lot depends upon why it has been declared a salvage. Some branded cars can have a long service life in spite of the salvage designation. I’ve owned 2 of them with the last one being a car that I wrecked and repaired. It was on a salvage title for about 8 years and close to 300k miles.
I never had a problem with my insurance company although I only carried liability on it after the wreck.The downside (leaving any severe chassis issues out of it) is financing one (good luck) and value. A salvage car is only worth about half of retail at best and selling one with a branded title may be difficult even if the car is solid. The perception by a lot of people is that it’s major league flawed as to driveability even if that’s not the case.
Main thing is know what you’re looking at and getting into.
It really just comes down to a matter of personal preference. As mentioned, a vehicle can be branded salvage for a variety of reasons, usually but not always from a collision. I buy almost exclusively salvage title vehicles, BUT I very very very rarely buy one that has been previously repaired – I usually buy them directly from the insurance auction. That way, I know exactly what happened and what is going on with it. There is a risk involved, but really that same risk is involved in buying any vehicle that doesn’t come directly off the dealer’s lot brand new. Many vehicles are in horrendous collisions, repaired insufficiently, and remain a clear title. Watch out for flooded vehicles, those things should be crushed on the spot. If you plan on keeping the vehicle for a long time, a salvage title vehicle can be a great value. Generally, older salvage title vehicles are a safer bet – the damage threshold for a total loss is lower the less the value of the vehicle is. Meaning, a 1 year old car worth $40,000 has to sustain catastrophic damage to be written off, where a 10 year old car worth $5,000 will be totaled out for just a cracked bumper and airbag deployment because of the proportion of the of the repair estimate to the retail value of the car.
Quite some time ago I bought a 1969 427 Impala. I had to have it crushed because it had been on the banks of the Truckee river during a floor and became submurged under water. Everytime I removed something big piles of silt and dry dirt came out. The car had a layer of dirty crapola allover it that was not removable. Poor car was totally ruined. It would have been better smashed that flooded.
As other people have eluded to, financing and insuring may be precarious.
The main issue as I see it is that the person whom likely did the rebuilding probably used on recycled parts and probably did just enough for it to pass inspection(s). Nothing more. You`re more likely to get a random squeak or other gremlins occurring.
That being said, Sometimes I`m pretty sure the insurer will write off a car just to get the driver into insuring something newer. Something like a car worth about $1500, dosn`t really take too much to write it off. But if there`s no structural damage and only sheet metal to replace, why not.
[quote=”DaFirnz” post=132512]As other people have eluded to, financing and insuring may be precarious.
The main issue as I see it is that the person whom likely did the rebuilding probably used on recycled parts and probably did just enough for it to pass inspection(s). Nothing more. You`re more likely to get a random squeak or other gremlins occurring.
That being said, Sometimes I`m pretty sure the insurer will write off a car just to get the driver into insuring something newer. Something like a car worth about $1500, dosn`t really take too much to write it off. But if there`s no structural damage and only sheet metal to replace, why not.[/quote] You shoulda heard my insurance company when I first insured my 74′. “Does it run?, Do all the lights work?, Hazards?, Hows the body?” I coulda sworn I was interviewing on behalf of my truck. Point being, insurance finds older vehicles with a clean title risky to insure, nevermind one with a salvaged title.
I guess it depends on the jurisdiction. Where I am a salvage title needs both a mechanical inspection and an alignment print-out with the vin # on it.
I’m a state licensed insurance agent.
I advise all my clients who come to me with this question to avoid salvage titled vehicles. For one, you never really know the FULL story behind that vehicle. Often they can be unsafe – I’ve seen mechanical issues that caused the car to die on the freeway unexpectedly, to unknown electrical issues that caused a fire or didn’t allow the airbag to deploy, to unknown steering issues creep up and cause a collision.
Are there people who buy salvage title cars and have no problems? sure. But are the unknown risks to your safety work it? I say no. Some buyers are mechanically inclined and can fix these cars and drive them, but there still are things unknown.
These cars can be very tempting because usually a person can buy a high-end, prestigious car, like a salvaged BMW, Porsche, etc, etc, at a price they normally wouldn’t be able to afford, so this really wets their appetite. Remember if you buy it, you will also be stuck with the depreciated value when you go to sell it, and they are typically VERY hard to sell.
As far as insurance goes, most if not all insurance companies will not insure the car for physical damage – like uninsured motorist property damage, comprehensive or collision. Reason being IF the car was deemed a total loss, they can’t give you anything for it anyway if were damaged. The most you can typically insure it for is liability and uninsured motorist bodily injury, and personal Injury protection or med pay. A salvaged titled car won’t always give you the best insurance rate either.
The other thing to keep in mind is how will you do in a lawsuit? Let’s suppose you’re involved in a not-at-fault accident and you’re severely injured. For whatever reason either you or your insurance company sues the other driver. The defendant hires a super slick lawyer who’s defense is that the extent of YOUR injures were not due to the accident but to the fact your car was UNSAFE to begin with because it was salvaged. You should have survived better if the car wasn’t unsafe. Now I know that sounds like a stretch, but I’ve seen similar lawsuits like that where the plaintiff has lost. You never want to be in that position to where a jury has doubt.
Just stay away from salvaged cars. There really isn’t anything good about them.
After so many problems when buying a normally registered vehicle no one knows what any used vehicles history is.
There seems to be an overwhelming number of owners ready to unload a used vehicle but not ready to disclose anything about it that is not visually or noticeably defective. Even cars with serious safety issues, dying on the insterstate, loose engine or transmission, improperly installed ball joints and hidden stearing problems get sold every day across America. Not only sold but those cars have clean titles and no one mentions there are safety issues or anything else that you will not quickly discover yourself.
In fact this was the reasoning behind getting a used vehicle checked out by a reputable mechanic prior to commiting to purchase. Leyt the old saying “BUYER BEWARE” guide you. Personally I follow a modified saying “BUYER BEWARE, VERY AWARE OF WHAT MIGHT BE”.
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