Anyone ever bought a car w/ a salvage title?

[CarlHungus]

I'm looking at a few cars that have a salvage title on them. I still need to find out exactly what happened to them to make it a salvage, but I'm wondering if anyone on here has had good luck with them? I'm not worried about resale value, I just want something that will run for a long time and I plan on only putting liability insurance on it, so not worried about the insurance part of it. I'm just curious what others experiences are with salvage titles, thanks

 

[Cyclonesrule91]

I've bought a couple vehicles with salvaged titles and had great luck with them. Under no circumstance would I buy a salvaged title vehicle that had anything to do with flooding issues.....as that problem builds as time goes on. You take it in the shorts when you try and sell, but the guy selling it to you is marking his price way down as well so it evens out, especially if you plan on driving it for a long time.

Depends on what happened to make it salvaged and the work of the guy bringing it back to previously salavaged, but you'd be surprised what can happen to label a vehicle previously salvaged. Just stay away from any flood damage....

 

[CarlHungus]

I've bought a couple vehicles with salvaged titles and had great luck with them. Under no circumstance would I buy a salvaged title vehicle that had anything to do with flooding issues.....as that problem builds as time goes on. You take it in the shorts when you try and sell, but the guy selling it to you is marking his price way down as well so it evens out, especially if you plan on driving it for a long time.

Depends on what happened to make it salvaged and the work of the guy bringing it back to previously salavaged, but you'd be surprised what can happen to label a vehicle previously salvaged. Just stay away from any flood damage....

Great advice, thanks!

 

[drmwevr08]

It's a crap shoot. You probably can't finance and may have difficulty insuring. Also, plan on driving it into the ground cause resale stinks.

 

[CarlHungus]

It's a crap shoot. You probably can't finance and may have difficulty insuring. Also, plan on driving it into the ground cause resale stinks.

Yeah, I'm just going to pay cash and I wouldn't think just putting liability insurance on it would be much of an issue (at least I hope not).

 

[intrepid27]

Yes. Ran a carfax and found out it had siwdeswiped a guardrails. Took it to a dealership and paid them $60 to go over it. Saved about $2K on an $8K car. Bought it from the guy who fixed the accident damage.

 

[wxman1]

Not sure where you are but there at least used to be a guy in Rowley that would repair vehicles with light to moderate damage and resell them on a salvage title. My parents bought a couple cars from him with no issue.

 

[Cyclonesrule91]

It's a crap shoot. You probably can't finance and may have difficulty insuring. Also, plan on driving it into the ground cause resale stinks.

Wrong and Wrong........ Previously salvaged vehicles are typically 65-75% value to the same care with a standard title. If you pay 100% for a salvaged value vehicle, yes you may have trouble financing, but if you get it at a decent price, financing is fine unless you want to stretch out payments to 5-6 yrs, which is stupid anyway.

And insuring them is not different than a regular title as long as the title is previously salvage. I've never had issues insuring them.

 

[ExCyment]

Should pay around 60-70% of what it would be if it were not salvaged. Don't mess with flood damage, or any accident that caused the airbags to deploy. I've owned a couple and they've been a good value. I've never resold them as I still drive one and my daughter totaled another. Don't bother insuring them fully. You pay as much for the coverage, but in the event it is totaled, the insurance company will pay you at a salvaged rate.

 

[BigBake]

Parents (and I bought from them afterwards) owned a salvaged titled vehicle.

Only buy it if you plan to drive it in to the ground. It will NEVER be worth as much as a similar vehicle with a clean title no matter how good of a car it was for you. Also don't bother trying to trade it in eventually, almost all dealers will run from it or give you little to nothing.

That said, if you know it's history, how it was repaired and trust it. Go for it. If it's just a commuting vehicle you'll be fine.

 

[drednot57]

My first car was a salvaged 1979 Chevette. It was a very reliable car. It depends who did the repairs. The guy I bought the car from had a strong recommendation from my dad, and we were not disappointed.