Salvage titles- good or bad?

[rockyrude]

I am seeing an outfit in Minnesota peddling vehicles with salvage titles. I understand you can get some decent deals but are stuck with it till rots to it's grave.

 

[oldjeep]

Re: Salvage titles- good or bad?

You can buy and sell vehicles with salvage titles, it is just harder to get a loan on them and sometimes to insure them.

What is the outfit? Flood Brothers?

 

[rockyrude]

Re: Salvage titles- good or bad?

I didn't read the ad well, they are wheel kinetics out of Tucson , AZ. I understand some are insurance/theft recoveries, is that why they are harder to insure?

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Salvage titles- good or bad?

I would stay away.

 

[oldjeep]

Re: Salvage titles- good or bad?

I didn't read the ad well, they are wheel kinetics out of Tucson , AZ. I understand some are insurance/theft recoveries, is that why they are harder to insure?

You can't usually get full coverage on a salvage vehicle, which is why its hard to get a loan on them but check with your agent to be sure.

I've had a couple salvage vehicles, but they have been trail vehicles that I didn't need to fully insure or get any sort of loan on.

 

[foodfisher]

Re: Salvage titles- good or bad?

Salvage=damaged beyond repair value. Up to you to determine what was considered damage. ps, rust on the seat springs would in my opinion be bad.

 

[carguy001]

Re: Salvage titles- good or bad?

I have bought, fixed and sold many salvage vehicles, there are some benefits and negatives to owning one. Need to do your research on the reason it was salvaged or at least look the car over to verify what you are buying. Flood vehicles are about the worst they look good because no major visible damage, but I got a hold of one to 3 months to get the mold and smell out of the inside and then you just hope the motor was not submerged in water. Flood cars have lots of hidden problems down the road. I like cars that have been hit in the front just because most every thing unbolts and you buy new or salvage yard parts to put back together. I also found buying and selling them is ok if you keep the price of the around 5,000 or less that way people don't need loans. I usually made 1000-1200 profit of the ones I sold. My first one was a 2002 focus and my wife drove it about 4 years no issues. Is was only 2 years old with 28k and I had 4200 in it.


Also if you are buying one in a state that requires a salvage inspection make sure the person that fixed the gets the inspection for two reasons 1 you can not get a good title and tag with out the inspection certificate and 2 if there are any issues at the inspection you are now responsible for fixing it. Just look the car over for hack jobs or have some with to do so they can pass inspections but still be unsafe to drive because here in Ohio all they really looking for is stolen parts.


Just me experience with salvage cars

 

[Fleetwin]

Re: Salvage titles- good or bad?

I have bought, fixed and sold many salvage vehicles, there are some benefits and negatives to owning one. Need to do your research on the reason it was salvaged or at least look the car over to verify what you are buying. Flood vehicles are about the worst they look good because no major visible damage, but I got a hold of one to 3 months to get the mold and smell out of the inside and then you just hope the motor was not submerged in water. Flood cars have lots of hidden problems down the road. I like cars that have been hit in the front just because most every thing unbolts and you buy new or salvage yard parts to put back together. I also found buying and selling them is ok if you keep the price of the around 5,000 or less that way people don't need loans. I usually made 1000-1200 profit of the ones I sold. My first one was a 2002 focus and my wife drove it about 4 years no issues. Is was only 2 years old with 28k and I had 4200 in it.


Also if you are buying one in a state that requires a salvage inspection make sure the person that fixed the gets the inspection for two reasons 1 you can not get a good title and tag with out the inspection certificate and 2 if there are any issues at the inspection you are now responsible for fixing it. Just look the car over for hack jobs or have some with to do so they can pass inspections but still be unsafe to drive because here in Ohio all they really looking for is stolen parts.


Just me experience with salvage cars

100% agree.

Salvage is not all bad especially if it is for your use. Trying to sell one becomes a whole different story.

I can't, with good conscience, sell a salvage title unit to an unsuspecting customer.

Full disclosure is the only way.

 

[QC]

Re: Salvage titles- good or bad?

Agree that ^^^^^

Airbags bring on early totals these days as well. If they are deployed, many decent cars will be totaled with little serious damage to the car and drivetrain. If you can get used airbags and get the ECMs reset, they can be a wonderful deal.

Edit: Moving to non-Boating Tech Topics

 

[rockyrude]

Re: Salvage titles- good or bad?

100% agree.

Salvage is not all bad especially if it is for your use. Trying to sell one becomes a whole different story.

I can't, with good conscience, sell a salvage title unit to an unsuspecting customer.

Full disclosure is the only way.

I thought once there is a salvage title it's branded for life, can't really hide anything correct?

 

[oldjeep]

Re: Salvage titles- good or bad?

I thought once there is a salvage title it's branded for life, can't really hide anything correct?

Not neccessarily. Salvage titles sometimes disappear when moving from state to state. I had a 94 jeep wrangler that had a MI salvage title and somehow the designation got dropped when it was titled in MN. The guy I bought it from disclosed that to me and I disclosed it to the guy I sold it to. It showed up in a carfax

 

[Fleetwin]

Re: Salvage titles- good or bad?

Not neccessarily. Salvage titles sometimes disappear when moving from state to state. I had a 94 jeep wrangler that had a MI salvage title and somehow the designation got dropped when it was titled in MN. The guy I bought it from disclosed that to me and I disclosed it to the guy I sold it to. It showed up in a carfax

There you go.

Salvage title stuff is sometimes hard to track. I could not sell a product knowing the title issues. Full disclosre is always the best policy.

 

[Fleetwin]

Re: Salvage titles- good or bad?

Agree that ^^^^^

Airbags bring on early totals these days as well. If they are deployed, many decent cars will be totaled with little serious damage to the car and drivetrain. If you can get used airbags and get the ECMs reset, they can be a wonderful deal.

Edit: Moving to non-Boating Tech Topics

All, be CAREFUL. There is some foreign junk (Chinese) floating around (airbags) that are truly unsafe. They tend to have their own deployment criteria. Get my drift?

 

[QC]

Re: Salvage titles- good or bad?

Agree that too ^^^^^^ My post was in now way suggesting unsafe practices.

 

[82rude]

Re: Salvage titles- good or bad?

yeh, they deploy after the accident to hide the body from innocent eyes.

 

[carguy001]

Re: Salvage titles- good or bad?

Here in Ohio once the car is totaled it receives a salvage title then once you repair it and have it inspected you get a rebuilt salvage title to get your tags and that's what the title stays as. But yes some states loose the branding os the salvage.

 

[Boomyal]

Re: Salvage titles- good or bad?

I had my daughter buy a salvage titled 2002 Mitsubishi Lancer with low miles on it. The seller had all the pictures of the damage and it was a beautiful car. This was about 2005. She would not have been able to afford a similar non-salvage model of the same year and mileage. She has since driven it to California to get her Masters degree, then drove it back to WA state, then drove it to Pennsylvania where she got her first post masters job, then last fall she drove it down to Lubbock TX where she got a new and better job. She could not have purchased a better car.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Salvage titles- good or bad?

Salvage can mean anything from a vehicle that was in an accident that its repair cost was more than the vehicle was worth, a flooded car, a fire damaged car or...

I used to buy and sell cars while i was in college and used to buy some salvaged vehicles. In those days, once the vehicle was repaired, the salvage distinction wasn't noted on the title. There are so much variance that unless you actually see a picture of the vehicle before it was repaired I wouldn't touch it.

A family member of mine owned a salvaged vehicle once which was hit and the vehicle was totaled. The insurance company would not pay full value for the vehicle because of the salvage title.

 

[Bamaman1]

Re: Salvage titles- good or bad?

You see a lot of vehicles on EbayMotors.com with salvage titles. Sometimes they're totaled. Sometimes relatively little damage was done, even as little as needing a bumper cover and paint.

I don't know why insurance companies will declare a vehicle a salvage vehicle for such little damage. I guess they're afraid of liabilities if these vehicles get into the retail market and cause bodily damage.

What's so funny is that these vehicles often have to be inspected by the state after the problem has been corrected to get licensed for the road. State DMV people want to see before pictures, in between pictures and pictures after it's been fixed. They want to see the invoices for any new parts. They want to see invoices on any junkyard parts--including the description and serial number of what vehicle those parts came off of. Only when they deem the vehicle has been properly fixed, is not a danger on the road and that no stolen parts are on those cars--then, they'll sign off on the vehicle.

In our state, there is a rebuilder dealer license. They require a real place of business and liability insurance before the license is issued. And most body shops don't even have the rebuilder dealer license due to all the hassles and potential liability.

Me personally? I'd run from any vehicle with a salvage title unless I was just after the parts to transplant to another like vehicle.

 

[Volphin]

Re: Salvage titles- good or bad?

I bought a salvage title Honda Accord once. It was fully repaired and the welding matched the factory welds. The wife and I put an additional 200K miles on that car, and brought our first child home from the hospital in it. Wound up selling it to a college student, and still see the car from time to time in my community. It just will not die! LOL