To buy a salvage title? (Yay or nay?)
 

Salvage Title, are you kidding me?
That cars been in an accident or a flood! Someones died in that!
Why would you buy that?


We all know the worse and have even seen the car commercials.

But...

What about the cars in minor fender benders or were stolen for a 20 hour joyride.

Insurance companies write them off as salvage to reduce their fees.

Yet they are perfectly driveable?



So, if its salvage, working great and a few Ks off the price, why not buy it?

Has anyone done it, and is there a difference in insurance cost?

Only if you can verify exactly why the car has a salvage title. Don't take the seller's word for it, get confirmation from a uninterested, third party.

Yes, insurance will be lower as you can't have comprehensive and collision coverage (at least in my state) only liability/property/medical/uninsured motorist coverage.

FWIW,
Tim

I would argue cut the price in half or less and it may be a deal, salvage title stays with the car forever bighting you in the arse.

And I would strongly 2nd TimJFowler a lot of research is need because all sorts of odd things happen when its salvage, sometimes including the original owner wanting the car back and trouble getting around the DMV.

Its always tough even with a so called carfax to know the real reason something ends up salvage and that risk deserves a very strong reduction in price for the hassles in buying, titling and obviously if you ever want to sell.

My father had a salvage vehicle years ago but he never planned on selling and it worked out OK till we junked it years later. It always did have some odd problems that were never worked out.

Good Luck

If the vehicle has a Salvage title, it doesn't need to be titled. It's already titled, it just has to be inspected and a reconstruction mark added to the title. If you buy a total loss from the insurance company, then you need to retitle it.

I drive a car w/ a reconstructed title on it, my wife's Grand Prix. The car literally had the rear bumper fall off. The insurance company totaled it, the guy bought it back, fixed the bumper, then re-titled it with a reconstructed brand in PA.

I bought the car for $400 and have been driving it ever since, and besides basic GM BS, it's been great.

And my point is made, if you plan on buying one, plan on keeping it indefinately and make sure its bloody cheap. Some are great some are OK and some suck depends on who you are buying from, I would avoid professionals selling salvage as they tend to rip you off and there usually isn't any recourse.

In PA, the lemon law still has provisions for salvage vehicles.

I helped a friend of mine make a deal on a reconstructed Eclipse, and we paid just about $7k for the car (lots of aftermarket stuff). The person we bought the car from guaranteed that it could be inspected as it sat, and after 3 inspection trips, the bill was over $10k for repairs (from shops and dealers) to make it street legal.

We took the kid to court, and ended up keeping the car, and he paid back the $7k penny for penny.

is there a difference between salvage title and reconstructed?

or is it the same thing

When a car is totalled by an insurance company, the original certificate of title (issued by the state in which the vehicle is registered) is surrendered to the state.

If a person opts to buy that vehicle from the insurance company, which is often done for parts, the insurance company can issue (they're state bonded) a "certificate of salvage" for said vehicle. This is basically a note transferring ownership of an unfit vehicle.

This is necessary when a vehicle is bought for parts, since in most states, to use major components from another vehicle, you must add those component's serial numbers to your own title, by filing official paperwork with your local DMV.

The certificate of salvage, upon completion of a state inspection (not the one you pay for every year, this one's a little more in depth), will be exchanged for a new certificate of title in the state in which it was applied for. This new title will be branded with an "R" in the "special circumstances" section, which means that it's been "Officially reconstructed" and "passed state safety inspection".

does that mean that a salvage cant legally be driven on the street?

and there will be difficulty getting a safety sticker?

You can't register a salvage certificate, you need to get a state safety inspection, and then there is paperwork that gets filed, then they send you a reconstructed title, at which point, you're legal (registration and insurance notwithstanding.)

In Hawaii, it might be something different, but that's how I've always known it.

so you buy a car with a salvage title
get it safety inspected
then you file paperwork with the dmv/city hall
they give you the title which says salvage (reconstructed?)
then youre good to go?


does that include private sellers (who hopefully already went through the process)

The point about safety inspections depends on what state you live in. Here (Nevada) there's no such thing, only an annual smog check. Insurance is the same (unless you want collision, which I wouldn't know about), since it pays when you hit the other guy.

I've been driving an Insight with a salvage title for six years now. It'd been stolen, then recovered after the insurance company paid off. I've had very little trouble with the car at all, and nothing that's in any way related to the titling.

We're really getting past what could be considered discussion here, to the point that you should probably contact your local DMV to get specific information for your state.

I can tell you that if you get a title with the vehicle (it will say "Certificate of Title" somewhere on it), then you're cleared. If you get a "salvage certificate", then you'll have to go through whatever inspection you have locally.

thats the info i was looking for

there was an 02 kia with 30k miles for $2k
(salvage due to fender bender, with all dmg already fixed)
its sold now but no worry

good for future ref

there is a scary non-myth to salvage, to me it is not banged up metal or dog hair stench anthraxed in the back seat, it is not cigarette butts, holes in the floor or even a battery /chemistry damage...

I have literally encountered a free car I called nuclear. shrugging it off as mental patient worthy adjectives, I ignored it until I got bit by a seven legged spider that liked to live in the bumper..and it was 3 times bigger than its species...the pieces fit in to nuclear genetic alteration..and it had seven legs...of an 8 legged type. the icing on the cake was a dizzy spell and fainting to get out of the car..with no chemicals...and finding baby spiders, unafraid of anything...with 7 legs one stubby 8th one and translucent in light...looking exactly as fierce as the mother. The other strange traits I do not even want to mention, it had physics one could swear was backwards. The electrical..all at once..more than once...kiling new plug wires, sparking off the engine.. ...it defierd hertz that is supposed to be in wiring...gained powers the fixed itself as fast as it came..without even blowing a 10 amp fuse.. it defied fluids flows even under pump pressure... it defied common sense...I found it one day...The invisible "it" was inside the EGR valve...with an "aurora" I knew not to touch...and the car glowed in the rain...on cheap paint...the windshield peeled away from the body...with no heat right behind the egr valve on the engine...it still swells my head to describe it...the aurora...
If you get a bad vibe just looking at salvage, especially steel,do not touch it, walk away...it is truly all done...

What if the guy bought it "totalled", fixed it and now it needs a safety inspection (pink paper)


Is that the same as the state inspection mentioned?

Yep, you just need to get a state safety inspection, then they'll stamp your "title" which you'll have to send in to get a real state title for it.

basically im worried about that first inspection you mentioned


he bought it, fixed it, but now it doesnt have a safety

now if its a regular safety that no problem

but ive heard those other state inspections are in depth and costly

basically i dont want to get stuck having to do that one

That's what you're going to have to do, unless he has an actual R title for it.

If he has an R title, it will look exactly like the title for your car that you drive now, except under "endorsements" or "tags" or whatever, it will have an R.

If he's just got paperwork, it must go through an in depth inspection, after which the mechanic must sign the salvage certificate, and send it, with his report, to the DOT in your state, who will then issue an R title on his recommendation.

I take it that R means Reconstructed

and thanks, Ive really learned a lot from this thread

Yeah, reconstructed or recertified, depending on where you are.

I've bought salvage title cars before, they were fixed right, and drove just as good, well almost for half the price. What I tell people is if you want to buy a salvage car I would only recommend it if you find one for half the retail and if you're planning on keeping the car for long time, other wise it's not worth it. Btw my current car has a salvage title, it's a 2000 mustang 3.8 v6, I bought it 3 years ago with 35xxx miles for $1500. It runs like a champ:thumbup: