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I would like to know if any of the members here are familiar with salvage vehicle titles and if any of you have personal experience with one. Are they worth it if the damage isn't too bad (i.e. anything NOT having to do with water or a bent frame). What are some things to be aware of if looking at a salvage title'd vehicle?

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the thing is about salvage titles is that even a vehicle reported stolen and is later a theft recovery vehicle automatically becomes a salvaged title vehicle in some states regardless of any damage at all...I had a car stolen :evil: and recovered within a few days with no damage (criminals took it for a joy ride :twisted: ) and i'm sure the carfax will come out to salvaged or later rebuilt title...but yea...even though that was my case i'd probably, personally would not buy a car with a salvaged title except maybe that situation and even then it would be a tuff sell for me and the price would have to be right...and i'd have to know exactly what was if anything is wrong with the vehicle...

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There's salvage titles, which cannot be driven, and there's "rebuild" titles, which means that it has been inspected and deemed safe to drive after being written as a salvage. Don't buy a true salvage title car, only rebuild.

 

If it's stolen, and recovered it's not necessarily going to get a salvage title, but if it's stolen, AND the insurance company pays out for the loss, then it becomes a salvage title. If the car's worth $3,000 and the owner has full coverage, and it needs $3,001 dollars of body work to be good again, but everything else is good, it'll be a salvage title.

 

The only way you're going to get a salvage title slapped on a vehicle is if insurance pays out - I could slam my car into a tree and light it on fire, then order parts and put it back together in my garage. It'll show up a clean title.

 

If the car has a rebuild title, at least you know it's been inspected and "safe", but to further complicate things, most people capable of rebuilding the salvage car probably have buddies for inspections.

 

So don't be horribly afraid of a salvage title, as any used car could have been in an accident and fixed by the owner or a shop that doesn't report to CarFax and it's going to have as clean a title and CarFax history report as one that has been driven by an old lady to church once a week.

 

Bottom line - a salvage can be just as good/bad as any other car that was repaired, it just means it was insured when it was it was damaged. Regardless of clean/salvage, get it checked by a reputable mechanic who can at least tell frame damage, flood damage, fire damage.

 

Resale value on them is bad because the salvage title doesn't necessarily say why it's a salvage - flood, collision, theft, etc...

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If it's stolen, and recovered it's not necessarily going to get a salvage title, but if it's stolen, AND the insurance company pays out for the loss, then it becomes a salvage title. If the car's worth $3,000 and the owner has full coverage, and it needs $3,001 dollars of body work to be good again, but everything else is good, it'll be a salvage title.

 

The only way you're going to get a salvage title slapped on a vehicle is if insurance pays out - I could slam my car into a tree and light it on fire, then order parts and put it back together in my garage. It'll show up a clean title.

 

Interesting...does the insurance company have to pay out over the vehicles value to get a salvage title? Don't they just total it out before that point? Or if the insurance company just pays out in any amount it is automatically considered salvaged? Example, if you're to get a vehicle stolen and later recovered came back with a scratch on the car that wasn't on there before it was stolen and they paid to fix it, the car would have a salvaged title because the insurance company paid to have that scratch fixed after it was stolen?

 

Really the car I got stolen i'm afraid to check whether or not it actually ever had a salvaged title...You would think that they would specify or there would be different types of salvage titles like flood, theft, collision, etc. kinda sucks :?

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I've seen an example of that scenario that - in the end - did wind up being awarded a salvage title. I've read up on these things and it seems to me kind of like the stock market; if you do your research on what you buy and are very careful you can make a good purchase most of the time, but there are still instances where it's easy to get burned no matter what you do.

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