OK someone school me on owning an Auto with a salvage title!

[Pedernal]

Talk to your insurance provider about the vehicle and see if they will run the VIN # for you. My brother was just looking at some used vehicles for his daughter this past week and found what apppeared like a decent vehicle. After a closer look we found some damage and ran a car fax report. Found out the vehicle was totaled late last year and was a salvage vehicle. His insurance provider was able to tell him the vehicle had been wrecked and was estimated to need over 10K in work done. Hope this helps. We ended up looking and finally buying a different car.

[JGlock30]

CON: Salvaged Title. If you ever decide to sell you will take a huge hit and have select market of buyers. If you plan on using the vehicle until it can't go no more this doesn't apply.

PRO: Salvaged Title. You should be able to buy it for pennies on the dollar.

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[Backwoods101]

Ttt, I'm still a little confused on the legalities of owning a vehicle with a salvage title.
From what I'm reading online, you need to have the ''salvage titled" vehicle inspected after all repairs are done to get it deemed worthy of being on the road and thus becoming a "rebuilt title"... but, several on the GS have stated that they have bought a vehicle with a salvage title and drove it for years. Can anyone with real world experience please shed some light on this for me.

[ACCURACYINC]

What about insurance coverage on the salvage title auto?

You likely will not be able to carry coverage for physical damage to the vehicle. (Collision and Comprehensive)

[AntlerCollector]

Ttt, I'm still a little confused on the legalities of owning a vehicle with a salvage title.
From what I'm reading online, you need to have the ''salvage titled" vehicle inspected after all repairs are done to get it deemed worthy of being on the road and thus becoming a "rebuilt title"... but, several on the GS have stated that they have bought a vehicle with a salvage title and drove it for years. Can anyone with real world experience please shed some light on this for me.

I’ve owned two vehicles that had salvaged titles. I had absolutely no issue getting the title in my name. Same as any title. If it will pass inspection then you’re all good

[AntlerCollector]

Lots of people are talking about you will take a big hit if you sell it. That would only be the case if you drastically overpaid for it right now. I drove one for 3 years and sold it for what I bought it for.

[Backwoods101]

I’ve owned two vehicles that had salvaged titles. I had absolutely no issue getting the title in my name. Same as any title. If it will pass inspection then you’re all good

Thanks

[Burnadell]

Is this an auto that you own, then it was wrecked? If so, how would it have "Salvage" on the title? If you fix/repair it why would it be a salvage title? If the insurance company paid you, do they have the title changed to salvage? I obviously don't know how titles get marked salvage. I thought that was when a salvage company sold them.

[TMC50]

My first truck was a salvage vehicle. It was a “flood” vehicle that didn’t get any water in the interior.

Bought for 2k sold for 6k.

[Mike]

I went down this road recently and have a good friend that owns a wrecker service and salvage yard. My insurance agent is also a good friend. Both advised me to stay away when trying to purchase a totaled vehicle from the insurance/auction.

My key issue was lack of insurance coverage on the vehicle as liability is the only option. If you are ok with investing the $$ with lack of coverage, then go for it.

[mjhaverkamp]

I have bought back two totaled concrete trucks, no issues with insuring them, one of them was totaled because the truck laid over on its side and the engine ran with no oil , barely anything wrong with the chassis, spent 95K for salvage and new engine ,and small repairs, truck was only a couple months old, saved a little over 150K , I have no problem with a salvaged title,

[flyby]

I bought a 2003 Toyota Tundra 10+ years ago with a salvage title and 50,000 miles for $7,000. All damage was front end cosmetic (hood, fenders, and back to the radiator). Now has 150,000 miles. Almost zero problems and been paid off for years. Looks bad, paint faded and peeled, but it's a truck, and drive it on and off the lease, through trees/brush, etc. When I bought it I had no intention of reselling so could care less on resale. I've got more than my money's worth, and plan on driving it another 10 years.

So, it all depends on the vehicle and your reasons for buying it.

I'm also not one of those people that looks at my vehicle as a way to impress others. It's transportation to me. It gets washed and vacuumed twice a year whether it needs it or not.

And I have FULL coverage through my insurance company- not just liability.

Yep, same vehicle as posted when thread when originally started.

[RifleBowPistol]

Find out why it has a salvage title, that's if you don't care about the value of the car being lower than other similar cars of the same year and model. They can get a salvage title for many reasons, total loss from collision damage, flood claim, fire, theft, ECT.
I used to be a adjuster years ago, I can tell you that there are cars out there that are totaled that probably should not be, but many adjusters don't know better. But then there are cars that should be totaled and they are not. I would say the majority of the time they are totaled they should be, for the reason of the cost of repairs are higher than the value of the car. Flood cars are what can be the worst types of totals, those vehicles can have electrical gremlins that never go away and or get worse as time goes by. Then there are others that are totaled, because of a flood claim, that really don't have much of anything wrong with them. But most adjusters don't know the difference. I have been assigned multiple cars that someone filed a flood claim on their car, then I went out and looked at it and found, that no water got in the interior of the car and not really anywhere else that would cause any serious damage. But I worked as a mechanic for many years before becoming a adjuster, so I knew what to look for. I had to fix many flood cars years ago.
Collision damage, is something that can vary a lot when it comes to total losses. Some cars don't have much value, so minor damage, and a good bit of paint work, will total them out. Those can be fixed and put back on the road pretty easily, if you know what you are doing. Then there are the harder hits with much more serious structural damage, those are probably something to stay away from. There are many places out there that will buy totals, that are hit hard and cheaply fix them up so they look good from the outside, but likely are not structurally sound or safe and likely have multiple problems as a result of the car not getting repaired properly. Then now days with cars having so many air bags, when all of them go off, if the car does not have a pretty high value before the accident, it will likely total. Then again, if some used car dealer or shop buys the car and repairs it for the purpose of reselling it, it likely is not going to get repaired properly, mainly being not going to get the air bags replaced or not all of them.
Unless you know cars well, mechanically, electrically, body structure, body repairs and air bags, you likely should avoid totals. I have had guys buy cars that they knew were totals and thought they got a good deal, till I looked at it and started pointing all types of things out.

Something else to keep in mind, which I still see on a regular basis, is vehicles that have one type of damage or another of varying degrees, from minor to very major and it does not show up on any type of vehicle report, such as Car Fax. It happens all the time. If something happens to a vehicle and you don't want that damage to reduce the value of the vehicle when you go to sell it, don't take it to any shop that will enter that vehicle in their computer system to make a repair order or file a insurance claim. Either way, with the vehicle's VIN entered into either a estimating software or a dealer's system, where all of their data is uploaded to a host. It won't take long for companies like Car Fax to get that info and put it in their system. But people who know that and then have a vehicle that gets damaged in one way or another, will fix the damage at least cosmetically, then trade it in or sell it. So the damage is not recorded in anybody's system. I have seen some cars with some very serious damage that were not properly repaired, not even close to properly repaired, that someone just bought and paid good money for. Then they tell me they checked Car Fax before they bought the car and there was no damage reported, then I show them what I found, they usually are not very happy.

If you are looking at a car with a salvage title and you don't have a lot of experience with all types of repairs, find someone who does, that you can trust and have them look it over first. Guys who work in body shops are commonly a good person to know, they know where to look for collision damage and then they can usually tell you the quality of the repair, they will also see flood damage at times, mechanical at times and electrical at times.

[Atfulldraw]

Don't believe everything you read.

I'm also an adjuster, although I don't do a lot of auto.

I own a motor home that was "totaled" as a result of a toilet supply line leak (fresh water), with very minor water damage to the bathroom trim. The neighbor in the RV park saw the water coming out and shut off the spigot.

I ran a FLIR and a moisture meter all through the unit and found ZERO water damage after it was dried out for a week. Bought it for about 30% of the value, registered it as rebuilt with the state after filling out an affidavit that all repairs were completed.

We've used it and driven it for four years now with no problems.

Currently have full coverage on it at full value.

I would buy the right salvage vehicle again in a heartbeat.

Lots of Jeeps out there with salvage titles....you take all the parts off anyway.

[TX_Hoghunter]

I have a cousin that is a multimillionaire. When he buys a car he keeps it until the wheels fall off. Every car he owns is a salvage title. Since he never resells them it works out well for him.

-john