Salvage Used Car Advice

Patrice W. Darisme

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Oct 16, 1996, 3:00:00 AM10/16/96

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Anyone ever had good or bad experiences buying a Salvaged Car ? I'm
looking at buying a Salvaged car that is (looks) like it's in great
shape, for about $3k below Blue Book. I'm wondering if anyone has any
experience with Salvaged cars ?

What is their resale value like typically.

Basically the car is in perfect shape, just has "Salvage" on the title.
How much does that take away from the car's value ?

Thanks.

Ethernet: "A small net used to catch the Ether bunny"
_________________________________________________________________________

Grace Wong

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Oct 16, 1996, 3:00:00 AM10/16/96

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A few things to note:
-You won't be able to get a car loan on a salvaged vehicle. You might also
want to check with your insurance company to see if they insure salvaged
vehicles.
-You definitely need to get it checked out by a mechanic, preferably
someone you know, not the seller (I've been in a situation where the
seller wanted me to take it up the road to his conveniently nearby
mechanic. Unfortunately, there are scams where the seller and mechanic
(e.g., relative, friend) work together to unload these types of cars.) The
bad thing about buying this type of car is it effectively has no history
or maintenance record.
-Don't buy it if you're concerned about resale value. It will be very
difficult to unload. Buy it if you want a cheap car to get you from point
A to point B (but only if you know it will run!).
-The only time I've considered buying a salvaged car was from my longtime
mechanic who is very trustworthy. I knew he was capable of fixing the car
and wouldn't have bought it in the first place if he didn't think it was
worth his time.
-There are a lot of good used cars available that avoid all the potential
problems above. I bought a car for $1K that ran perfectly fine for 70K
miles before I got my newer used car. Personally, I think the "new" aspect
is overrated when compared with the mileage, maintenance record, etc.
Good luck!

gra...@aw.com

Jeff Jones

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Oct 16, 1996, 3:00:00 AM10/16/96

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: Anyone ever had good or bad experiences buying a Salvaged Car ? I'm

: looking at buying a Salvaged car that is (looks) like it's in great
: shape, for about $3k below Blue Book. I'm wondering if anyone has any
: experience with Salvaged cars ?

No direct experience, but everything I've read says "STAY AWAY unless
you can have the car inspected thoroughly by a competent mechanic, body
repairman, and frame specialist!" Most cars are salvage because they
have had major body damage and/or were Lemon Law buybacks.

: What is their resale value like typically

I don't think you'll find a cr dealer who'll let youtrade one in. .

: Basically the car is in perfect shape, just has "Salvage" on the title.

: How much does that take away from the car's value ?

It depends on why it was salvages, and if those reasons were reapired
correctly.

just my opinion...

--
jeff
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keith

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Oct 17, 1996, 3:00:00 AM10/17/96

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You need to be cautious when buying any used vehicle, especially though
a salvaged one. I bought a salvaged VW 4 years ago and still have the car.
It runs good, looks good, is reliable - all for a good price. This car
turned out to be a great deal for me, but many salvages are bad news.

Salvages are good way to save $$$, but ONLY if the repairs were done properly.
The percentage or amount of savings varies by model, age, etc.

My insurance company initially said "no salvage vehicles" but did give me full
coverage when I asked if they could inspect it first.

With regard to maintenance history, it would be wrong to say there is none.
Consider my salvage vehicle - now it has 4 years and 60,000 miles of history.

The history for it's first 15k miles is missing though or at least would take
some work to get.

Good luck. BTW, my salvage vehicle will soon be for sale. Anyone interested
in an 89 VW GLI? :)

--keith

>In article <326523...@sgi.com>, "Patrice W. Darisme" <pa...@sgi.com>
wrote:
>

>> Anyone ever had good or bad experiences buying a Salvaged Car ? I'm
>> looking at buying a Salvaged car that is (looks) like it's in great
>> shape, for about $3k below Blue Book. I'm wondering if anyone has any
>> experience with Salvaged cars ?
>>

>> What is their resale value like typically.

>>
>> Basically the car is in perfect shape, just has "Salvage" on the title.
>> How much does that take away from the car's value ?
>>

Erwin Del Pinal

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Oct 17, 1996, 3:00:00 AM10/17/96

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Pat,

One of the things with Salvage vehicles is their difficulty of
reselling the vehicle if na dwhen you need to. In addition, if you
ever plan to do a trade in for your car when buying a new car, the
maximun $ amount you'll get is $500 regardless of the condition of the
car.
If you need a car that is inexpensive and you are not planning of
buying a new car in the future and use this car as a trade-in, then
salvage vehicle are a great buy (assuming that they were fix
properly). I personally would not buy a salvage car because of their
resale value.

erwin

"Patrice W. Darisme" <pa...@sgi.com> wrote:

>Anyone ever had good or bad experiences buying a Salvaged Car ? I'm
>looking at buying a Salvaged car that is (looks) like it's in great
>shape, for about $3k below Blue Book. I'm wondering if anyone has any
>experience with Salvaged cars ?

>What is their resale value like typically.

>Basically the car is in perfect shape, just has "Salvage" on the title.
>How much does that take away from the car's value ?

>Thanks.

>Ethernet: "A small net used to catch the Ether bunny"
>_________________________________________________________________________

erwin del pinal
delp...@value.net
edel...@maxis.com
http://www.maxis.com/ - Detailed description of the Maxis games

SDO Communications

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Oct 17, 1996, 3:00:00 AM10/17/96

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//// Not ALL salvaged titled vehicles are damaged. The California
Highway Patrol and many state agencies sell their surplus vehicles
with a "salvaged" title to protect them from liability issues down the
road. Most of these cars are Perfectly fine, just reached the mileage
limit at which the state replaces them.

A LOT of taxi cabs on the road have salvaged titles, because they
were purchased at CHP sealed bit auctions.

Try the state auctions if you want a quality car for a reasonable
price.

I'm selling an ex-CHP car myself that I repainted, that is in great
condition, but has a salvage title because it was purchased at
auction.

/////////////////////////

Mark Miller

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Oct 17, 1996, 3:00:00 AM10/17/96

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"Patrice W. Darisme" <pa...@sgi.com> wrote:
>Anyone ever had good or bad experiences buying a Salvaged Car ? I'm
>looking at buying a Salvaged car that is (looks) like it's in great
>shape, for about $3k below Blue Book. I'm wondering if anyone has any
>experience with Salvaged cars ?

I bought an old mercedes that was listed as salvaged. The car had
been in a minor (sheet metal damage) accident, but the repair costs
were above what the ins co had as the value. Salvage titled, then
fixed with used parts that were affordable, then driven for a few
years, then sold to me.

Gary Helbig

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Oct 18, 1996, 3:00:00 AM10/18/96

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Let's not ignore the probability that the car was *stolen*.

Very very bad karhma if you buy it.

Gary.

Patrice W. Darisme (pa...@sgi.com) wrote:
: Anyone ever had good or bad experiences buying a Salvaged Car ? I'm
: looking at buying a Salvaged car that is (looks) like it's in great
: shape, for about $3k below Blue Book. I'm wondering if anyone has any
: experience with Salvaged cars ?

: What is their resale value like typically.

autoaucti...@gmail.com

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Sep 18, 2013, 5:11:24 AM9/18/13

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Before buying salvage car, look at the following things:

• Check which exact parts of the car have been affected or damaged.
• Understand first what a salvage title is (a title given to a vehicle with damages more than or equal to 75% of its value) -- as it's given with the vehicle in most cases.
• You may want to consider getting a CarFax report. It may not have all the information, but it would contain most of the details that you need to know. The 'details' part of the report contains both frame damage and airbag deployment check, which is important if you want to check a car's status.
• Obtain a qualified inspection, both frame and mechanical. It also determines the car's value.
• Compare the cost of possible repairs to the cost of your savings. It has been said that the more work you are willing to do to your vehicle, the more you are able to save.
• The vehicle you are getting may or may not come with a key. In cases that the car won't have a key, you can still take the car's ignition to a locksmith -- they may be able to make a key for you.
• Be careful when choosing the salvage car auctions where you're going to buy your car. As much as possible, check for dealers with reputable names.

On Wednesday, October 16, 1996 12:30:00 PM UTC+5:30, Patrice W. Darisme wrote:
> Anyone ever had good or bad experiences buying a Salvaged Car ? I'm
> looking at buying a Salvaged car that is (looks) like it's in great
> shape, for about $3k below Blue Book. I'm wondering if anyone has any
> experience with Salvaged cars ?
>
> What is their resale value like typically.
>
> Basically the car is in perfect shape, just has "Salvage" on the title.
> How much does that take away from the car's value ?
>
> Thanks.
>
> --
> PAT
> __________________________________________________________________________
>
> __________________________________
> /| Pat W. Darisme | "History is a people's
> | | | memory, and without it
> | | Technical Support Engineer | man is demoted to the
> | | Silicon Graphics Inc. | lower beings"
> | | pa...@csd.sgi.com |
> | |__________________________________| El Haaj Malik El Shabazz
> |/___________________________________/
>
> Ethernet: "A small net used to catch the Ether bunny"
> _________________________________________________________________________