I was thinking of buying a vehicle with a salvaged title. The current owner wasn't entirely sure what caused the salvage title, but thinks it was damaged on the driver's side in a wreck. It looks as if the damage has been repaired (at least cosmetically), but my plan is to take it to my mechanic to inspect it prior to purchase...which the owner is cool with.

This is a fairly inexpensive vehicle, and one I'll probably have for a long time (likely pass it down to the kids).

I have no experience with salvage titles. What do I need to consider? How does it affect the vehicle in the future? Can I ever get the titled converted, or does it always stay a salvage title?

Thanks for any advice.

It reduces your resale, hence why you are getting it so cheap.

Also will always have a salvage title unless you "wash" the title by transferring it to another state. There is an entire line of crooks who buy flooded /wrecked vehicles and take from TX/LA to get them a clean title in another state.

Get a damn good inspection and drive it forever and it might not matter to you in the long run. Think hard before you buy a car you can't easily resell.

salvage or rebuilt? i went through this when mine was totalled 5 yrs ago and there is a difference. you cant register a salvage title, only a rebuilt.

Salvage.

I ran a history report on the Vin....Looks like it was wrecked in Illinois (damage on the drivers side), and eventually put up for auction a couple years ago in Texas, and has a salvage title now.

In Texas once it has a salvage or junk title , you must make repairs and have tx dept of public safety inspect it to issue a rebuilt title.

I would want to see pics of the "before" damage before I bought.

About 8 yrs ago, I bought a 97 crown Vic police interceptor from TABC with 73k miles on it for 300 dollars with a junk title. I towed it home. Couldn't figure out why it was junked, because it had no body damage, and was really nice inside and out. When I got the hood open, the state mechanic. Had borrowed the alternator. Plug wires, plugs and coils.....inside the radio and dash trim was missing, and the fuel tank was gone. I spent 400 bucks at oreillys and junkyards and got it running. Had a rebuilt title issued and sold it for 3000 bucks, but the buyer, a cop who wanted to use it for side jobs wanted to see the pics of the car when I bought it, which I had taken photos.

If it was salvaged because of a wreck, no way I would put my kids in it. Think of it like a paper clip; you can unfold it and refold it back into roughly the same shape, but it's never quite the same.

Plus low likelihood that the airbags were replaced after the wreck.

Hey Mookie, any chance I could get your estimate on the value of our 2012 Miata if I list out all the details? La Fours says you're the guy to ask about this sort of stuff.

It's a Jeep Wrangler. It was hit from the side. All four airbags didnt deploy and are still in tact, per the report.

1ags - I saw pics from when it went to auction, prior to repairs being done. I can see the damage, but it's hard to determine the extent of them from the pictures....It does make me wonder why it doesnt have a rebuilt title, if it was repaired. Is it because it didnt pass the state inspection, or because this young lady didnt know to try for one?

could it be wrong terminology? carfax shows the salvage and rebuilt issue dates for mine.

If so, it's not showing up on the History report I pulled. It still shows that a salvage title was issued in 2013.

I've sold a repaired motorcycle with a salvage title and the new owner went down and they issued him a clean title. Maybe a mistake, but it instantly added about $1500 to the value of it.

My wife's 01 Accord has a salvage title, but its because we took an insurance payout for hail damage when they wanted to total it. We bought it new, so obviously know what it is and where it's been. I have no plans to sell it; I might give it away at some point. But my point is that "salvage title" does not always mean "wreck," though it does mean something happened. This Honda has less than 100k miles and will probably last at least another decade and a half unless my wife rear-ends someone again (fixed and not part of the salvage), which I'm not betting against. If she does wreck it and the engine is still good, I'll try to figure out how to make a sand rail out of it!

some insurance co's won't cover a vehicle with salvage title

A lot of misinformation and misunderstanding here about cars with a salvage title. A new car with very few miles on it can receive relatively minor damage from a collision, storm (not talking about flooding) etc and be paid off by insurance company and issued a salvage title. They will always have less resale value, but if you can determine what damage was done and have faith in whoever repaired it; that it was done properly, you can have a GREAT vehicle to drive for a long time. And lets be honest, vehicles depreciate rapidly to begin with: so if you drive it for a few years and the difference between resale values will shrink as the car becomes less valuable anyway. in 2008 we bought a Camry that had less than 3000 miles on it with minor front-end damage. About $3000 in repairs and it was like brand new. my wife drove it a few years and my son drives it now. Reliable like any other Camry. My brother bought two F250 pickups last year with Salvage titles both with low miles. One was not in a collision but appeared to have damage from wind-blown objects in bedside and door. A new door and bedside and he had a truck with less than 9000 miles for over $10k less than the book value. The other truck had collision damage, but just sheet metal. Replaced and painted and another huge savings. We have bought others as well but we buy them before they are "fixed". I would be cautious about knowing the damage (have someone with body shop knowledge look at the pics at least) and whoever did the repairs. We never feel like buying anything that had the airbags go off (replacement too expensive and return on investment not there so whoever "fixed" it might have cut corners), frame damage, water damage, fire/smoke damage. Lastly, there are different types of salvage titles. The definitions have changed and it really confuses people. Those that are junk are given non-repairable salvage titles and can never be inspected and put back on the road, And the paper clip bending analogy doesn't work unless you are having multiple collisions. A better analogy would be if you had a bent paper clip and replaced it with a new one, would you have a good paper clip?

Sure fincag, shoot me an email (in profile)