Does anyone know about buying a car with a salvaged title? I found a 2003 Lexus IS300 with 27000 miles that was sold for $13,500.00. I just missed out on it. What are the potential pitfalls of buying cars like this?
Salvage title means that vehicle has been totalled by an insurance company due to a flood or accident. Im guessing you found that car at a 2nd hand used car dealer (thats what they do ...they buy totals at the auction and then rebuild them (with substandard repair practices) and then resell them and try to make their money back on the 20% in house financing). Unless you or someone you know can do a thorough inspection to make sure everything is ok, then I would stay away. I personally drive a vehicle with a salvage title, but Ive been in the auto body/insurance business for 12 years and knew what to look for. The downfalls: They are hard to get financing for They are hard to get insurance for They are hard to re-sell once you are ready to get another car (especially a luxury vehicle) They are selling that car for half what it would normally retail for (clean title). The low price tells me its probably a big P.O.S.
You can only carry liability on a car with a salvaged title. I know because my office mate purchased his car back from the insurance company after they totalled it. I would heed codell's advice!!!!
Not entirely accurate. Some companies do refuse to cover salvage vehicles. But there are a few that will (I have full coverage on mine).
Most banks wont finance a salvage vehicle. So if your looking to purchase a vehicle that expensive, I hope you have the cash in hand.
There's a reason for these. I owned two salvaged cars before and they both broke down on me. You're pretty much gambling with lower odds if you buy one.
This car is VERY tempting!!! What do you guys think? My layman's opinion tells me that this shouldn't be too much to fix up. Assuming you think it's a good buy, in your opinion, how much is too much for this? http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Mase...oryZ6313QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Just to give you some perspective: That vehicle, non wrecked, retail, goes for about $70,000. The salvage title tells me that it was totalled due to some type of damage. Insurance companies total at 75% of a vehicle's value. That means that car was assesed to have at least $52,500 worth of damage (or was deemed a "structural total"). Unless you have vast knowledge on Maseratis, how to repair body and structural damage and/or have contacts that can save you money on the parts (which are high dollar), I wouldn't touch that car with a 10 foot pole.
Thank you very much I don't know the first thing about Maseratis. As a matter of fact, all I really know about them is that they are very expensive cars. I will not be buying this car. Thank you again.
My wife owned a reconditioned/salvaged title before we were married. I could tell something was wrong with it when I drove it. It was not your typical Honda. I'd stay away from these "deals".
Thats what I think. The body damage doesnt look like $50K to me, unless there is damage to the undercarriage/drivetrain that we can't see. Aggierocket, If you are looking for a "deal" try to find an auction that deals with repos. Youll find a bettter quality car via that route.
Just take that sucker down to Earl Scheib's ~ they'll have that Maserati looking perfect for about 299.99. Just say NO to salvaged Maseratis with 50,000+ dollars worth of damage. I bet the frame is bent.
Where/When do they have those auctions? I get e-mails every now and then to purchase a list of repos, government seized cars, etc. Is purchasing a list the best auction route?
My girl friend had an accident a few months ago. It was her fault and she only had liability coverage. So her insurance company didn't pay for the damage of her car. Tough luck. But they did send someone to inspect her car and then told her they would total it. Why would they do that if they didn't have to pay for the damage?
Well they can refuse to cover the car in the future for all we care. But we don't understand why they had to total it since they didn't pay one penny for the damage. Now my girlfriend wont be able to sell the car for anything because the title has been salvaged.
That's pretty wierd considering she only had liability insurance. They shouldn't even have cared about her car and only dealt with the person she hit. What you do with that car shouldn't have involved the insurance company unless something has changed that i don't know about .
