BAWC Forums

Anyone owned a vehicle with a salvage title? Smart? Stupid? Thoughts?


Coop

My parents have owned a salvage title Boxster for almost 15 years. It was a good car for them. Reality is it depends on the vehicle, why it was salvaged, and how it was repaired. The less information the seller has the less comfortable you should be. They can be great cars that were totaled simply because a relatively simple part was too difficult or expensive to get compared to value. You should have any salvage title vehicle professionally inspected before buying it. It's much more important than on a typical used car.

The first 8.1/Allison truck I wanted is what I’m talking about. It’s black, gmc, quad cab, leather, and no rust. Most of what I see is extended cab, cloth, high miles, or lately flatbeds. Which I’m not against a flat bed…but also just like a normal truck.

I guess I worry about buying something and then being able to unload it if need be. I know we say this all the time but this is the color and and engine combo I want….I don’t want to get rid of it. So owning it for 10 plus years is fine with me. But then am I gonna be mad it’s worthless because of the salvaged title?


Coop

They are harder to sell for sure

I wouldn't say it's worthless, but it'll definitely be harder to sell. Still, how much will a truck like that realistically be worth in say 5 years? You're not talking about losing tens of thousands of dollars here. Cars in general aren't investments, and work trucks especially aren't. Don't think about the resale value. Think about the value you'll get from using the thing. Will you get $10,000 (or whatever) of utility out of it?

Definitely get it inspected though. Make sure it's safe. Find out why it was given a branded title to begin with.

what chris said. every vehicle will be different. try to google the vin and get the auction pics or any other pics of when it was wrecked.

my 97 is salvage. i bought it wrecked and put it together so i know exactly what the problems were.

I’ve seen the pics. So has jeff. It wasn’t bad.

How does insurance work with a salvaged? Surely they arnt giving you full car price if you wreck it?


Coop

It really depends on your insurance. Some places won't do comprehensive coverage on salvage title vehicles. The weird thing is my parents Boxster got hit a year or so ago and the insurance company put over $10k into fixing it. Now my parents are selling it and don't get any traction with buyers at $9500.

I called up mine. They don’t care if it’s salvaged as long as it’s been repaired. If I have full coverage and it wrecks then I get book value.

That makes me feel better. It’s basically resale and I know my bank will not loan on them so it makes it harder to buy.


Coop

Honestly its not worth the hassle. I believe my 67 Charger is Salvage due to being donated to the junk yard back in the 80's i think. I wouldn't mess with never cars though.