[Shop-talk] Salvage title vehicles

[Wayne]

On 7/26/2010 8:07 AM, Tim wrote:
> I am looking for any input any one can give me about buying a car that was in an accident and has a salvage title. Is this a good idea or should we walk away from it. My daughter is taking a loan out to buy this car as she needs it for getting to and from work, college classes, and the schools where she will be student teaching; so we really need to get this (or something) done very soon.

Hard to say for sure.  Collision shops have done things as radical as 
weld a front half and back half together around the center, through the 
B-pillars, etc.  That's *not* I car I would want, or would trust to be 
reliable or crash worthy.

Other times it can just be panel damage;  and if the car's value is low 
due to age or just being cheap to start with, it's easy to rack up a 
repair bill large enough for the insurance to total it.

A friend has a 1993 300ZX.  When it was 10 or 12 years old, he spun out 
on an ice patch and onto a grass median.  It only damaged trim pieces 
and a couple dents that were Bondo-able.  But it ended up totaled by the 
time they added up multiple panels and spraying the whole thing.  He 
bought it out from the insurance company, and doing the labor himself, 
fixed the whole thing for less then they paid him.  It was never damaged 
that badly, but it's now a salvage title.

So...  guess I'm saying it's a big gamble unless you can get some 
reliable info on what really happened to it, and how well it was 
repaired.  That's pretty difficult on any used car, though.  It might 
also affect insurance.  Dunno if you can get full coverage on a salvage 
car;  check with your ins co.

-Wayne