Buying a salvaged car?

nextgtr · #1 10-01-2005, 07:07 PM

Sorry, but I wanted input from everyone on this. Do you think personally buying a salvaged car would be a good idea?
Ive wanted always a 350z and Im a college student, meaning im poverty striken. Thus, I was thinking that since I can't get afford not even a used base model from 2003, maybe i can get one that is a "bit" damaged and turn it into what I need it for which is SCCA competitions, Pro 01.
Im going to only strip it, and my budget allows for only financing of 15k. I got about 5k in cash, what do you suggest I do if I plan to do this. Spend it on a car that is a bit messed up cosmetically?

RickwithaTbird · #2 10-01-2005, 07:25 PM

salvaged means the car was totaled. And is not to ever be driven again. But it can be sold for parts and shit. So I say go for it.

skibum1111 · #3 10-01-2005, 07:27 PM

The problem with buying a salvage vehicle is you really don't know how much damage there is until you take it apart. I've done several rebuilds over the past few years, got lucky a couple of times and had a real nightmare with the last one. The easiest one was a subaru brat, had some light damage to the nose but the frame rails were straight, little cutting, welding and wrenching, paint and it looked good. The nightmare was a chrysler conquest that "appeared" to have taken a light hit to the nose, the entire car had a 5 degree twist to it, took about 5 months to figure out how to get it to drive straight. Some salvage vehicles are barely fixable, others need little work. Be very careful with what you buy and make sure you check it out thoroughly. And as for a 350z, good luck finding a fixable one that you can afford, I've seen heavily damaged ones here in nh selling for around 6k, and they need around 20k in parts.....

Polygon · #4 10-01-2005, 08:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RickwithaTbird

salvaged means the car was totaled. And is not to ever be driven again. But it can be sold for parts and shit. So I say go for it.

No it doesn't.

A salvage title means there was damage beyond the total value of the car. So it really depends on the car. If it is an older car then it could have been something as simple as a fender bender. However, it could be because the car had frame damage. A lot of salvage titles are because of water damage.

Check out the car VERY carefully. If there was frame damage or there is damage to the unibody then don't bother. The car will never be the same. It just means that the cost of fixing the car was more than the car was worth. So it could mean a number of things. If you can take it to a mechanic and go over it. See if you can find out WHY it has a salvaged title.

RickwithaTbird · #5 10-01-2005, 08:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Polygon

No it doesn't.

oh.

tim1950 · #6 10-01-2005, 08:26 PM

There should be quite alot of salvage cars coming out of the Hurricane areas. Not trying to sound like I don't care about what happened down there but what about all those new dealership cars in New Orleans and surrounding areas? The electrical systems might be shot but there must be a few High Performance drivetrains that are salvagable

skibum1111 · #7 10-01-2005, 08:48 PM

The drawback to that is you need the electrical system to make the drive train work on most newer cars.

SiGNAL748 · #8 10-01-2005, 09:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Polygon

A salvage title means there was damage beyond the total value of the car.

I always thought it was if the damage was 80% of the value or higher.

skibum1111 · #9 10-01-2005, 09:41 PM

Depends on the insurance company. When I crashed the subaru 15 years ago, if the damage had been more than 75% they would have totaled it, now I think its up to 85%.

eversio11 · #10 10-02-2005, 12:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SiGNAL748

I always thought it was if the damage was 80% of the value or higher.

Yeah I think it depends on the insurance company and the local laws.

But it's usually around 75-95%

lamehonda · #11 10-02-2005, 12:31 AM

I wouldn't buy a salvaged car unless I had money coming out of my ass. And then I wouldn't have to buy a salvaged car would I?

imtheoneandonlyD · #12 10-02-2005, 01:30 AM

I also heard that if you report your car stolen and it doesnt turn up after 30(not sure?) days that it becomes a salvage title. So doesnt that mean if it does show up with no damage(highly unlikely) that it would still be a salvage title, but the car would still be in great/good condition?

streetrcr45 · #13 10-02-2005, 04:11 AM

if a car is reported stolen then it is considered a Salvaged Title. I went to buy a used integra and it was in pretty decent condition, the mileage was just about right, interior was clean and appeared to run ok, then when i went to make an offer, he quickly said yes.

I didn't know why he said yes so fast, so i asked if there was anything he needed to tell me about the car and then he told me it was salvaged due to Theft.

Another problem with salvage is that when you buy it, for a really low price and fix it up and make it all nice, when you go to sell it, many people will turn away due to the salvage title.

2.2 Straight six · #14 10-02-2005, 09:07 AM

polygon's right.

there's a company here in england, manily deals with real expensive cars, what they do is buy the salvaged cars off insurance companies.

let's say, a ferrari is in a crash, the insurance company aren't too sur about it so they write it off. then this company buy the ferrari, an buys other bits, either off dealers or other written off cars, and they rebuild it an sell it. simple.

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