Buying a Used Car

My daughter is on her 2nd salvage car. The man who buys them does body work and they were both great. She killed one herself, so he got her a nissan altima. It was only body damage, but she won't be able to resell it as anythng but. She is very happy with it. What she does, if theres something wrong, she brings it back, he gets her another.

I have bought a salvage car before and so has my mom. Ours only had body damage and no engine damage before it was salvaged, so we had no problems. I think as long as the engine is in good shape you shouldn't have any problems. But if there was water damage done to the car then I would stay away from it. So my advice is to find out why it was salvaged, what damage did the car have. Ours were in accidents where the body was totaled. But once the body shop worked on it, it looked good as new and it was for sale on in a neighborhood used car lot. My car was a Toyota Corrola and lasted many years. If you can get a mechanic to check it out before you commit to buying it, that would be best. Good Luck!

I bought a Honda Civic with a salvage title. I lived in an area that had a body shop that sold quite a few of these. I bought the car from a couple who had got it at that dealership. They knew the details of the accident and had driven it without problems for 2 years. The body shop/dealership itself claimed to have records of the accident in the attic but I lost patience with them finding it. I got the car and drove it without issues for 7 years. I knew it would have low resale value but I got a good deal and intended to drive it until it didn't matter. When I sold it, it was 10 yrs old and I got 2000 - plenty for me :). I have looked at other salvage titles and have found funny noises at high speeds and/or funny creaks that shouldn't be there that made us uncomfortable. Also, my credit union at the time would not finance it. They had previously financed one that ended up in a terrible accident due to not being repaired correctly and won a lawsuit so they were not required to finance them anymore. I ended up calling the original dealership and they gave me banks in the area that would work with it and I found one no problem. Good luck - it is not an easy decision but it might work out for you?!

I had a really bad accident in my car and when the insurance adjuster called me he said they could go either way - they could declare it totaled or, because the economy was so bad and I might not want to buy a new car, they could say it was fixable and I could have it repaired. I had them total it because there was no way I was comfortable driving my kids around in a car that had that much damage, regardless of whether or not it was repaired. That car has since been repaired and sold with a Salvage title.
From Wikipedia - A Salvage title is an automobile title with a notation that the vehicle has been damaged in excess of approximately 70% of its pre-accident market value. This notation gets applied to a title when an insurance company pays a total-loss claim on a vehicle, but then sells the vehicle at an auction center. A properly restored vehicle is still safely drivable even if it is technically considered a total loss by an insurance company.
If it's been fixed *properly* is key - but I've seen waaaay too many instances of shoddy work nowadays to be comfortable with that. I wouldn't do it - not worth the potential trouble, IMO.

Hi! I worked in auto claims of an insurance company for many years & what a salvage title is a vehicle that was either stolen, totalled in an automobile accident, flood, etc. Many of the body shops work out deals w/the ins co to take the car & title for pymt of the storage & towing charges. They then (being that they have all of the access to the necessary parts) repair the vehicles & sell them. Thru motor vehicle they are given a salvage title which means the vehicle is inspected and such, but your best bet would be to even invest the money in a Carfax so you can find out how many accidents this vehicle may have been involved in. With having had access to purchasing a few of these along the way, I wouldn't really feal comfortable doing so. Nisan Altima's have a high resale value to normally they total a car at 80% of it's value - you may end up losing in the end. If you have any other questions, feel free to write me. Good luck!

I wouldn't do it. It had bad enough damage at some point that it was deemed worth less than it would cost to repair it. Even having an independent mechanic examine it can't possibly find everything that could have been poorly repaired. If it was flood damage, you could have serious mold issues with the inner ducts and cushions in the seats that might not show up for months. I would always be waiting for something to happen. My Momma always said "you get what you pay for", and I would certainly be thinking of that with this car.

See if you can get a carfax history report on the car.
Also see if you can have it inspected by an independant mechanic before purchasing.

M.,

I think "salvage" may refer to a vehicle that has been sold at some point for salvage value, the vehicle was probably damaged in some way, an accident, flood, etc.

I don't know off hand how to do it, but you can find out the history of a vehicle. I would definately check it before buying.

Personally, I wouldn't take the chance of buying a salvage vehicle unless a close relative or friend was a mechanic who could throughly check out the vehicle for me.

Any car you consider buying.... first have it checked out by an experience mechanic you trust before buying it. Don't have one, ask a friend or family member if they have one they trust. Do not buy any care if the seller refuses for any reason to allow you to have the car checked out first by someone of your choice. Make sure you have a good understanding of what the problems are with the car before you buy it...know what you are getting yourself into.
If a car is marked for Salvage, it makes me wonder if it would even pass the yearly car inspection....
Repairs and parts are so expensive...educate yourself before making the wrong investment.

My 1st car had a salvage title--I bought it from a mechanic who had rebuilt the front of the car. He was very forthcoming with how the car had been declared totaled for the previous owner after they drove it into a tree. He also told me I could bring it back if there was ever a problem. My parents checked it out and felt it was safe for me at the time. I never did have any major problems with it, thankfully!

Are you buying it from an experienced mechanic, possbily one with his own shop? Ask him exactly what he did to fix it. Ask if you can bring it back if any problems either to be fixed or returned? Ask him if he has done this before (buying a salvage title, fixing it up, and selling it) You might want to buy at least a 3-year warranty plan with it if offered to you.