What is your general opinion of Salvage (Rebuildable) titles? The car I looked at was a 2013 Kia Rio LX sedan with 58,000 miles. It was very clean and drove well. The accident was apparently a major one on the right rear quarter of the car. The body work was done so well I would not have been able to tell had the dealer not told me where the damage was. My concerns, aside from the salvage title are that the Auto Check report shows three owners. It appears that the first owner traded the car at 10,000 miles. The second owner is the one who had it when the collision occurred, at 45,000 miles. It seemed odd to me that the report showed that the car last changed hands in June at 45,000 miles and it now has 58,000 miles on it. (13,000 miles in two months?)
My gut tells me to steer clear, but it sure seemed clean. It's a first car for my teenage son and would most likely get dinged and scraped a bit, as most teenage drivers can do. I drove it hard and it seemed to track straight, handle well, and everything on it seemed to work correctly. Valve train area looks clean belts and hoses are all fine, and A/C is cold.
What have your experiences been with salvage titles? I was looking to spend no more than $8,000 on a car no more than six years old and with no more than 60,000 miles. This one is listed at $6,950 and I'm almost positive I could get it for $6,500. That's at least two grand below blue book.
My gut tells me to steer clear, but it sure seemed clean. It's a first car for my teenage son and would most likely get dinged and scraped a bit, as most teenage drivers can do. I drove it hard and it seemed to track straight, handle well, and everything on it seemed to work correctly. Valve train area looks clean belts and hoses are all fine, and A/C is cold.
What have your experiences been with salvage titles? I was looking to spend no more than $8,000 on a car no more than six years old and with no more than 60,000 miles. This one is listed at $6,950 and I'm almost positive I could get it for $6,500. That's at least two grand below blue book.