Opinion on Salvage Title

[DBMaster]

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.

 

[CT8]

Follow your gut.

 

[JC1]

I wouldn't buy that car. You don't know if the crash integrity of the car was compromised. Is saving money worth possibly having a car not being able to fully protect you or your son?

Also there could be other issues down the road (suspension parts failing etc) that will come up...

 

[Yah-Tah-Hey]

No Way. Never would purchase a salvaged vehicle.

 

[DBMaster]

I guess I just needed the gut reinforcement. I'm going to give this one a pass. Thank you for the quick responses.

 

[SatinSilver]

Not worth a $7,000 gamble. I'd get a clean, one owner, trade in with maintenance records for that amount. You can plug in your search criteria on www.autotrader.com and check out the results. Probably lots of Kias/Hyundais available in your price range since they depreciate quite a bit. Heck, you may even find some Hertz ex-rentals in your price range. I'd do an ex-rental over a salvage.

2014 Kia Rio with 31k miles for $8500 at Hertz. If an ex-rental was in a moderate to severe accident then they go to auction, copart etc.

https://www.hertzcarsales.com/vehicle-details/2014-kia-rio-kingston-14765239

2014 Chevy Spark $7300:

https://www.hertzcarsales.com/vehicle-details/2014-chevrolet-spark-winston-salem-14386336

 

[Nick1994]

I'd keep shopping, too new of a vehicle to deal with a salvage title.

A salvage title means that the vehicle received damage that cost more to fix than what the car was worth.

So either the owner of the car spent thousands of dollars to get the car fixed OVER what it was worth (stupid) or they had it fixed by someone in their backyard who used cheap parts and cheap equipment to fix it good enough to sell.

An older car can be a good buy with a salvage title, since it doesn't take much to "total" them. My car has a salvage title, I got rear-ended in March. The damage is still there but the car is more than drive-able.

 

[DBMaster]

Thanks again. I have looked at salvage titles cars in the past and had never seen one as clean and well repaired as this one. I should learn to listen to my gut more. It's quite talkative, at times, so it becomes easy to ignore.

 

[Kuato]

Originally Posted By: CT8
Follow your gut.


+1. Major damage when rear ended will likely give headaches down the road.

 

[HerrStig]

Flipping it may be a problem, and getting a bank loan as well. It might be more expensive to insure.

 

[Burt]

I have had okay luck with salvage title. I think they are good for people who drive a lot of miles and aren't worried about resale. The key is to buy at the right price. Conventional wisdom is 50% off blue book value. You have to get a low price to justify handling a few problems that may crop up. I don't know if you can get it for that, but remember the seller got it for a $1,000 give or take and fixed it but for a few thousand and is trying to flip it. He can't sell it to anyone that needs to finance as banks will not make a loan against it. So you are helping him as much as he is helping you.

I think it works better on a higher end, lower mile car as there is more margin to work with. Margins are small on a high mile, low end car.

 

[DBMaster]

I should have added that I am paying cash, up to $8,000. This limits my options, but I don't mind if it takes a while.

I'm not going to buy this one.

 

[SatinSilver]

Where in Texas are you?

 

[DBMaster]

Dallas area

 

[holdorf333]

fwiw, hail salvage title is very different from collision

 

[eljefino]

This.

Also a Rio is a little crackerbox unibody car with engineered crush zones etc and it would take more expertise to rebuild than, say, a Grand Marquis.

Originally Posted By: Nick1994
I'd keep shopping, too new of a vehicle to deal with a salvage title.

A salvage title means that the vehicle received damage that cost more to fix than what the car was worth.

So either the owner of the car spent thousands of dollars to get the car fixed OVER what it was worth (stupid) or they had it fixed by someone in their backyard who used cheap parts and cheap equipment to fix it good enough to sell.

An older car can be a good buy with a salvage title, since it doesn't take much to "total" them. My car has a salvage title, I got rear-ended in March. The damage is still there but the car is more than drive-able.

 

[ragtoplvr]

also if collision salvage, make sure ALL the airbags are present, seems there are companies that make covers and a plug to trick the computer to replace deployed air bags.

Rod

 

[dishdude]

Too new and too much money for a salvage title vehicle, IMO.

I'd take the $8k in cash and use it as a down payment on a new car.

 

[DBMaster]

Originally Posted By: dishdude
I'd take the $8k in cash and use it as a down payment on a new car.


I want to go new-ish, but this is for a 16 year old new driver. If I wanted to go that route I'd give him my 2012 Mazda3 and buy myself a new car. I'd like to get him a car like mine but I haven't found one in the price range yet.

 

[SR20DE]

I've purchased two salvage title Subarus but ONLY because the seller (sole proprietor specializing in Subarus) took photos from the auction showing minor damage (fender, bumper). I Googled the VIN and found the pics from several auction sites to ensure it wasn't some bait-and-switch. On one of them, an Outback wagon, he didn't even have to replace the fender or hood - he just had his porter pound it back into shape. Fantastic way to get a reliable beater. In Cailfornia there are some additional requirements to title a salvaged car, namely getting an inspection certificate from a shop signing off on its roadworthiness.