I'm looking to buy a truck that was in an accident a couple of weeks ago. I went to look at it and the damage appears minor. The accident put a small dent from an impact that occured at about a 3-5 degree angle (sideswipe) The dent was to part of the passenger door and just behind it. The dent goes in about 1.5-2 inches. The accident also cut the tire.

I haven't seen the papers yet but the seller says he has all estimates to repair the body and that the aligment and subframe were inspected with no issues found (he said he can provide these). He said the insurance estimate included painting the entire truck. SInce the repair estimate was over 25% of the value the insurance company gave him full value.

I assume that means it's a salvage title. Taking KBB value into account, what should the value be on a salvage title? Assuming everything he said is right and can be verrified on paper I will probably buy it. This isn't an expensive truck, it's going to be a $2000 work truck.

[Edited on May 25, 2008 at 8:48 AM. Reason : 95 ranger]

5/25/2008 8:45:06 AM

did a better google search this time.
http://www.theautoappraiser.com/salvage_title.htm

Quote :

"Vehicles that are in possession of a “salvage title” from a total-theft strip insurance claim, opposed to a physical damage/impact type claim, are usually devalued in a lesser percentage amount from that of a collision or fire loss insurance claim branded “salvage title”. The percentage of devaluation is decreased by between 10% - 20%, based on the age and normal retail value of the vehicle. If the vehicle is in possession of “junk” title, the percentage of devaluation for the value increases. This is due to the fact that the vehicle & title was branded “junk” by either the insurance carrier of record or by a state agency (Department of Motor Vehicles). This type of vehicle was supposed to have been dismantled, not repaired, based on the amount of damage sustained to the vehicle as a direct result of the loss it was involved in. Vehicles with a branded “junk” title are normally devalued by a percentage of 40% - 50%, depending on the year, make and model and normal retail fair market value. "

Looks like i shoudl expect to pay 80% of KBB in it's condition.

5/25/2008 9:37:31 AM

be prepared to keep the truck for a long time and expect a hard time to sell it.

thats not always true, but its kinda a worse case scenario with vehicles that are wrecked... specially now, a truck with these gas prices. and depending on the truck and your asking price if you decide to sell, people could get a new one, or one not wrecked for just a bit more.

thats why sometimes its kind of hard to sell luxury vehicles with salvage title, because a lot of people who want to buy them, can afford one that is not wrecked for like a little more.

5/25/2008 10:54:13 AM

every car i have owned has been salvage/rebuilt


every car sitting at my parents house is salvage/rebuilt


you can buy them cheap if you know the right people, but dont expect to re-sell them easily

and dont pay 80% of the kbb value, insurance payout is usually barely that good on a salvage vehicle

5/26/2008 2:25:23 PM

I had a 93 300Z convert that I bought in 1999 for 13,000 (was a steal I thought at the time). It had 46,000 miles on it. About 6 months after I bought it from a coworker, and started working on it, I noticed some things didnt quite add up. I did a title search on it, and found it to be a salvage. I wasnt happy, but knew I got the car well below its value (the person that sold it to me swore she had no idea). Well, I was in an accident in the car. Not my fault. Totaled. At the time of the accident, I probably owed 10,000 on it. I figured this is when the insurance company was going to screw me. They gave me 18k! $$$

So, either they just slacked off and decided not to run a title search on the car assuming it to be good, or it didnt matter.

It was the best car I have ever owned, btw.

[Edited on May 29, 2008 at 2:21 PM. Reason : .]

5/29/2008 2:20:52 PM

What does it mean if a cars title says something like "exceeded useful mileage" or something like that..

5/29/2008 2:45:39 PM

14 year bump..

Been looking for a used car (10-15k) just to drive around thats not my work truck, and like 2/3 of them on Facebook say rebuilt or salvaged. They look good for what most of them are, maybe 6-8 years old, usually only like 50k miles, pics seem good.. Obviously they've been thru some stuff, anything I should be worried about? I don't really have any specific thing I'm looking for so I could probably find a better source, but I don't know much about cars so I'd probably waste a lot of time test driving and having mechanics check stuff, etc.

Also, anybody happen to have a decent 4 door car they're selling?

5/31/2022 8:16:28 PM

if they look good and are low miles, they were probably flood cars with electrical issues hiding. search the vin for auction photos to see what got them salvaged

6/1/2022 10:17:45 AM

You should be able to research what resulted in the title being branded. In some cases you may even find photos.

6/2/2022 10:42:33 AM

Sometimes I see these pop up as "minor flood" hahaha

Often they are salvage for other reasons too tho

6/2/2022 1:30:18 PM