Buying salvage/rebuilt title truck

[Brianmp01]

I have bought 2 a focus and a 4Runner. I bought them outright so no loans, insurance was normal price for full coverage. Ask for pics before vehicle was repaired and take it for a good drive get it up to hwy speed make sure it drives straight. I got a great price on both of mine and I actually made money on the focus after drive my it for 3 years.

 

[camping1601]

I bought one with 15 years auto repair experience working in the business and a reliable trustworthy guy at the sale and it worked out great for me. No way I'd do it now being out of that business. You need an experienced eye on the vehicle.

 

[Squincher]

Don’t do it! I learned my lesson with my work truck. I couldn’t afford the Toyota which I wanted so I settled for a Dodge Dakota. When running the carfax the Dakota in question had been owned by a county in SEast Co for about a year in which there was then a note on the carfax that there was front end damage but it was not a salvage title so I figured it was something minor. Everything cosmetically looked great, it drove straight, and I saw no signs of a major collision repair when I looked it over. the truck then went to a farmer in NEast Co for about a year and a half before I bought it. Had 54,000 miles on it and so far over the last 5 years I have replaced the clutch 3 times, had the whole front end suspension rebuilt, and the engine just went out last month at 170,000 miles. Now after a work trip down to Santa Fe and back the transmission grinds going in to 5th gear so the syncro is going on it, double clutching helps a little bit but doesn’t solve the problem.

Each time I fixed it I debated buying a new truck but then decided to do the fix for a couple grand (hey, I’m already $10k into it so why not) vs putting $10k down on something new and then pay another $500 a month the next 5 years. I think I’ve payed for this truck twice now, total nightmare.

Sounds like a pretty typical Dodge experience, salvage or not.

 

[Hatchet Jack]

thanks all for the feedback. I won't even pretend i'm a mechanic or body expert so i'm going to stick with a clean title truck.

 

[Buckman]

If you want to see what goes into rebuilds check out VEHCOR on youtube. Thats what he does. Pretty impressive what skills he has.

 

[AkMtnRunner]

All car ownership is a crapshoot. Any vehicle is at risk of a catastrophic problem so once a warranty runs out, you're at risk too. Personally, I've found buying rebuilt vehicles can be a smart way to reduce the financial exposure.

I've bought 3 rebuilt vehicles in the last 10 years. Because of lack of interest in them, I bought for many thousands of dollars less and could pay cash. No need for a loan approval. No problem getting insurance, as the coverage is simply based on market value, consistent with my cost of ownership. Each have proven their reliability and I will continue to do the same.

The situation of the vehicle just needs to be known. In my area, there's a market of mechanics that buy totaled vehicles at auction to do some work on and resell for profit. They are not fools. They won't buy a vehicle, clearly seeing the damage, not knowing they can repair it to be nearly indistinguishable from before the damage. They often share photos and the records of the work done.

The insurance industry creates this market. Recently, my first rebuilt vehicle, a Subaru Outback was rear ended at about 10 mph and the other driver's insurance company declared it a total loss. Here's a little run down:

-I got a body shop's estimate for repairs, at about 5k. The shop was actually the insurance company's preferred network. $5K is pretty crazy but that is what happens when most of their business is billing insurance. It was perfectly drivable, only cosmetic damage except for for the broken left side tail lights.

-Insurance company assesses the market value of the car to be around $6.2k. They explain to me that if the repair cost is close to the assessment, they declare it a total loss. The settlement to me is the market value plus extra to cover my expenses to find a replacement vehicle. In this case, they decided a total of $8.3k.

-This $8.3k would go a long ways to getting into a larger vehicle since baby is on the way, so I accept it. I did have the option to keep the car and accept about $4.3k from the insurance company because that is the difference between the market value and the amount they would expect from the auction sale. But since I am not a mechanic and now we would prefer to get into a different vehicle anyway, the settlement sounds good.

-A few week later, I see my old car up on facebook market place for about $4.5k. It looked like whoever bought it put only a few hundred bucks into straightening out some dents and replaced the lights, but it would be perfectly reliable to drive for at least another 75k miles.


The key is to look for a reliable brand and model of car first. At least 5 years old is good because common problem vehicles will then be known and reliability is proven for the other ones. Look for not too high of miles, I feel less than 120k on a reliable car has still got a lot of life left but market price has probably dropped unfairly. When you check them out in person, put it through its paces on the test drive making sure it tracks straight as an arrow with balanced air pressure in the tires and there are no fluid leaks after driving it. Get as much information as you can about why it was totaled and the work done to rebuild it. If you are still not sure but interested, have a trusted mechanic check it out. It does take some more leg work, but honestly, you'd probably want to do the same level of inspection with any used vehicle.

Too many vehicle owners see their purchase as an investment or as a reflection upon themselves. It's neither. It's a tool to get around with and every single one of them will eventually fail, mostly unpredictably regardless of their title status. You can use this common misconception to take advantage of the market.

 

[PA Hunter]

I retired form State Police Pennsylvania vehicle fraud unit 24 years anyway what a disaster the rebuilds have caused the auto industry and I mean the fraud aspect. Probobly the only one I would touch would be a recovered theft vehicle. Stay away from the flood vehicles unless you want electrical problems for the life of the vehicle. I could tell you horror story after horror story for weeks on end with corrupt enhanced inspection stations especially in cities. It is a complete joke.

 

[IdahoElk]

I would first pull a Carfax on the vehicle and see why it was totaled, second I would find out if the airbags were deployed, if they were I'd pass but if the salvage title was due to body damage and it was fixed correctly and the vehicle had a clean service history I'd buy it for a hunting rig and not think twice.

 

[Austink47]

I have a first gen Tacoma and Tundra both salvage titles. I knew the history on both. No issues with either. The taco had 40k on it since it was “totaled” so I felt pretty good about it.

 

[Beendare]

Its a long list. If you dont have the eye of an experienced mechanic do not buy any of them period.
There are some that are ok, but its a very, very small number.
Auto business 25 years

Good advice. A buddy of mine does these for a living....strips them down and rebuilds on a new frame or has a frame shop check or straighten. He has it down to a science.

He says there aren't as many good deals as in the past, guys are bidding them up.

____

 

[bird35]

It is definetly not for everyone but i am not nervous at all to buy a salvage titled vehicle. I have actually had better luck with them than just normal used vehicles. At least with them i can expect some problems. It doesn't matter how good you are mechanically buying a used vehicle you will have the chance of getting one with problems that cannot always be seen or noticed for a few hundred miles or more. If i think there is a chance i will want to sale the vehicle then salvaged titles change things a bit.

 

[phillyfan365]

I've had good luck with them, just have to be picky. I always make sure I know what the damage was and who fixed it. Make sure it was professionally done and I always avoid anything with front end damage.

 

[doc holiday13]

Do a carfax on it to see why its a salvage title.. Flood damage is no bueno, but if its a standard accident then i would check to see where the damage was. Its not hard to get a vehicle to "total loss"

 

[LCsmith]

I'm in the market for a new to me huntin truck, i'm pretty set on a well used tundra from the 2007 - 2010 years.

I've never bought a salvage title vehicle before, but i see some good deals on them pop up every now and then and always disregard them. Any tips on what to look for when buying a salvage title truck? For example i'm looking at one that from what i can tell from the pictures only had body damage to the grill, bumper, front fender etc., no damage from the radiator back. Seems like it could be decent.

I don't rotate through trucks very often so resale isn't a huge concern, mostly just reliability.

thanks

What is your budget and requirements? I just bought an 08 crewmax earlier this year and I have seen a couple good deals pop up since I bought mine. Feel free to PM.

 

[loganwayne]

Look at online auctions, you can often find a lot of good options there.

wrong, i use to buy, fix, drive then sell a couple cars/trucks a year buying from places like copart. now everyone thinks they are going to find a good deal there, last couple of things i wanted to buy by the time i figured repair cost i could just go buy it with out a marked title and not needing any work.
Even the dealer only auctions the difference is getting real slim.

 

[bigeyedfish]

wrong, i use to buy, fix, drive then sell a couple cars/trucks a year buying from places like copart. now everyone thinks they are going to find a good deal there, last couple of things i wanted to buy by the time i figured repair cost i could just go buy it with out a marked title and not needing any work.
Even the dealer only auctions the difference is getting real slim.

I'm having the same experience. I used to buy salvage title and rebuilt title vehicles pretty often. I haven't been finding many deals good enough to pursue for the last couple years. My daily driver was bought from a fleet auction, but I've been watching for a small pickup to use basically like a street legal UTV. I can't find one for a price that makes sense. Prices are high enough, I'd be better off buying one that doesn't need any work.

 

[Mykolaivka887]

Its a long list. If you dont have the eye of an experienced mechanic do not buy any of them period.
There are some that are ok, but its a very, very small number.
Auto business 25 years

This, submitted by JRMiller. If at all possible, have an experienced mechanic look over any such vehicle in question. Too much of a crap shoot on such things to try to wing it on your own, unless you really know what to look for.

 

[braydencase7]

As long as everything looks good should be fine

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

 

[Dalen88]

i have been driving a salvage 2008 f350 for the past 9 years with hardly a problem, in B.C here it needs a inspection to hit the road again, i had had great luck with it. Just bought another vehicle from salvage that the seller wasnt upfront about, bit annoyed but no big deal, gave it a good once over and everything looks good. They write off vehicles for many reasons some of them not major, when i seen my f350 before it got fixed i was surprised that it was written off because it just had some rear box damage. It was fixed and been happy ever since, got a great deal on it.