i'm looking at a 2002 subaru wrx wagon with a salvage title, it has all been fixed professionally and drives straight and seems to be in good condition... Clean NADA book value is 8500...what is worth with a salvage title? or what would you be willing to pay for it? Opinions please.
I wouldnt pay much over $5K for it. Their hard to sell and alot of insurance companies wont insure them.
To me it would be worth the sum of the parts, so assuming everything is in good or better condition, around $4k.
There was a reason the insurance company totaled it. Costs get cut when shops try to repair these things. I have heard stories about vehicles with no operable airbags being sold with no mention of that fact. Be careful what you buy.
I know what you mean, but i've also seen insurance companies total vehicles with hardly any damage. It all depends on the company. I'll have to run a carfax report on the car and hopefully find out more information. It seems to be pretty nice for the price though.
This. My dad bought a 2009 Legacy 2.5i from his neighbor in the UP who owns a body shop but he knows the guy, lives next to him all summer, and didn't get a loan for the car. The body shop removed the salvage listing from the title but it was only good for every state except MN so he can't get it insured with their same insurance agent in MN without paying out for declared value insurance which is expensive. It's just too much trouble to do this unless you're just buying the car for track/rally.
it could also be salvaged because of somthing minor, like hail damage, my impreza, and one of my oldsmobiles are branded salvaged from hail. Man did I make out like a bandit with the $$$$$$$ though
It all depends on the bank too. I got effed back in 2000 when I got my 1997 Legacy GT, I was young and stupid and didn't think to ask and figured the bank would have checked. But wellsfargo, who issued the loan then, didn't even check the state of the title? The seller pulled a fast one with me on the title at the DMV and I learned my lesson, the point of the story is, at least in that case, the bank doesn't always check the state of the title.
Does it have a salvage title at the moment, or just a prior salvage in the history? My car has a prior salvage in a different state and it was no problem to insure, it is roughly the same cost as my previous non-salvage vehicle (it is an STI so its a little higher than my WRX). I got quotes from several of the big insurance companies and none of them said anything about it. I specifically asked one of them what would happen if it were to be totaled out again, and they said it would be a little bit lower than blue book or whatever system they use, but they didn't give a number. If it has a current salvage title, you (or pref the seller) can have it inspected by the DMV and get a clean title issued, but it will still show previous salvage in the history.
the car has a PRIOR salvage title and was repaired by a place in Portland oregon, (apparently the guy in portland fixes tons of salvaged wrx's and sti's) and i'll be paying cash for the car so i'm not real worried about bank issues. I'll also have my own licensed insurance agency within the next month so insurance isnt really an issue either.
i'd want to see pics to know the extend of the damage/where it occurred not to mention the repairs that were carried out. Salvage vehicle itself isn't scary, it's the work or lack of work done to get it road worthy/safe that can be questionable. Like others have said cars can be salvage for a variety of reasons (hail, flood, accident). a minor accident on an older car might warrant salvage vs. a new car where much more damage might need to take place before a salvage title is issued.
from my past experiences ill never buy a salvaged car or a prior salvaged car again. i bought the car knowing it was a PRIOR salve and it had been re certified to get the PRIOR title so i didnt much of it. later down the road i was t-boned and it totaled the car the insurance company gave me far less then what i paid for the car just because the PRIOR SALVAGE title on the car...thats just my experiences and opinions... "once a salvage always a salvage"
unless you get something really dirt cheap and it is serving a specific purpose, i agree. re-certifying a car is a joke. it's more that you are proving you didn't rebuild with stolen parts, not a thorough review of actual rebuild/safety. oh and getting the prior salvage title for registration purposes.
Yes, salvage cars can have second lives as track/rally cars. Since you'll likely be trailering them to the event you don't need to tag them and probably aren't going to bother with insurance. And since you can often get them for so cheap you'll have more to spend on parts like a roll cage and mudflaps... and I need to stop because I'm starting to convince myself into a rally car project again.
Yes, insurance doesn't want to pay full price twice on the same car... What was the percent of value they gave you? I have heard 60% thrown about, but I have not seen a definitive number on paper
keep talking..... the salvage i picked up (scotty's wreck) will be serving winter duty, but with a newly refreshed motor, and no mechanical damage done it'll work out nicely for that. i would never get a practically new car with salvage title as insurance will not give you much at all as stated above. there is a reason why they go much cheaper as you are taking some risk. now where were we, oh yes, RallyNavie's new rally project
