Buying a car with a salvage title?

Question

Im looking at buying a 1998 Eclipse GS that has a salvaged title. I never would have guessed by looking at it. It has an expensive body kit, redone interior plastics, airbags (like the lowering/raising the car kind), and seems to be in great shape. What i am looking for is advice....looks good, seems to be mechanically sound, but salvage title is questionable. They said they would go as low as 3000 for it. Its on a dealer ship lot that i have bought from before......ANY ADVICE WOULD BE GREAT! thanks so much

Answer 1

a salvaged "tiltled" car can be o.k,if u can find out the extent of the prior damage,a dealership by law is supposed to give u a carfax on that vehicle,which will state all the things that been repaired. if they dont offer 1 ask for it,then determine if u may be interested by what u see on it,and definently take it to a mechanic ,give him the carfax sheet,and let him tell what he may see as a future problem and what was really fixed and the extent of the damage it had!

Answer 2

The first two answers are good. Additionally, you need to check with your DMV concerning the requirements for getting a tag for a salvaged vehicle. This may be more expensive than buying an undamaged car in the first place.

Answer 3

buying a salvage car can be a bad idea or an ok idea, more then half of the time its a super bad idea. the problem with salvage cars is ya they can make the car look normal again but that doesnt mean the inside of the car such as the engine, frame and suspension will be the same. what you wanna do is take it to a mechanic and make sure he checks the car very well, if the car has frame damage DO NOT BUY IT frame damage is very bad

Answer 4

get either a mechanic or a panel beater to come down to look at the car with you!

it could be a chop and shut welding job where they use 2 halves of different cars welded together.

these things are deathtraps due to the event of a side on collision or the car flyin into a lampost the weld breaks and the car splits in 2 and mashes the occupants!

Answer 5

I guess you should also check insurance quotes for the car before buying one, for example here: http://autoinsurance.noneto.com

As I know salvage cars are expensive to insure.

Answer 6

Stay far far away from this car unless you know the exact history as to prior damage that led to the salvaged title.

Answer 7

have a mechanic check it over.  since you bought from them before, did you have any problems?

Answer 8

It's not necessarily bad. I have purchased salvage cars twice with fine results. It all boils down to why it was declared a total loss by the insurance company. Older cars like yours are easily totaled, even a minor fender bender can turn an older car into a salvage vehicle since older cars are worth less and if the damage costs more than 75% of the car's value the insurance companies total it. Now a newer car with a salvage title spells trouble since that could mean the car sustained over $15K in damages and that's major. You just need to know why the car was totaled, have it inspected by a mechanic, don't pay too much (it's worth roughly 60% of a comparable car with a clean title) and run it til it dies since they are harder to sell than clean titled cars. Still, I've purchased a Toyota and a Volvo with salvage titles and they are the best running cars I've ever owned. People always say run from salvage cars,which is a blanket statement that is often untrue and unfair.

Consider this: $4000 in rear end damage on a new car = no salvage title. Same damage on an 8 year old car = salvage title. Same damage, different titles. Lesson: A clean title does not mean a clean car. At least with a salvage title the truth is up front.