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Tales of Salvage Title and Cruelty [Merged 1-8]

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Ecstacyraver

20+ Year Contributor
48
0
Apr 29, 2002
WV
Ok... I'm only 17, so I don't make a lot of money, and my parents aren't rich, so here we go.

I've always wanted a second gen dsm, but I've been stuck with a 1st. Not that there is nothing wrong with that, but I'm still young, and I want my car to look really good too.

I know I want a Turbocharged DSM..... and i KNOW I want AWD.

So that gives me to choices... TSI awd or GSX.

Well, i dont have the cash to buy either of those... so i was wondering if anyone would think buying a salvage car would be a good idea.

I know a lot of Mechanics, and they are my friends, so that should help.... Is there any kind of damages i should watch out for? Like things that wouldnt be worth it? And maybe things that are no problem to fix, and i should look for.

Thanks everyone
-Alex
 
Buy it if you never intend to sell it and I mean never. The other thing is the insurance company will give you nothing if you wreck it or it gets totaled.
 
Mine has a salvage title, but in SD its like $3,000 or more in damage and you get it, but since i live in MN, its getting taken off of the title because ours is like $5,000 or something... but i doubt i'll sell my car for at least 5 years, unless it turns into a pile on me :dsm:
 
I don't think just because a car has a lien on it that it then has a salvaged title. Any car that is financed has a lien on it. You may want to double check the reasons for the salvaged title, as the only reasons I'm aware of are either for a wreck, flood damage, or theft.
 
phastalon said:
I don't think just because a car has a lien on it that it then has a salvaged title. Any car that is financed has a lien on it. You may want to double check the reasons for the salvaged title, as the only reasons I'm aware of are either for a wreck, flood damage, or theft.

I agree. I should've mentioned this up in my previous post, but didn't think about it at the time... when I had payments on my car, my title had a lien, but it sure wasn't salvaged.
 
Hey everyone, it's me again. I STILL don't have my 91 tsi awd. :thumbdown
I dunno if anyone has seen my previous posts, but here's the situation:

There was a lien on the title, and the owner had to get a salvage title in order to sell it to me. However, in MD, you need to get a salvage inspection in order to operate a salvage title vehicle on the road.

I called him today, and he said that he called, and asked for an appointment, and the closest one was in late November. :cry: Is there anywhere in MD that will do it more quickly?
 
Just call around, me and a friend had a similar problem with his salvage civic. He wound up going somewhere where a state trooper did the inspection. In the beginning we got that same crap you did where they had to schedule it weeks in advance but finally found a place to get it right away. i'll ask him if he remembers.
 
sweet... thanks a lot!

oh yeah, can a salvage titled car ever have a regular title?
 
97GS-TSpyder said:
never..it will always be a salvage title

Not necessarily--this could vary by state laws. Your car will always have a salvage HISTORY, but can have a clean title.

I recently rebuilt a wrecked car and of course, I bought it from a salvage yard with a salvage title. Once I completed the work, the guy from DMV came out (actually a state police guy) and did the inspection. Once all my paperwork was complete, I took all that to DMV and got a clean title issued.

It now has a clean title, but if you do a CarFax on it, it will indicate a salvage HISTORY, that a salvage title has been issued against that VIN at some point in the past. This will reduce your resale a bit, but if you plan on keeping the car for some time, no biggy.
 
TurBoGs-T, did your friend happen to remember the number of the place, by any chance?
 
Here's my dilemma... My car was deemed totalled by the insurance company because there was $5,000-$6,000 worth of damage and the car is "only worth $5,200." The insurance company want's to give me $4,972 plus my car, and I would definitely be able to fix that with one of my buddies for that money and have extra in my pocket. But, my attorney is also saying that I could argue the value of the car and be able to have the insurance company fix it and NOT have a salvage title, then get money for the "depreciated value" because there's a little bit of frame damage, maybe... My dilemma is: I could walk away with a lot more money (maybe squeeze another grand out of the insurance company for the value of my car, making the grand total with my car... About $6,000 to fix it myself) but I would have a salvage title and I'm need to sell it within a few months... But, I wouldn't get hardly any money if they fixed it, but I wouldn't have a salvage title. The car sustained this much damage, so would the salvage title really depreciate the value that much? I mean, would you pay significantly less for it if you knew it was a "salvaged car", even though there was only this much damage?
 
Hell yeah. I look for any way to pay less for a car. Wouldn't you?
If you're selling it, don't do a salvage title. If not, take the money.
 
Alright i have your solution, your gonna love me for this. Take the 5 grand from the insurance company, or what every they are offering, and let them make it a salvage title. Now assuming you want to keep the car, fix it have money in your poket and instead of selling it to a random person sell it to a friend for lets say $100. Have your freind regester the car in his name, you pay for all the fees for it and then just give him his $100 back and take the car back from him. Sure it will be under his name but you can still get insurance for the car under your name, and drive it. Maybe even after a while he can sell it back to you, but i dont know about that. I know it sounds confusing and too much work, but if you really love the car and want to keep it, try it or ask your attoreny about it.
 
gsnoturbo90 said:
Alright i have your solution, your gonna love me for this. Take the 5 grand from the insurance company, or what every they are offering, and let them make it a salvage title. Now assuming you want to keep the car, fix it have money in your poket and instead of selling it to a random person sell it to a friend for lets say $100. Have your freind regester the car in his name, you pay for all the fees for it and then just give him his $100 back and take the car back from him. Sure it will be under his name but you can still get insurance for the car under your name, and drive it. Maybe even after a while he can sell it back to you, but i dont know about that. I know it sounds confusing and too much work, but if you really love the car and want to keep it, try it or ask your attoreny about it.

...WTF ... WTF ...

Does anyone know how if it's possible to make it into a clear title again? Or is it always going to be a salvaged title?
 
In cali, once it's salvaged, it's salvaged for good. It's probably the same where you are.

Is there an option to have them total it out, keep the car, and pay you out the full value?

Salvage titles are a pain in the ass. If anything happens to it again your insurance could be real pricks about it. Some companies wont even offer collision ins. on a salvaged vehicle. Often times nobody wants to buy a salvage title for much more than around half of it's value, and if you have put all the time and money into fixing it, re-registering it, brake and headlight inspection (about 140 bucks worth of bs testing) that's just not going to be enough. It just doesnt make sense putting a lot of time and money into a car that is never going to be worth it again, unless you never plan on selling the car.

If it was me i would either take the deal where they pay you out and let you keep your car (if the first thing i mentioned isnt a possibility) and just part the car out, or see what you can get for it in its current state. By the way, what ins. company is this? i've never heard of any company making the offer they made you, generally they pay you whatever it's worth and offer to sell you the car back for i beleive 17% of it's value. Good luck regardless of what happens, ins can be a real pain sometimes, and a real blessing others.
 
If it where mine and to keep away from the salvage title deal, I would let the insurance company fix it. Forget the money. You might run into something you can't fix at home. Then to the body shop for whatever. To Iffy for me. I never made out Trying to scam someone. Scams a but harsh but you know what I'm trying to say. GL
 
I guess I wasn't very clear about the situation... It's not that they're trying to give me $4,972 plus the car, but rather they want to give me $6,1XX, then I buy back the car at the salvage value ($600) then they don't give me the cost of registration, whatever is left on my tabs, etc... Basically, after all of that B.S. it ends up being $4,972. It's through the other guys insurance company, by the way. Progressive...
If I had the opportunity to purchase a car I really liked, but it had a salvage title, I wouldn't have a problem paying what it would be worth w/o a salvage title, assuming it was in proper running condition and still maintained it's structural integrity. Is it just me? I'd figure a modified car would be worth the same as a car with the same modifications and a red stamp on the title... Am I alone here? Will I really not be able to sell it for very much?

gunna's dad said:
If it where mine and to keep away from the salvage title deal, I would let the insurance company fix it. Forget the money. You might run into something you can't fix at home. Then to the body shop for whatever. To Iffy for me. I never made out Trying to scam someone. Scams a but harsh but you know what I'm trying to say. GL

My buddy has a really nice shop, and I we would be able to fix anything we ran into... I'm not worried about that. My only worry is that if the insurance company fixes it, I lose out on thousands of dollars in my pocket, just because I don't want to have a car in near perfect condition with a red stamp on the title. The whole salvage situation sucks.
 
Ive had a nightmare with a salvage title problem. Your dmv will jerk you off with sandpaper and then pour gasoline on your wounds. Take the money and run! :(
 
7boltnewbie said:
Ive had a nightmare with a salvage title problem. Your dmv will jerk you off with sandpaper and then pour gasoline on your wounds. Take the money and run! :(

What exactly was your nightmare with the salvage title? I don't mind a little sand paper from time to time :cool:
 
I bought a 98 cherokee with a salvage rebuildable title. The jeep originally had been stolen with minor damage: broken steering column, dented fender and broken header pannel. The insurance company paid the owner off before the truck was recovered, so somehow it was issued the salvage rebuildable. I bought it pulled out the fender and replaced the column and header pannel. I tried to register the jeep at dmv and they said I had to have it inspected at a facility to make sure it was road worthy and had no stolen parts. There were some forms I had to fill out and send to Albany with the title and original bill of sale. A month goes by and I recieve everything back with another form to fill out. So I fill it out and send everything back. 3 months go by and I dont here back from them. All they could say at my local dmv is that it takes a long time to process everything and there was no way for them to check on the status. They did give me a number to call for the salvage bureau. Every f***ing time I dialed this number it was busy. Its like they have one person in that office and he sitting back with his feet on the desk and the phone off the hook, milking his government job. Eventually I would have my g/f call for me and she got through. They said the last record they had was my stuff being sent back to get the other form filled out. So either the post office lost my stuff or that guy with his feet on the desk has my stuff: all my paperwork including the title and original bill of sale. Long story short I still have a jeep in my driveway that I cant register and dmv is still "processing" my paperwork. This process started 3 years ago.
 
A friend of mine buys and sells repairable vehicles, you usually get what the vehilce is worth on trade if you want to sell it, unless you find the right person. Here in Minnesota, the DMV has no problem with a salvage title, but you do have to get it inspected after it is fixed. They inspect it for mostly safety. Check with you DMV to see what your states laws are. Just make sure if you do it yourself or take it some where they know what they are doing. You dont want some shotty half assed job on any car especially a DSM :D
 
honestly, your best bet is to replace any aftermarket parts on the car that you want with the stock pieces, and let it go.

You're better off with the $6100 than you will be with a car that will NEVER, EVER, be right again.

No matter how much you put into the car, if you're talking about a 5k+ payout and they're going to total it, the car is ####ed. Don't waste your time. Take the money and put it into a new car (AWD ;))

good luck!
 
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