when a used car has a "salvage title" what does it mean?

Question

is it restored? and is this good or bad?

Answer 1

A brand-new vehicle is said to have a “title” that is “clean” – free of any conditions. (The “title” is the legal document listing the registered information about the vehicle and its ownership.) The title of nearly all vehicles will remain “clean” until the end of their service life—and verbiage about damage is usually the exception to the rule.

Answer 2

It has been re worked after an accident. We wrecked our 97 Honda Accord(a tractor trailer backed up at a red light and never looked to see if anyone was behind him and ran on top of our car) The insurance totaled our car but nothing was wrong with the motor or anything else it was just the hood and both front fenders as well as the bumper. We got to keep the car and did all the work our self and the car does have a salvaged title but the car is still in super condition. The biggest problem with the title is it takes a little while to get it put into a new name and some insurances doesn't want to cover it. Good Luck!!!!!

Answer 3

That's usually a bad thing. It means that the car at one point was so badly damaged (by crash, flood, etc.) that the insurance company considered it to be a total loss. They are usually auctioned off to people who will restore and then sell them as "used" and, depending on how reputable the dealer is, may or may not disclose to the buyer that the car was a salvage vehicle.

Personally I would never buy one, you'll never know exactly how badly damaged the vehicle was before, how well the repairs were done, or the true condition of replacement parts (which most likely came from a salvage yard too).

Answer 4

One of two things. It could have been abandoned, as I got salvage titles on two cars that were parked on a piece of land I bought. There was nothing wrong with them, but there was no way to track down the original owners, so I got salvage titles. The other possibility is that the car was at some time declared a total loss due to an accident or flood, etc.

Answer 5

A salvage title is an automobile title with a notation that the vehicle has been damaged in excess of approximately 75% of its previous market value. This notation gets applied to a title when an insurance company pays a total-loss claim on a vehicle, but then allows the owner to retain or buy back the vehicle at its post-damage market value, which is often negligibly low. Often a vehicle is still safely driveable even if technically considered a total loss by an insurance company, particularly with older vehicles where even minor cosmetic damage would cost more to fix than the vehicle's whole market value.

Answer 6

I have a van that my dad bought 15 years ago, it had a salvage title. It means that the car has been in an accident that the insurance company decided was a total - it would cost too much to repair, so just pay to replace it. My 'salvage van' has over 240,000 miles, so far. When I replace it, it will be because of rust, nothing mechanical.

Answer 7

At one time the automobile has been "totaled" (i.e. accrued more damage than it's blue book value).

It obviously isn't "good", but that doesn't necessarily mean that you shouldn't buy it. Factor in what you will use the car for, your age, your mechanical skills (in case you need to work on it later) and how much you drive.

My first car had a salvage title on it. I purchased it because
-I was only 16 so I figured there was a good chance that I would eventually wreck any car I purchase.
-Being only 16, I would never drive more than say 12-15 miles a day.
-My dad was a mechanic.

Answer 8

It means that it was previously in an accident and was totalled (cost of repair costs more than to buy a new one) and yet restored anyway (usually because a mechanic can do it and save himself a lot of money.)

That is why salvage titles are extremely inexpensive.

Salvage titles are ok in my opinion, provided the damage was body damage and not on the engine. Otherwise, buyer beware.

Answer 9

It means that at one point the car was considered a total loss (totaled out) by an insurance company due to extreme damage. You wouldn't want to purchase a car with one...most of the time the sellers get these vehicles from junk yards and fix up the body damage and do the minimal amount of work necessary to get the car to run.

Answer 10

I guess that the insurance company deemed it not worth the cost of the repairs so after a wreck the title was transferred to a junkyard for ownership. If you buy it from a junkyard (or from someone who did) it will have a "salvaged title." That's my guess at least.