im looking to buy this SALVAGED Black 2001 SR5 with the Sport Package, 59k miles, has black leather interior seats that looks like was switched in from tan cloth interior seats. so possibly a theft recovery salvage title? there no obvious major body damage, although it looks like its been bondo on one of the doors, and the paint in places doesnt look like original paint, its a semi nice looking car. you can find imperfections here and there when you're up close. haven't inspected it for major body damage.

the guy ive been talking to is asking $15,000 OBO, the actual owner is his sister in law so hes just doing the sale. he doesnt know that it is a salvage title just yet because i just ran the carfax on it.

i just not sure if its such a good deal anymore, 15,000 for a clean title sounded like a decent asking price hence the low mileage but then now that i know its salvage title, i dont know how much a fair asking price for it could be anymore

its a hard one to call, how much would you take off because its salvaged? 30% 40% or even 50% off blue book?

I wouldn't touch a salvaged vehicle with a 10' pole...

if you really want to buy it, run it's VIN with carfax and see what kind of salvage it is.

just think why it was salvaged, it was probably for a good reason...

it looks pretty clean from afar, no? when you get close, you find alot of imperfections like scratches and evidenece of bondo on one of the doors.

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I had salvage titled vehicle before. Trust me it's not worth of few grand that you'll save. When comes time to sell it - thats when it'll bite back. No car dealer will buy with salvage title which means no trade in value towards new truck down the road. Also, there is almost always ghost in the machine type of mulfunctions (i.e. lights going out in dash or rattles in some places). Looks is nothing without function.

I have to agree. In a few years if you go to sell it or trade it in there is VERY good chance that you wont get any kind of serious money for it. I am sure you can find a certified pre-owned for only a few thousand more which will still give you good equity and may come with a warranty! This truck wouldnt have a warranty and it is probably a truck you would want and NEED a warranty for!

It's most likely someone trying to unload their problems on some unsuspecting sucker. I'd pay $1500 for it. That's about it.

so i just talked to the guy, and i talked him down to $11,000....

so kbb with a clean title is $18,000, so im paying roughly 60% of kbb

now given the car drives strong and straight. and the frame is straight. cause thats really all my main concern is, that it drives straight.

all this negative feedback isnt really helping me at this point.....im so TORN!!!!!@#!@#$!$# i know the general concensus of a purchasing a SALVAGED TITLE car is to stay away, but you know deals can be made if you do your homework and everything checks out.....

because im suppose to come out tomorrow with a cashiers check to pick up the car......

WHAT TO DO!?!??! i've waited so long and here is my chance......should i try to talk him down to 10 grand even??? or should i just wait even longer and walk away???

For starter's I would never pay even half of KBB for a salvaged title, but even then I would just buy it to SAS it and put it in the woods. So your answer is No from me. I did it once, I bought a flood damaged 98 Wrangler for just under half of blue book and sold it about a year later due to "gremlins". I didn't however take a loss on the sale but I regretted the whole deal. I ended up buying another straight title Jeep and proceeded to put 180,000 "gremlin" free miles on it.

Your choice, there are better deals out there, you'll just have to be patient.

T

Be patient, why was it salvaged? Did you run a Carfax on it? NEVER let a seller pressure you into buying!! The 4R wil be there next week. This guy will have a tough time moving it, so you are holding all the cards.

Just keep in mind what everyone has already said:

(1) Don't plan on being able to sell it. Only buy it if you plan on keeping it for yourself.

(2) Be prepared to put some/all of what you "saved" back into the truck - both in terms of time and money. Be prepared to have little things go wrong for the life of the truck.

(3) Be prepared for the slight possibility that something major may be wrong with the truck. You may have to either put a lot of money into it or junk it for a non-salvage title. Can you afford to do this if the deal goes bad?

(4) Remind yourself that the seller did not volunteer that fact that the vehicle was a salvage. Don't buy his story. He knew. So what else isn't he telling you?

Can you live with all that? Did you get a carfax on it? Can you take it to a garage for a checkup?

The seller came down 27% awfully fast. He'll probably come down some more. If you REALLY insist on doing this, show up with a cashier's check for $9,000 and see if he bites.

The more I read over your first post, the more fishy it sounds. He is selling the car for his sister-in-law. Riiiiiiiight.... (In best Doctor Evil voice)

I remember seeing a piece on Dateline about people doing this very thing. They take salvaged vehicles and fix it up and then sell it to unsuspecting people. Here is the article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5182785

Buyer beware, but its your money so do what you think is right.

Find out if seller is a dealer. If he is and sells the car as his own he's breaking the law. In some states you can't even get the new title, that's where those cars will be registered across the state line. There is always a way to bend the law with out breaking it, which car dealers do well. If you get anything on the seller you can buy the truck for almost nothing, but again how solid is the frame, was it heated and pulled, will you trust it to hold up when you take the rig off road? Good luck

are you loaning from a bank or are you paying cash? most bank will not loan out on a vehicle with a salvage title. also keep in mind that if it gets wrecked or stolen you wont recieve full book value on the truck from your insurance co. not to mention you'll never be able to trade that in for even a fraction of the acutal value. dont bother, just find a clean title truck. there are plenty of deals out there just keep looking.

Check with your DMV--I don't know how it is where you live, but here (Nevada), there are a lot of restrictions on Salvage Title vehicles:

1. You can't register, or operate, a vehicle with a Salvage Title;

2. If the vehicle is going to be restored to service, it must be restored by a licensed, bonded garage. No do-it-yourselves welcome, thank you;

3. All damaged safety equipment must be restored to original condition for the model year in question;

4. Once the repair work is complete, the garage must certify the repairs and the vehicle must be inspected by DMV;

5. Once the certification and inspection are complete, the vehicle may be issued a new Title as a "Rebuilt" vehicle. That means the new Title will say "Rebuilt" not "Toyota".

Also, if you decide that it's going to cost too much to repair, it's illegal to sell parts off the vehicle, unless you have a valid wrecker license.

If you do repair it, but then decide that you don't really want it, you still have get the certification and inspection and clear the title before you can sell it.

Bottom line: Unless you're a body shop, and auto wrecker, or an insurance company, stay clear of Salvage Titles...

--Dan

I run a small car lot where we do quite a few rebuilders. Some of the things these guys are saying are correct. Let me tell you what I think.

1) 11000 is too high. If I would have done that rebuilder I would have put it on the lot for maybe 10500 asking and would take 9000 for sale.

2) All of the rebuilders we do were light hits. Most of them don't even have blown airbags. We supply before pictures and pictures of rebuilding so customers know exactly what damage there was. Ask him if he has these pictures. By law they have to have at least 4-8 pictures of before the vehicle was hit.

3) Most of the time you will not experience any more mechanical problems unless it was really hit hard. IE - if a car is hit in the rear or side why would you have mechanical failure? Maybe excessive wind noise or water leakage.

4) What state are you buying the truck from. I am in Wisconsin and our state has a strict rebuilt inspection process. I have at least 4 hours of paperwork to do with each rebuild. We cannot get a vehicle passed if the airbag light does not turn on, blink and then shut off. Any dash lights that don't turn on with key and turn off after a couple of seconds will fail.

5) Frame has to be straight. Inspectors will take dimensions and double check. Have to be within a tolerance of 1/8 in.

To say the least if you were buying a salvage rebuild in wisconsin with our states policies I would say don't worry about it, but other states (texas, etc) you have to be VERY careful. The best thing you can do is go to you local states dmv website and do some research on their inspection process. Being at the auctions all of time I have seen some rebuilers that a trained eye could not tell where the car was hit, and I have seen some sloughtered ones. Buyer beware.

Usually the best way to tell what kind of quality the rebuilder was is stick you finger into all seams (fender gaps, hood gaps, door gaps, bumper gaps) and see if it feels like the same width as you run your finger down it. A car that had been repaired properly will have consitant joints, one that was repaired shabby will have uneven gaps meaning the car is not pulled all of the way out. Also a good rule of thumb is if the paint job looks stock and you can't tell that the car has been hit (even close up) more than likely that same care has been taken with the whole rebuild process.

Good Luck