crawlingjunk
New member
Lol. The trd pro badging is even placed wrong.
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Salvage Trail potential purchase?
- Thread starter ASUMTNEER
- Start date
manofsteele2003
New member
Hard pass, generally the salvage vehicles I've seen around here are worth about half of what the value is.
I know insurance companies are totaling out vehicles with a lot less damage than they have in years past because of the current parts shortage, so it could have been something minor. Me personally I would never buy a rebuilt/salvage title vehicle just for the resale and possible unforeseen issues.
I know insurance companies are totaling out vehicles with a lot less damage than they have in years past because of the current parts shortage, so it could have been something minor. Me personally I would never buy a rebuilt/salvage title vehicle just for the resale and possible unforeseen issues.
manofsteele2003
New member
Absolutely agree! Run as fast as you can from that potential Pandora's box of issues.
PhillySilver
New member
I'm a hard pass. The fact that there is a thread going to determine even what model it is is a huge red flag for me. Combine that with the fact that it is on a salvage title due to unknown amount of damage and I think you are short-term happy (price) but long-term sad. I would vote to sit on your $$ and wait for either the market craziness to subside or you find a decent deal on a clean-titled used one.
CutthroatSlam
Senior Member
Yet upgraded suspension, rear locker and badging is reeally all the Offroad Pro offers and people are will to pay insane amounts for. There is no horsepower increase to merit the higher price.
But back to the OP’s question: it’s a definite pass. For an insurance company to total such a recent vwhicle, the damage was major. You do not have the quality assurance of Toyota standing behind the vehicle, just Joe Blow’s body shop.
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manofsteele2003
New member
I’m also pretty sure that you can only get liability insurance for it, not 100% on that but that’s another huge thing to look in to.
Charles Bronson
Member
Saw that too. That suggests to me that the air bags may have gone off and/or they needed to get up under the headliner to make repairs to the roof. Perhaps the deer rolled up the hood, busted the windshield, and then impacted the front leading edge of the roof.
Charles Bronson
Member
My body shop guy told me the exact opposite a few weeks back when we got our 4Runner out of the shop for a side impact. He said that insurance is quite resistant to totaling cars because the vehicle values are sky high now, especially highly desirable vehicles. The insurance companies don't care about the shortage of parts; that's the insured's issue to contend with. Our 4runner was in the shop from 11/15 until 12/20, a majority of that time was waiting on parts. We smoked through our $500 rental car coverage quite quickly and still had a $700 rental car bill at the end. We increased our rental coverage to $1500 this month.
Go around to most body shops right now and it's like a salvage yard. Their lots are full of wrecked cars waiting on parts. Our shop is having to rent a separate lot because of the backlog in cars waiting on parts. What used to be considered totaled is largely now being fixed, no matter how long it takes. Body shops aren't necessarily happy about it either.
Please be careful driving because if you get in a wreck, it's a ROYAL PAIN to deal with right now.
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mickeyblue
New member
Our 2015 Trail was totaled in what seemed like a simple accident, the airbags never went off and the other person’s car isn’t really that bad. The woman in front of my husband slammed on her brakes in a 45 mph zone and he was flowing too closely. He tried to go off to the side and hit her rear passenger with his driver side front. They took over a month to even start repairing the truck because they were waiting on parts. Then, after taking the front end apart, the repair estimate went from $5110 to $20,900 so insurance totaled it. The report said that the firewall had been damaged and (without knowing the correct terminology) that the weld points had been damaged beyond repair. We got paid $28k+ for a 2015 Trail with just under 130k miles, and it did have the stick 4WD, multi-terrain, KDSS, and locking differential.
We had $1500 in rental insurance and we used all of that up too, waiting for repairs. And, I’m not even sure the insurance company has a higher rental amount to add to our policy.
So, just an idea what the insurance company said it was worth, and an idea about how something that looks like minor damage can be bad enough to total out a 4Runner.
We had $1500 in rental insurance and we used all of that up too, waiting for repairs. And, I’m not even sure the insurance company has a higher rental amount to add to our policy.
So, just an idea what the insurance company said it was worth, and an idea about how something that looks like minor damage can be bad enough to total out a 4Runner.
They do this in the classic Car market also. The vin should tell the story.
Whenever I'm tempted by a salvage title vehicle (also called a "branded title" in some areas), I run the VIN through a regular 'ol Google search, and look for hits on the Copart website. (Or search, "copart [VIN]")
Copart is one of the larger vehicle clearing (auction) houses for insurance salvage, used, commercial, etc., vehicles. They do a great job of taking pictures of the vehicle at auction time. You can find details (usually including pictures) from auctions that have already closed (going back months in many instances, in my experience).
I've looked at (and run away from) two salvage vehicles after finding pictures of the vehicle as sold at auction. Dealer will say, "it's a salvage title, but it was just some front-end damage, bent hood and bumper." Pictures of the pre-repair vehicle look like no one survived!
OP, you might give this a try and see if you get any hits. Might give you an idea just how badly this rig was mangled.
(First post here...been lurking and learning for months, finally had something to contribute.)
Copart is one of the larger vehicle clearing (auction) houses for insurance salvage, used, commercial, etc., vehicles. They do a great job of taking pictures of the vehicle at auction time. You can find details (usually including pictures) from auctions that have already closed (going back months in many instances, in my experience).
I've looked at (and run away from) two salvage vehicles after finding pictures of the vehicle as sold at auction. Dealer will say, "it's a salvage title, but it was just some front-end damage, bent hood and bumper." Pictures of the pre-repair vehicle look like no one survived!
OP, you might give this a try and see if you get any hits. Might give you an idea just how badly this rig was mangled.
(First post here...been lurking and learning for months, finally had something to contribute.)
Too Stroked
Member
I remember Craig Jackson (of Barrett-Jackson Auctions) once talking about that. He was talking about a very rare muscle car that had been copied many times. His words were something to the effect of, "Of the 10 examples built, only 200 or so survive."
ShermanOlsen
Member
That's a nifty tip. I have in the past found myself browsing salvage sites, and just checked a local dealer I'm aware of. Look at this sharp 911: 2014 Porsche 911 Carrera 4S for sale in Portland, OR | Stock #: 122398 Leather Interior, 7 Speed Manual!. Some assembly was required: https://en.bidfax.info/porsche/911/...s-2014-black-38l-6-vin-wp0ab2a91es122398.html.
manofsteele2003
New member
At least that one wasn’t an accident, looks like a theft recovery, but still a rebuilt title.
Absolute Home Run with your first post Mike!!! Thanks so much. Look what I found...
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Too Stroked
Member
Ah yes, it was an SR5 - and not even an SR5 Premium. I'll bet some unsuspecting person buys it and can't believe they snagged a TRD Pro for so little. Nice work!
It's a trail special edition actually. A dressed up SR5. Looks like someone snagged the trail wheels, rack and cooler before it went to the auction.
I asked my agent about this and she said I could still get physical damage coverage, but I'd have to sign a waver stating the vehicle had been repaired and that payout of a claim would be based on a diminished value of the vehicle due to the salvage status. At least that's the deal in NC.
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