How much less is a salvage title worth
02-11-2005, 09:36 AM
#21
Drifting
3 major lies
1. The check is in the mail
2. I love you
3. There is nothing wrong with a salvage titled car.
You seem sold on this car. And no amount of reasoning is going to detur you from it.
Go ahead and buy it. If you don't some other poor smuck will be stuck with it.
I would never buy a salvage car
1. The check is in the mail
2. I love you
3. There is nothing wrong with a salvage titled car.
You seem sold on this car. And no amount of reasoning is going to detur you from it.
Go ahead and buy it. If you don't some other poor smuck will be stuck with it.
I would never buy a salvage car
Last edited by ROADAPPLE; 02-11-2005 at 10:57 AM.
02-11-2005, 09:36 AM
#22
Instructor
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Keep in mind that even if you do plan to keep it forever, you never know if some numb skull will end up totaling the car by wrecking in to it. In that case, insurance would be paying you for the car based on a salvage title, so you better get the value right or find some way to make sure your valuation matches the insurance company's.
02-11-2005, 09:36 AM
#23
Burning Brakes
OK. you're new. WE like to call our cars Navy Blue Metallic. Midnight blue sounds like a Mustang color. NBM is IMO the best color. Black at night, almost multicolored in bright sun. Buy the car to keep. Selling a salvage title car is tough. I have a Maz. 929 , a recovered hail damage car, that nobody will touch. Otherwise sounds like a great car. Then again I'm partial, it sounds like mine. 
02-11-2005, 10:04 AM
#24
Race Director
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2015 C5 of Year Finalist
St. Jude Donor '05-'06-'07-'08-'09-'10
More than what you describe must have happened to the car to have been written off. A paint job and a couple of body panels isn't enough to write off a Corvette. My .02
02-11-2005, 10:16 AM
#25
Melting Slicks
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Originally Posted by Stock Man
More than what you describe must have happened to the car to have been written off. A paint job and a couple of body panels isn't enough to write off a Corvette. My .02
They are not telling you the whole story. Cost of the damage needs to be over 50%+ of the value of the car to salvage. Ins. guys please chime in. There is something else going on to salvage the car. Plus, his price is WAY HIGH!!
02-11-2005, 10:46 AM
#26
Racer
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dont let a salvage title scare you off. i myself have owned four cars that i have fixed up myself that have had salvage titles and had no extra troubles, while it is true they do sell for less you also buy them for less.
02-11-2005, 11:19 AM
#27
Burning Brakes
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I bought a 93 chev. PU with a salvage title, great looking low rider paid well below low book for it. I was involved in rear ender, the insurance company paid more to fix it then I paid for it, no questions asked. Sold it to a friend (he knew the history) for what I orginally paid for it, so not all salvaged titles are a bad thing.You have to get the price down IMO.The truck still looks and runs great. 
Last edited by binkysgarage; 02-11-2005 at 11:22 AM.
02-11-2005, 11:20 AM
#28
Le Mans Master
price
I would only buy it if I had no intention of selling it ever. Also I agree with one of the posts above concerning why it would have been totaled with a salvage title with such minor damage, something does not seem right there. I personally would offer him 12k and if you are in no hurry you may get it after he finds out there is little market for it at his current price. Get on ebay and see what they are selling for, not what they are asking look at ended sales and see what they went for if they meet the reserve price. In general you will see most of the vette sales do not meet the reserve price. A 99 coupe depending on miles on ebay has been going for around 18-22 with a regular title.
02-11-2005, 04:06 PM
#29
There is good advice on this forum. If the car was something I knew I would keep and I trusted the car, I would consider buying. Just keep ing mind that a lot of banks don't like lending money on salvage title vehicles, so selling it may be a problem. But I knew a guy that bought a C4 that was a theft recovery, and this car was striped down and the guy loved the car and never had any problems with it or trying to sell it.
02-12-2005, 05:30 PM
#30
Race Director
Originally Posted by Stock Man
More than what you describe must have happened to the car to have been written off. A paint job and a couple of body panels isn't enough to write off a Corvette. My .02
This was my thoughts also. Everything just doesn't seem to be coming out from the original post. Personally, I think the car warrants a lot closer investigation before buying to determine the true reason for the slavage title.
02-12-2005, 05:43 PM
#31
Lepus-temperamentalus
I agree. He wants way too much for a salvage car (IMO, if I were even to consider one, it'd have to be no more than half what a car with a good title would be) and they don't total Corvettes for a bumper, a hood and a removeable top. This is a train wreck looking for a place to happen.
02-12-2005, 09:05 PM
#33
Let the buyer beware
At best a salvage title car is worth sixty cents on the dollar and that is only if you know the car. I work for a GM dealer in sales. When we look at a salvage vehicle we are extremely cautious. You should be too. If you are looking for a track car and can determine that there was NO structural damage, a salvage titile vehicle might be a good buy....but if you are looking for an automobile that you can sell down the road as a daily driver be very careful. IMHO
02-12-2005, 10:01 PM
#35
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
Thanks for all the good advice thats been posted here.
I put a post in the for sale section under WTB in the SF Bay Area, and I'm not surprised to be saying that no one has a likely candidate in my price range. This area is an inflated market for C5s. Dealers want, after some haggling, about 10K more for a slightly newer car with similar miles, but the wrong trans and color. Private sellers are a little better, but not much. I watch Craigslist, and today under corvettes three C5s came up for sale. They're all friggin convertibles, and probably silver automatics too - exactly what I don't want. I've been looking for about two months now, and there have been very few that I'd be interested in. This one is exactly what we're looking for as far as color, trans, coupe, low miles, etc. If I didn't know the guy I would walk away. I'll check for receipts for all the body panels, etc. If I can get a few K off the price we might have a deal. All the advice here has given me reason enough to feel I can haggle with the guy.
I put a post in the for sale section under WTB in the SF Bay Area, and I'm not surprised to be saying that no one has a likely candidate in my price range. This area is an inflated market for C5s. Dealers want, after some haggling, about 10K more for a slightly newer car with similar miles, but the wrong trans and color. Private sellers are a little better, but not much. I watch Craigslist, and today under corvettes three C5s came up for sale. They're all friggin convertibles, and probably silver automatics too - exactly what I don't want. I've been looking for about two months now, and there have been very few that I'd be interested in. This one is exactly what we're looking for as far as color, trans, coupe, low miles, etc. If I didn't know the guy I would walk away. I'll check for receipts for all the body panels, etc. If I can get a few K off the price we might have a deal. All the advice here has given me reason enough to feel I can haggle with the guy.
02-12-2005, 11:59 PM
#36
Melting Slicks
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St. Jude Donor '06
I deal in salvage title cars everyday. I have seen cars salvaged with very little or no damage for various reasons. The price you have listed is high for a salvage title even at retail pricing, but if this is the car you want you need to live with what it will cost you. For all you NO SALVAGE TITLE guys take a look at one of my latest purchases:
This is what it looked like when I purchased it:
The car has 60 miles and is NEW. The car was in a dealership service garage that burned, there is only smoke damage, no heat damage. It cleaned up great. This car was salvaged by Ford. I can save you over $10,000 off kbb retail pricing. Let's hear why you sould not buy this car. Are you buying a car or a piece of paper!
TommyN
This is what it looked like when I purchased it:
The car has 60 miles and is NEW. The car was in a dealership service garage that burned, there is only smoke damage, no heat damage. It cleaned up great. This car was salvaged by Ford. I can save you over $10,000 off kbb retail pricing. Let's hear why you sould not buy this car. Are you buying a car or a piece of paper!
TommyN
Last edited by tommyn; 02-13-2005 at 12:03 AM.
02-13-2005, 12:10 AM
#37
Burning Brakes
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There are a few Vettes on EBay with salvage titles that I've been watching and they're all over 10,000 bucks on the bidding and these cars haven't even been repaired yet. So it looks like there is a market for salvage Vettes and if the car wasn't mangled in a wreck it's probably a good driver. If you live in a different state they may issues it a clean title when you apply for one. If people see that you've owned the car for a few years and you try to sell it with the salvage title they'll probably not be super disturbed about it since you've owned it for a while and it looks like you're not trying to make a quick buck on the car you'll just get less than a clean title car when it sells.
02-13-2005, 12:23 AM
#38
Team Owner
Originally Posted by Red86Cfour
Hi All
I'm looking at a 99 C5. Its midnight blue, 6 spd, black leather, HUD, power memory drivers seat, new Falken tires on chrome wagon wheels, Z06 exhaust, and 47K on the clock. It has a salvage title. It was driven through a cyclone fence, and got a new front bumper cover, hood, windshield, removeable top (body colored) and probably mirrors too. No parts were repaired, only replaced. No suspension, structural damage or airbag deployment. It got a total repaint at a shop that I've done business with before. The seller is a corvette salvage shop that I've known for probably 10 years. Its been his daily driver for about 2 years and he has not advertised this car, though he has 3 others that he is advertising. The closest dealer and private party prices that I'm seeing on KBB and autotrader online are in the 25K range, and this one is significantly lower, 19.5K
I looked at it yesterday and it was on a lift basically being stored while he drives the other cars currently for sale. I'm going to drive it on saturday, and if I like It I'll be buying it unless somebody here has any really good reasons to run away.
I'm looking for a daily driver that I'll keep for some time so I'm not concerned with investment/short term resale value, just enjoying the ride on a daily basis. The color is my Wifes favorite, so it seems like a no brainer decision so far. Is the salvage title really worth 4-6K less on the price?
Thanks
Ted
I'm looking at a 99 C5. Its midnight blue, 6 spd, black leather, HUD, power memory drivers seat, new Falken tires on chrome wagon wheels, Z06 exhaust, and 47K on the clock. It has a salvage title. It was driven through a cyclone fence, and got a new front bumper cover, hood, windshield, removeable top (body colored) and probably mirrors too. No parts were repaired, only replaced. No suspension, structural damage or airbag deployment. It got a total repaint at a shop that I've done business with before. The seller is a corvette salvage shop that I've known for probably 10 years. Its been his daily driver for about 2 years and he has not advertised this car, though he has 3 others that he is advertising. The closest dealer and private party prices that I'm seeing on KBB and autotrader online are in the 25K range, and this one is significantly lower, 19.5K
I looked at it yesterday and it was on a lift basically being stored while he drives the other cars currently for sale. I'm going to drive it on saturday, and if I like It I'll be buying it unless somebody here has any really good reasons to run away.
I'm looking for a daily driver that I'll keep for some time so I'm not concerned with investment/short term resale value, just enjoying the ride on a daily basis. The color is my Wifes favorite, so it seems like a no brainer decision so far. Is the salvage title really worth 4-6K less on the price?
Thanks
Ted
02-13-2005, 02:35 AM
#39
Burning Brakes
Originally Posted by Stock Man
More than what you describe must have happened to the car to have been written off. A paint job and a couple of body panels isn't enough to write off a Corvette. My .02
too total a $35k+ car (approx. orig. purch. price) for some paint and panels???? sounds fishy???
02-13-2005, 12:33 PM
#40
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
Rk and Us2 -
The car is fixed and driveable (though I haven't driven it yet). Its been his daily driver for about 2 years now, and he wasn't advertising it - he just mentioned it when I inquired about his other cars for sale. Insurance companies use varying percentage levels when deciding whether to total a car or not. It had about 30K on the clock when it was damaged, and would have been about 4 years old at the time. 4k a paint job (probably low), new bumper cover, hood, lights, windshield, top and labor, and I can see 10K of damage easy. Thats almost 60% of 35K, so a total judgement is believable.
The other thing to remember is I live in the SF Bay Area where prices are quite a bit higher than other areas. Somebody mentioned looking in the Houston area. Sure. Just add 1K for transportation, a plane ticket to check it out, and the hassle of bringing in an out of state car and this car looks even better.
The car is fixed and driveable (though I haven't driven it yet). Its been his daily driver for about 2 years now, and he wasn't advertising it - he just mentioned it when I inquired about his other cars for sale. Insurance companies use varying percentage levels when deciding whether to total a car or not. It had about 30K on the clock when it was damaged, and would have been about 4 years old at the time. 4k a paint job (probably low), new bumper cover, hood, lights, windshield, top and labor, and I can see 10K of damage easy. Thats almost 60% of 35K, so a total judgement is believable.
The other thing to remember is I live in the SF Bay Area where prices are quite a bit higher than other areas. Somebody mentioned looking in the Houston area. Sure. Just add 1K for transportation, a plane ticket to check it out, and the hassle of bringing in an out of state car and this car looks even better.