Blue Lion

My Mom is buying an Infiniti Q45 with a salvaged title. The car was stolen when the owner left the keys in it. The car was recovered with no damage after the insurance company paid the claim to replace it. The car has low miles and is in great shape. But the title from VA says it's salvaged.
The difference here is that the price is so awesome it's worth the purchase. Keep shoping and see if you can get a lower price either on the salvaged Vette or elsewhere.

PaceThis

Salvage titles can show up on cars for various reasons...not all of them have much damage. But some of them have had a lot of damage.

If you're comfortable with the repairs and you're saving money, it might be a good deal. Most lenders will not loan on salvage, which keeps the prices down a little, but they're not that hard to sell...I've had many salvage vehicles...

Merlin02

I agree with the above posts. I once owned a car with a salvage title. It hadn’t been wrecked, but it had been stolen and the insurance company paid off the owner. The car was recovered, but by that time, the owner had already been paid off by their insurance company. The insurance company, who now owned the vehicle, had to sell it with a salvaged title. I bought the car not knowing exactly what I was getting into. I had a very hard time trying to sell the car. No one wanted to buy the car no matter what explanation I tried to give for the salvaged title. Personally, I would never buy a car with a "salvage title" again! I could barely give it away.

Jim2003

If you plan to keep it and drive it for a longer period of time, it might be OK, but the price is high. My buddy who is a body shop owner says it is really hard to sell a car with a salvage title here in KY and get any money for it.

Brian Flickinger

As a rule of thumb you can automatically knock off 5-6k of the KBB value after it is inspected and road ready . I am looking at a 2003 Red with Shale interior with a light hit in the front ( hard enough to require interior airbags to deploy ). The vehicle has 40k miles and the interior and rear 3/4 is mint ( like new ) price $8,200 and the replacement parts plus paint will bring the cost to $10,250 - . If there is anyone interested in the vehicle after the parts are installed , I will be selling it for $18.5 k (603) 232 - 6668 Brian in Manchester NH ( I can send pics of the car presently )

rkhegler

You can find a lot of clean C5s for cheap if you just do the research. I would not buy a salvaged vehicle. JMO.

Illini Al

7 years??? IBTL.

tigers123

I'm enjoying my 30000 mile 1998 convertible with salvage title. It had 25000 on it when I bought it. No frame damage front end hit. Cracked both fenders and front before the hood. Total front clip replacement done by a wyotech graduate. I paid 15000 two years ago for it. I have had more trouble with bad gm design problems on the car than any problem with the wreck. Example: column lock brake and steering wheel sensor and tire sensors. Car is rock solid drives out nice, Won best in class last year at Ponca City corvette show. So I think it presents well. I think a lot of this is perception. The judges at the show could not tell it had ever been wrecked. And you will find that the older these cars get the more "qualified" they become to become salvage cars due to the rising cost of repairs verses the value of the used car. Just remember you own a c5 and it is at the end of the day to the insurance company a used car.

lavery48

I bought a salvage 1998 C-5.....By the time I bought all the parts, paid to have it repainted,it would have been just as cheap to have bought one not wrecked and on top of that, it has the salvage title.....just saying

DaDuck

there are so many C5's available that a Salvage Title should discount the price at least 25%.

s'noJob

Granted this thread started seven years ago. Who even knows what the OP purchased?? He probably bought the vehicle and then his seventeen year old daughter totaled it six weeks later.

Somebody may have dug up this thread while searching (!) for info on salvaged titles. Who knows? He may have been researching because he was looking to either buy or sell a vehicle with a salvaged title - maybe both!

My advise to the OP would have been, Buy the vehicle, and then when you're tired of it, either sell it back to the salvage company that thought it was worth so much, or tear it down, sell all the parts on eBay, then buy yourself a new C6 with the proceeds.
.

Ronnie wilkins

I also considered buying a 99 drop top with 33,000 on it with a salvage title for about $16,500. Typical front end hit. Decided to look around a little. Found a 98 vert with 42,000 in very good shape, garage kept cheaper with clear title. search auto trader in your area with Corvette keyword . Choose the model you are looking for, the distance willing to travel, I put 200 miles, dealer or private,etc. One word to the wise. I was trying to sell my car and a dealer called me inquiring about it and noticed I was willing to trade for a c5. I said that I was looking and he said he had 6 Corvetts, all c4's, I was not interested. He asked what I was interested in and he would find it to get my car. I had searched for weeks on the Trader and had run across a low,low mileage C5 vert, 6 speed, long tubes, Varamm air, and some other nice add ons almost mint and told the dealer to get that car and I would trade him. I could not buy until I sold mine did not want to finance it. I had already talked to the owner and he had lost his job and was willing to sell for payoff ,$15,000 although he had it listed for $17,500 which I also told the dealer thinking he was a nice guy. Make a long story short the dealer knew nothing about Corvettes, had 6 C4's he could not give away, and was on the road as soon as I hung up the phone with his rollback. The owner called me after the sell and thanked me for selling his car. I call the dealer the next day asking him about our deal and he acted like he didn't know me. He said he knew all about that car before I had talked to him which was a lie because he wanted the mans phone number when I told him about it. I gave the man a free education, Told him his C4's where way over priced and he would take a loss on them because he paid to much. Told him if he wants to sell Corvettes to get the early C3's, 5's and 6's for good deals right now if he looks. I was not prying in his business because he was asking me questions about the subject. This guy was the sells manager for this place for over 25 years. To make a long story short he put the car I told him about on the lot for $22,000 end of story. Called him again and he did not return my call. I e- mailed him and told him I hoped he enjoyed the $6000 he made off my lead and said I guess a commission would be out of the question . I sold my car 4 days latter, could have kicked myself for trusting this clown. Went through the whole searching process again and found another private seller willing to make a deal. This time I took the education this dealer taught me and kept my mouth shut. Sorry for the long rant but it takes time and effort to do it the way I did but it does pay off. Moral of the story, don't tell until your car is in your garage.

Phanni

The salvage title has nothing to do with the fact that a '99 priced at that level is waaaaaaay too much.

Ronnie wilkins

Thee 99 drop top with salvage title I looked at only had 33,000 and I could have bought it for 16,000. I might have took it for 14,000 but the guy said $16,000 was bottom dollar. After the repairs he could have had that much in it though. I decided not to go that much and found one with a few more miles with a clean title for about the same price.

Mike87Vette

Just picked up a 99 c5 convertible $17,500 with 23000 miles and new eagle f1s on it and a clean title

RetiredSFC 97

Dang, I've been had again.

Ronnie wilkins

Good find Mike. Thats the point I was trying to make. Search the web sites, Auto Trader.Com in your area is good and you can narrow down the distance you are willing to travel and the amount you want to spend. I have also found some good deals on Collector Car Nation.Com running the search from near to far so you can check it out before buying. It might take a month or so to run across that great deal but if your patient you will find one.

02z06dave

Try looking beyond your area. You can have a car shipped cross country or do a road trip. If prices are high in your area, it couldnt hurt to look elsewhere

OkieBikerDude

That car is way over priced for one with a salvage title. Maybe $12,000 tops. Don't be afraid to travel for the right car, they are out there.

Okie

m6 c5

Some people need to pay attention to how old the thread is, at the time it wasnt all that high of a price.