Help: Decent used car with a salvage/rebuilt title from AZ. What to do?

[uppityperson]

It runs good, seems mechanically sound, buying from a reputable dealer, but... Anyone know how to find out what happened to it to make it salvage/rebuilt?

[Whoa_Nelly]

1. Doesn't matter what it was that put SALVAGE on the title

Unless that is at the top of your budget for buying a car, move away and keep looking. Honest...best advice given all night.

PS Usually means the frame and body were totaled....

[pitohui]

2. just walk away

it was totalled you can't insure it now, take a clue train it's bad news

[uppityperson]

4. I can insure because have in the past

I bought one before (by accident, so to speak) that ended up with a broken frame.
My spouse's vehicle was totalled, bought back, fixed up and is fine.
This one looks good, is best in the (inexpensive) price range but I am really torn so thanks.

[henslee]

3. it could be anything from an insurance agent deciding it cost more

to fix than what its worth..... to the fact that the frame is actually bent. As far as finding out what happened to it... what about carfax? Then tracking down owner at time.

[uppityperson]

5. Thanks, I found out about it through carfax

Not sure how to track down the owner at the time since they don't do it and, what I can tell from AZ DMV site, they won't tell me either. argh

[Gold Metal Flake]

6. In addition to the good advice already given...

With some research, depending on the cause, I would buy a salvage-title car. Howeverf, If I had to replace an engine or trans or repair the suspension or do some rewiring I could do it in my driveway. If you are not a mechanic, shadetree or otherwise, you should probably back away. Without knowing for sure what happened, what was replaced, what quality of new or used parts were used, it's a real crapshoot.

BTW, flooding is another reason for a car to be totaled. Think about all the flooded cars we have seen on the news lately.

[Kali]

8. Yeah - everybody buying used for the next couple years should

watch out for flood damaged cars. I'd rather take a busted frame salvage than wet wiring!

[Kali]

7. You will have to have it inspected by dmv before you can register it

I think its about 25 bucks - the inspector can tell you what is wrong. I have a buch of abandoned vehicles, including one that the title came back salvage - that is what they told me when I asked and knowing my regular inspector (for getting the titles) that is probaably true.

Thanks for the reminder I REALLY need to get some paperwork done. What are you looking at - I am in AZ and have a buch og old vans - be happy to unload one (or more!) cheap.

[uppityperson]

9. It's a smallish car and I'm in WA

If I was in AZ, I'd pop down to the DMV and talk with them. I'm off to talk with the seller today, let him know it's AZ salvage and see what he has to say, get it checked out further, etc.

[Kali]

10. Man I souldn't post after 9 - surprised you could read that with

all the missing letters and strange spelling! Let us know what you find.

[SoCalDem]

11. Tinfoil time..

What if a bunch of Louisiana cars were bought at auction, trucked to AZ and titled there for purposes of reselling with a "dry state" title?

run away..

Everyone should buy a car with this thought in their head.."Would I/my wife/mu husband/my kids/my dog survive a crash in this vehicle"?.. No one wants to think about crashing a car, but we don't usually get to choose when or if that happens..

[KamaAina]

14. DING DING DING! We have a winner.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N26402821.htm

John Garamendi warned that some dealers and salvage yards were selling cars water damaged in places such as New Orleans, which was hit by both hurricanes last year. The cars had been dried out and cosmetically cleaned for resale, he said.

"We actually know of about just a handful at the moment. We came across seven in Los Angeles at an auto auction," he said in an interview. "We know of at least one here at an auto auction yard in northern California."

"We suspect that this is the very tippy top of the proverbial iceberg."

His office said flood-damaged vehicles had shown up in other states including Arizona, Florida and New York.

[sendero]

15. I'm a used car dealer..

... I'll tell ya right now, there is no easier damage to detect than flood. If the car has been flooded, it won't be that hard to tell.

To the OP, some have touched on some good advice, but there is also some knee-jerk advice here. Here is my opinion....

If you carefully inspect the car, you can tell what has been replaced and repainted. It really isn't that hard, even for a novice. Look carefully at the paint and at the body seams where stuff is welded. Compare one side to the other, if it looks different, it's been replaced.

Having a salvage title does not mean the car has had extensive damage. On an older car, a mere scrape along the side is enough to total the car. If a pro repair of the damage was going to cost anywhere near what the "book" value of the car was, the insurance co will pay off the insured, sell the car at a salvage auction and the title will be marked salvage. Generally speaking, the newer a car is, the more you need to worry about a salvage title - because if it was a 2004 car worth 15K, to be totalled it would have to have 10K worth of damage (using round numbers) - but a 1998 car woorth $4k would only need $3K worth - not much damage necessarily.

Also, folks who would just write off a car because of salvage title - well maybe. But take these two factors into account: 1) you should definitely pay less for a car with a salvage title. and 2) a properly repaired wrecked car is as good as new.

If the car drives right - i.e. tracks straight, handles well - I just wouldn't be that concerned about a salvage title.

[uppityperson]

16. Salvage title was 10 yrs ago, but this is a good thing to know.

[LSK]

12. get a carfax on it

You can pull information on it from www.carfax.com

Tells you where it was originally purchased, recalls performed, who owned it before, etc etc.

[uppityperson]

17. It tells me the history but not who owned it

That's how I found the salvage title. But they won't give owners or why it was salvage (how bad it was hurt, costmetic or structural). Thanks

[pinniped]

13. Watch out, some girl on an investigative news program had a...

Honda something and it was two cars welded together.

Her dad didn't know when he purchased it.