Salvage Title Question

spinafable

spinafable

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I have a bit of a random question. There is a car for sale that my sis is thinking of buying. The guy who is selling it says it has a salvage title. He said it was never wrecked but was stolen. He said in CA they automatically deem a car salvage once recovered. This didn't sound right so I wanted to know, if she orders a Carfax on the vehicle would it show why it is a salvage title?
 
spinafable said:
I have a bit of a random question. There is a car for sale that my sis is thinking of buying. The guy who is selling it says it has a salvage title. He said it was never wrecked but was stolen. He said in CA they automatically deem a car salvage once recovered. This didn't sound right so I wanted to know, if she orders a Carfax on the vehicle would it show why it is a salvage title?
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As far as I know yes. Even though there may be no physical damage to the vehicle, many times because of things that could have been altered or missing such as airbags, locks, alarm, ECU, mechanical integrity due to vandalism, etc etc they will deem the vehicle unsafe so they will label it as SALVAGE to let potential buyers know there is more to it than meets the eye. It is a royal pain in the ass to deal with a salvage title vehicle here in Cali. DMV will not register it under the new buyers name until it has been meticulously inspected and signed off on by a CHP officer. If they find anything out of place or missing they will make you fix it and won't pass it until you do. And unless the seller is nice enough to pay for whatever needs to be fixed, it will be on your dime.
 
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My dad is looking at a rebuilt title dakota tomorrow. He said he was gonna carfax it so hope he does .

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6speedquadcab said:
As far as I know yes. Even though there may be no physical damage to the vehicle, many times because of things that could have been altered or missing such as airbags, locks, alarm, ECU, mechanical integrity due to vandalism, etc etc they will deem the vehicle unsafe so they will label it as SALVAGE to let potential buyers know there is more to it than meets the eye. It is a royal pain in the ass to deal with a salvage title vehicle here in Cali. DMV will not register it under the new buyers name until it has been meticulously inspected and signed off on by a CHP officer. If they find anything out of place or missing they will make you fix it and won't pass it until you do. And unless the seller is nice enough to pay for whatever needs to be fixed, it will be on your dime.
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Thanks for explaining 6speedquadcab. The guy who is selling it is military and said that the car is in great working condition. He gave her the VIN and seems pretty up front about everything. She just loves the style of car and they do not come up for sale that often here in NM. She has had a few of them over the years and has one right now but was looking for another to keep.
 
spinafable said:
Thanks for explaining 6speedquadcab. The guy who is selling it is military and said that the car is in great working condition. He gave her the VIN and seems pretty up front about everything. She just loves the style of car and they do not come up for sale that often here in NM. She has had a few of them over the years and has one right now but was looking for another to keep.
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No problem at all sir. It may not be a problem for your sister since you are in NM. California just has some really strict laws and that's what makes it a pain. I would just ask many questions and for sure look at the carfax. Very little escapes the records on vehicles here. It's a blessing and a curse at the same time.
 
6speedquadcab said:
No problem at all sir. It may not be a problem for your sister since you are in NM. California just has some really strict laws and that's what makes it a pain. I would just ask many questions and for sure look at the carfax. Very little escapes the records on vehicles here. It's a blessing and a curse at the same time.
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Hmm....well that's a first, can't say that I have been addressed as sir before. Not sure how stringent the laws are here in NM in regards to salvage vehicles. May go and check out the vehicle this weekend and definitely pull the carfax beforehand.
 
Honestly, they are not worth the hassle. I work in the insurance industry. Just look at this way, if the vehicle is wrecked it will total out again very easy and the insurance company is not going to give you anything for it. As far as they are concern it should have been crushed.

Only reason to buy a salvage vehicle is if you plan on making it into a project car.I wouldnt buy one for a commuter car.
 
spinafable said:
Hmm....well that's a first, can't say that I have been addressed as sir before. Not sure how stringent the laws are here in NM in regards to salvage vehicles. May go and check out the vehicle this weekend and definitely pull the carfax beforehand.
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Also be sure you can get the amount and type of insurance coverage you want. Here you can only get liability insurance or the state required minimum. So, if she wrecked it or hit a large animal, the car itself would not be covered.

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trussman said:
Also be sure you can get the amount and type of insurance coverage you want. Here you can only get liability insurance or the state required minimum. So, if she wrecked it or hit a large animal, the car itself would not be covered.

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She already checked and her insurance agent said she can get up to full coverage on the vehicle if she decides to buy it. So that is one good thing at least.
 
The salvage title might drop off when it gets registered into another state. I've seen it happen before.
 
Walk away......there are millions of cars for sale out there!:)
 
Resale value is diminished so if she is thinking of being in a salvaged title car for a few years and trying to sell it she will have problems.
 
seethrough said:
Resale value is diminished so if she is thinking of being in a salvaged title car for a few years and trying to sell it she will have problems.
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I think if she buys it she plans in keepibg it for years. This wouldn't be a car she would resell.
 
To answer your question,
The CarFax can possibly show you why it is a Salvage. Maybe theft and recovery, or accident, or possibly a repo and when it was recovered the repo agent dragged it and bent something underneath.
That being said, Carfax reports can be manipulated to a certain degree so while they are a decent barometer there is a chance of not being 100% correct. It is buyer beware.
Personally I would not touch a salvage title vehicle unless I just wanted it for parts.
 
505 V10 said:
To answer your question,
The CarFax can possibly show you why it is a Salvage. Maybe theft and recovery, or accident, or possibly a repo and when it was recovered the repo agent dragged it and bent something underneath.
That being said, Carfax reports can be manipulated to a certain degree so while they are a decent barometer there is a chance of not being 100% correct. It is buyer beware.
Personally I would not touch a salvage title vehicle unless I just wanted it for parts.
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Thanks for the insight 505. The vehicle is the twin to the one she has. The only difference is that hers is a standard. Not sure what her plans are but she might end up using it for parts later on.
 
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