salvage help needed...
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Oct 2003
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From: Dallas tx
salvage help needed...
Hey guys, I'm looking for info from those of you that have experience with buying a salvaged vehicle. Is it difficult to get insurance on one of these? I guess I don't know much about the salvage title itself. The vehicle in question has no damage history and has a clean carfax. Its not a vette, its a car for my wifes little sis. Anyway, its in a different state, does that cause troubled getting it registered? Is it easy to fudge a vin number on a 2004 car? If it only has 14000 miles are they still covered by the factory warranty? Any info would be appreciated...
Team Owner
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From: altered state
St. Jude Donor '05
Originally Posted by Ras119
Hey guys, I'm looking for info from those of you that have experience with buying a salvaged vehicle. Is it difficult to get insurance on one of these? I guess I don't know much about the salvage title itself. The vehicle in question has no damage history and has a clean carfax. Its not a vette, its a car for my wifes little sis. Anyway, its in a different state, does that cause troubled getting it registered? Is it easy to fudge a vin number on a 2004 car? If it only has 14000 miles are they still covered by the factory warranty? Any info would be appreciated...
Why would you want to fudge a VIN?
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Oct 2003
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From: Dallas tx
sorry, I should have made that more clear. I don't want to fudge the VIN, I just wanna make sure someone didn't pull a bait and switch on the deal. Here's the link if anyone wants to make any comments or suggestions... http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2004-...QQcmdZViewItem
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 198
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From: Dallas tx
I agree....so the story is that the carfax is clean, which doesnt mean much to me, my '90 coupe was wrecked in the front and repainted...no mention of it in my carfax. Anyway, the guy supposedly bought it from an insurance company. Sounds kinda 
fishy...the problem is that my little sis-in-law is the winning bidder on this mess. Oh, and did anyone catch way down on the list of vehicle options that this is an alternative fuel vehicle??? 
surely thats a typo or some keystroke error??
Drifting
Joined: Mar 2005
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From: GA
I give up. I looked at the pictures and read the description..So why does it have a salvage title? Did she think to ask?
From the pictures it looks like a very nice car and they are giving a "limited warranty".
Some things I learned about the car: It has an inline 6, not a V, it is rear wheel drive. No mention of "alternative fuel" in any reviews.
From the pictures it looks like a very nice car and they are giving a "limited warranty".
Some things I learned about the car: It has an inline 6, not a V, it is rear wheel drive. No mention of "alternative fuel" in any reviews.
Last edited by Morley; Aug 9, 2005 at 01:28 AM.
Team Owner
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From: altered state
St. Jude Donor '05
If it was stolen and stripped it may not be too big a deal. Wrecked, I'd pass. From what I understand, you can bail on a winning bid as long as ou pay the Ebay fees. I could be wrong, though.
Drifting
Joined: Mar 2005
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From: GA
Originally Posted by cuisinartvette
If it was stolen and stripped it may not be too big a deal. Wrecked, I'd pass. From what I understand, you can bail on a winning bid as long as ou pay the Ebay fees. I could be wrong, though.
Could have also been a theft recovery vehicle, without damage. Then again, you'd think they'd mention that in the auction so as to not scare off potential buyers.
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Team Owner
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From: altered state
St. Jude Donor '05
Originally Posted by Morley
Could have also been a theft recovery vehicle, without damage. Then again, you'd think they'd mention that in the auction so as to not scare off potential buyers.
Race Director
Joined: Dec 2003
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From: Fremont Ca
2022 C4 of the Year Finalist - Modified
Another fine Flea Bay purchase.One question though...........WHY DOES IT HAVE A SALVAGE TITLE?If your sister in-law buys this mess she will have it forever.The best thing she can do is back out of the sale.
Florida turtle advocate
Joined: Dec 2003
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From: Gulfcoast Salvage Englewood, Fla
St. Jude Donor '05-'06
Originally Posted by Z51JEFF
Another fine Flea Bay purchase.One question though...........WHY DOES IT HAVE A SALVAGE TITLE?If your sister in-law buys this mess she will have it forever.The best thing she can do is back out of the sale.
Last edited by Daffy427; Aug 9, 2005 at 05:24 AM.
Race Director
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From: St. Peters MO Sometimes you have to prove yourself by doing alot of killing or alot of dying...
Originally Posted by HOOBS
This IS300 never been involved in Auto Accidents I guaranty
That's what it states? Would you buy from a guy that can't even spell right?
That's what it states? Would you buy from a guy that can't even spell right?
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2002
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From: The Black Hole LA
Ok, salvage vehicles aren't all bad. What you need to know is why it was salvaged. If it was a recovered theft, hey no problem it will more than likely last her years. Even if it was wrecked, as long as it was fixed right and the frame wasn't to far out of wack so it could be bent back and not cut and welded, it would probably be ok too. I have rebuilt salvage cars that were strictly cosmetic damage, just replaced a few body panels and painted and had a nice car. So you see you really need to find out why it is carrying this title. You can contact the insurance company it was bought from and they should be able to help you.
Race Director
Joined: Jan 2000
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From: USA. Northern Virginia
Fudging a Vin # is a federal crime 
and they will send you to "pound me in the azz prison" ...only a little time off for being good 
and they will send you to "pound me in the azz prison"
...only a little time off for being good
Last edited by 69mako; Aug 9, 2005 at 10:23 AM.
Race Director
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From: Kingman AZ
Cruise-In VII Veteran
Cruise-In VIII
St. Jude Donor '06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16
Back out of the deal. RUN! I once heard a financial advisor give this advice. "Hogs get butchered". There is a good reason she got this thing cheap.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2002
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From: Santa Teresa New Mexico
She paid pretty close to retail for a salvage title.
That should have been a red flag. At $19,000 for a slavage thats not cheap nor is it a steal.
In California trade in value for a salvage is 50% of book.
Reason being is they are really hard to sell. Some insurance compaines will only write PL and PD for a salvage.
Dealers in my area will not honor a factory warranty with a slavage title.
I bought a flood car and Farmers would only write a PL and PD policy for the car.
We had a flood car a Lexus LS400 and the local Lexus dealer would not honor the factory warranty. The car was bought with a clean title.
E-bay is not a good place to buy a car unless you're close enough to inspect the car personally.
Don't pay and it all goes away.
That should have been a red flag. At $19,000 for a slavage thats not cheap nor is it a steal.
In California trade in value for a salvage is 50% of book.
Reason being is they are really hard to sell. Some insurance compaines will only write PL and PD for a salvage.
Dealers in my area will not honor a factory warranty with a slavage title.
I bought a flood car and Farmers would only write a PL and PD policy for the car.
We had a flood car a Lexus LS400 and the local Lexus dealer would not honor the factory warranty. The car was bought with a clean title.
E-bay is not a good place to buy a car unless you're close enough to inspect the car personally.
Don't pay and it all goes away.
Race Director
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salvage title
There is a certain European ethnic group that operates a loosely-knit foreign auto "recycling" system in S. Cal. I replied to an ad awhile back, and discovered that "salvage" titled vehicles are quite plentiful there. In talking to one dealer, "Sergei", I was told that whatever I desired in the way of options could be taken care of quite easily, just tell him what you wanted on the used car. LOL. They sell many of these cars on e-bay to out-of state buyers. Can you say 'Chopshop"?
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 198
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From: Dallas tx
Okay guys, so it sounds like the car was salvaged due to water from an unknown source. When the repair guy got it he said the carpet was wet, and had to replace two fuse boxes. Everything appears to work fine, no water was found in the engine. It has passes a safety inspection as well. What should I be looking for with this thing and more importantly, being an ebay deal, can we look at this car and still walk away if its garbage?
Team Owner
Joined: Oct 2004
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From: altered state
St. Jude Donor '05
One thing I would be leery about is condensation buildup in the wiring harness, switches, etc. A dehumidifier will dry most of it up, but if its not done immediately after water damage corrosion could start. Everything may work well for awhile but its almost guaranteed you will have alactrical/driveability problems of some sort. Most people who get water damage to their cars get it fixed asap and dump the car right away so someone else can have the headache. Not worth it IMO