salvage cars

C

Campese

New member
Have a guy I work with, always has a nice "new" car about once very two years. I know what he makes, and ask him how he can afford to get a new car so often, and they are nice cars. He tells me all he does is works with a local collision shop, with a guy he knows that owns it. They find newer salvage cars, bring them in, fix what's wrong, new paint, any customizations he wants, and Walla, a brand new looking stang with custom color paint that looks awsome, and for much cheaper than buying new. He then sells them after awhile for almost what he put into it (according to him) and gets another one.



Just wondering if anyone here does this. I was going to buy a used car, but there are so many imperfections in paint ect. and new cars cost so much, this seems like the perfect choice to be able to keep a weekend car, detailed perfectly, that no one could tell was salvage for a good price, and with things I requested to make it look and feel great.



I realize the downfalls, such as much lower resale, having a salvage title, things possibly going wrong that you didn't forsee from the crash ect. but feel like it's worth it. Anyone have a past experience good or bad, or do this often?
 
As long as the vehicle is structurally sound, I don't really see what the problem is.



...although to have a salvaged title, it probably was in pretty bad condition at one time right?



I've got a friend that is always buying used cars, cleaning them up really well, and reselling for decent profit. Seems like a fun hobby if you can afford the initial cost.
 
It's the safety aspect that would scare me off. How confident can you be the airbags will go off as intended, that the frame and structual integrity are as they should be, and many other concerns. Personally, I would not want such a car but I have known a couple of people that did buy them. One was very happy, the other not happy at all.
 
Way back when I had a friend and his brothers that would go buy these salvaged title Fords. Since their dad worked for Ford they got all the parts dirt cheap. But these guys did all the work at home. One day I found them in the alley with one end of a chain attatched to the front of a Mustang and the other end attatched to a telephone pole. Then his younger brother was slamming the car in reverse pulling out the frame. I swore to never buy a car from them after seeing this. LOL
 
just be careful... if it's salvaged, the damage could be in an area where you may have problems later down the line.
 
Forget it!

Salvage cars are not for "sane" buyers. Too much to risk and too low of a resale. Once the salvage title comes out, its a wrap on the resale! You would be lucky to get 70 percent of NADA book.
 
This sort of thing reminds me of the "I know a guy who makes a fortune on real estate without using a penny of his own money" stuff ;)



I know a local body/frame shop that's been doing this for years. Sometimes they keep them, sometimes they resell them.



Sometimes somebody "totals" a car for insurance purposes, resulting in a salvage title, even though there was minimal damage, nothing to worry about.



But FWIW I wouldn't touch such a car for any amount of money and I'd take anybody's claims about how great it works out with a grain of salt (or more like a truckload ;) ). I've had too many mildly wrecked cars that were repaired properly and still didn't drive the same.



And yeah, you can forget about resale value. Even a non-salvage/total wreck history will demolish the resale (voice of experience).



Sort of things to wonder about: if frame work was done, did they *really* get inside those frame/subframe rails and ensure that there won't be any corrosion later? Did things get replaced or pulled back into place, and if the latter, did this affect the metal's structural integrity and how? Who's gonna decide what to use for a donor car, and are they gonna evaluate it with your best interest at heart? What about the time it spent between the wreck and your acquiring it, any water damage/etc. that you'll only notice later (on a hot day when it smells funny)? What about the psychological aspect, knowing that your car was "totaled"? I'd wonder about insurance claim issues if you got hurt in a later wreck too.



And finally, lots of shops promise perfection, but they very seldom deliver it. Wrecked cars usually look like repaired wrecks if you look closely enough. Voice of experience on this point too- my Audis sure aren't good as new cosmetically, and they both really oughta be considering the limited damage they've suffered and my willingness to spend whatever it takes.
 
People who buy salvaged cars and redo them to make them look brand new sell them to dummies who dont have internet and dont know waht carfax is or to dummies who dont care if its been salvaged.
 
I'd also lke to ad that most banks WILL NOT give a loan to a retail cuatomer to buy a salvage junk, I mean car.



You risk your life and the lives of all other people on the road when driving one of these if they were glued back together anything but perfect. I really thought only drug dealers bought these?
 
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