Save Money With a Salvage Car

If you have some automotive background, you’ve, without a doubt faced the occasional temptation to invest some of your time in a salvaged vehicle. After all, if your mechanical or auto body repair skills are up to snuff, there isn’t a whole lot of risk involved in coming up empty. In the worst case scenario, you could part out the vehicle and make a decent profit or use a salvaged vehicle as a spare-parts donor car for a vehicle with a clean title of the same model. Of course, we all know that salvage vehicles are bought on a case-by-case basis because the devil’s in the deets. Nevertheless, when it comes to paging through the salvage cars for sale, we have some good advice for any consumer.

What is a Salvaged Vehicle?

A salvaged vehicle is a vehicle that was written off as a total loss by the insurance company. Although this differs by state and insurers, a “total loss” generally means that 50 to 70-percent of the vehicle’s pre-collision value is needed to foot the repair estimates. Considering that an estimate is just an estimate and the potential for depreciation, notwithstanding repairs, it is safer for insurers to pay the pre-collision value to the owner. This leads to greater customer loyalty and satisfaction with insurance companies. In some states, a salvage title is issued on any vehicle that is reclaimed after a theft. These vehicles may present the best value because they are stigmatized for their illicit use rather than physical damage.

Irresistible Savings vs. Value

There is always a balancing scale when it comes to salvaged vehicles. The hardest problem is what the seller isn’t telling you that may be critical to the ultimate valuation. People really have a lot to lose when they get too deeply invested in a project with too many iffy factors. The fact is that a car with running issues is virtually worthless if it is your sole vehicle. If you are a mechanic or have a trustworthy shop like R&R Cars Sales that is willing to inspect a vehicle with a salvage title, that is the only surefire method of getting to the truth of accident damage.

Severe flood damage can be virtually impossible to assess. These vehicles should be correctly valued at the cost of the mechanical parts and chassis after labor to uninstall is accounted for at your personal teardown rates. Having a professional mechanic waste their time picking parts for you, may not cover the cost of the labor. Only a specialist like R&R Cars Sales would have the experience to rebuild and assess the real-world value of flood-damaged vehicles. There is no point in shopping at auctions or a salvage cars sale when you can have an expert team hand select the choice models and restore them.

Reselling Salvaged Vehicles

Salvaged vehicles are difficult to resell if you are an individual seller with no reputation. When you purchase a salvaged vehicle, expect to keep the car for the long haul. Saving 30-40% off the cost of the same vehicle with a clean title only incurs its full value when you make that vehicle last as long as possible. The salvage title will never be fully cleared and restored to a clean title. The history of the vehicle may be arcane and can make it more difficult to prove to a potential buyer what exactly happened.

You may find that shopping for a salvaged vehicle is more of a confidence game when you are at a salvage cars sale. The person who has more mechanical knowledge and experience with the outcome of these vehicles will have a plain advantage.