I bought a 2001 Toyota Camry with a salvage title. It had OK miles on it, 82K, and the engine bay was very clean, engine ran nicely, all seemed fine. Paid 6K for it.

Apparently it got hit in front. The headlight, the hood and possibly the windshield all got replaced. There was no frame damage and no driveability problems.

The problems started some weeks later when the airbag light came on, in addition to the check engine light. I think they somehow turned these off with a scanner and in time, they came back on.

That was not really a problem per se, except that I couldn't pass the technical inspection, and had no idea how to troubleshoot it. I have a multimeter and the electrical diagram, but so what? I am not going to take apart the air bag system basically not knowning what I am doing. Plus, it is a $1,000 part.

I think they just took out the deployed air bag and the whole I driving around with non-functional airbags. That's nice to know. Well, no surprise there. Plus, you could see the airbag cover obviously came from another car.

All in all, they did mediocre work --- the hood was misaligned, the paint was one of these super cheap deals, flaking off 1 year later so I could see the color of the donor camry (I don't think they even bothered to prime it). One of the headlights kept popping out...

All in all, salvage cars can be good deals provided you get a good price. If they are not fixed right, and issues remain, they are big bucks to troubleshoot.

 

I bought a 97 SC1 Saturn that was a salvage title a little over 3 years ago. So far it has been a good car for the boy. With a salvage title though many places won't accept as a trade in. I figure that I've gotten my money's worth out of it and bought it with the intention of driving it until it died or got wrecked.

 

Little late now but, Since it costs up to 3k to replace some airbags that's why a lot of cars get totaled even though the damage to the car isn't that bad. So you probably don't have an airbag and I'm not sure if the lights will ever stay off even if reset. I saw a new Town car for sale once that had less than $1500 in body damage, but that and the airbag on the drivers side together was almost $6k so the insurance totaled it.

 

I had no idea. Well, that explains everything.

I thought about removing the gauge cluster and cutting the wire that led to the Airbag light but then said, why bother. It developed some other issues (like the power steering pump whining, probably unrelated to the salvage issue) and I moved on...

Basically pay a low price expecting a lowest resale value... or drive it to death.

 

I've used rebuilt and have rebuilt salvage vehicles for over 30 years and used them for many troublefree miles. You don't need to worry about whether it is a salvage vehicle (except for the low resale) but you do need to know the quality of the rebuild. I know rebuilders who do quality work and I know rebuilders who patch them up. It is sometimes hard to tell the difference once they are rebuilt. I won't buy a rebuilt car unless I know who did the work.

 

my dad had a 97 vette that was a salvage...flood car... nothing but problems

 

Rebuilt cars, done right, are fine, but that is the key. Flood cars are basically parts cars, no electrical part makes it too long before failing. Corrosion and connection troubles on top of circuitry troubles just make them too much trouble. There should be a way to fix the airbag situation, but I'm sure it takes a bit more effort and money to do.
I have seen some pretty hack jobs, as well as others you would never know were wrecked if not told. If you buy one though, basically plan on running it til it is only good for the wrecking yard though. Otherwise you take a beating on the trade or resale.

 

i bought a 93 cougar with 38,000 miles on it in 99 for $1700 with a salvage title. the repair quote was $5000.
i bought a rear end total for $500, and put the hood, grill, and both headlights on my front hit car, then sold the rest of the rear hit car for $500.
got the car certified safely rebuilt by the state police, and drove it for 2 years before giving it to my niece. it now has 95,000 on it, and the only thing it has needed besides regular maintenance was rear wheel bearings last year.

 

> I bought a 2001 Toyota Camry with a salvage title. It had OK miles on it, 82K,
> and the engine bay was very clean, engine ran nicely, all seemed fine. Paid 6K for it.

You paid TOP dollar for substandard work. I thought you paid a crazy price, $6000 for a 2001 vehicle to begin with, then salvage on top of it?

www.kbb.com

Private party, fair condition (no salvage title vehicle is EVER worth more then fair condition or private party) is an even $6000 with the mileage and standard options. For a vehicle older then 72 months, extra options really do not effect > price.

Personally, I -NEVER- would have paid more then $3000 for this SALVAGE vehicle in perfect shape. Never mind the butcher job and non-working air bag system.

In the future, if you are going to buy a salvage vehicle, at least take along a $200 scanner to check the codes or better yet a mechanic with a $1200 scanner so you can test the various systems including the air bag.

> There was no frame damage and no driveability problems.

Where you there when it was on the alignment rack when it was checked? How do you know they didn't pull it? The hood isn't aligned and the headlamp is popping out ... on a unibody?

imho, The only time a salvage vehicle is a good deal is when you buy it and fix it yourself to drive.

Look at it as a lesson on buying any salvage vehicle for more then $1000, because I would be VERY surprised if it was worth more then that when the insurance company got rid of it.

> Plus, you could see the airbag cover obviously came from another car.

Yes, $25 for a complete steering wheel/cover from the junkyard where it wasn't split in quarters from deployment. FWIW: More then one used car lot has taken airbags out of a used car for sale and sold it to a body shop that charged the customer for a new one. On newer cars this is an item you have to check because the safety design of the car depends on it.

If you are going to buy a salvage vehicle at least buy one from a shop/lot/seller that keeps the receipts for everything bought stapled to the RO.

I am not ragging on you, just saying for $6000 I would have expected a perfect non-salvage vehicle and even at that, I never would spend $6000 for a 2001 car!

I am driving a $300 Bronco II that when I saw it I knew it was seriously tweaked in the front and probably wouldn't drive straight (I got luckily, it drives pretty straight and I didn't have to pull the frame with my high-lift jack). But, I bought it knowing it was a piece of SHAVING cream and was going to require a lot of work on my part.

Look at this as a learning experience, I have had a few myself, that you should never buy a salvage vehicle unless you are doing the work yourself.

 

"I have had a few myself, that you should never buy a salvage vehicle unless you are doing the work yourself."

Yep. You save the most money that way (if you are competent) and can get an excellent vehicle.

 

My step-daughter spun out and clipped a concrete wall while spinning around and took the front end nearly off of her 2001 Focus. After taking it to a body shop guy I know, (insurance totaled it) he said it could be fixed as the damage was all in front of the wheels. I bought it back and we fixed it with aftermarket parts. New hood,fenders, grille, headlights, radiator, etc. Only problem later on was turn signals. Drove like it always did. Then she got into a 7 car pileup on interstate and front end damaged again. They put oem parts back on and put it back on the road and only problem was one of the ac connections that snap on wasn't seated good and she lost all freon (r134). Put connection back on and recharged and back on the road again. The things drives good, with no adverse tire wear. Just looking at the car you would never know what it has been thru. Bottom line buyer beware.

 

rebocardo ,

Thanks for the sober reality check, that's pretty much hits the nail on the head. I will do that next time. They did a poor job, obviously so.

Actually, the model was 2000 year...and I got it last year when it was 6 years old.

I sold it for $5K after 14 months of use with the buyer fully aware of its status and condition. Actually had 2 offers to buy it.

 

my buddy has had a couple of pickups that were slavage titles for his business and they have been ok.. i know in NJ there are five salvage places where dealers buy the car and they are always full of cars so im sure alot of them are on the road.. but as with any used car buyer beware... and yeah if you know what youre doin do it yourself

 

BTW, Camry is a totally mediocre car, and not super reliable either - the power steering pump was almost out and reading the codes said the catalytic converter was bad, big $$$ to fix. All at 80K miles.

Unfortunately, Camry/Civic attained a cult like status and bring in crazy coin even for old salvaged vehicles.

 

Tell that to my son-in-law. His Avalon is the same car only fancier than a Camry and he has in excess of 250,000 miles on it and plans on keeping it 5 more years. He sold me his T-100 with 170,000 miles on it and I sold it to my cousin who now has 225,000+ on it.