Most of my dream cars are older cars. Which means I’ll be putting work into the car anyway. If the body was put back well enough that it ran for years then it’s probably okay and I would buy a SALVAGED title car as a fun project.
Bought one for our daughters first car. Thank God we did because she hit everything. And if she wasn't busy hitting shit, people were always "running into her"
@@irtiqahashim9459 Okay, looking at statistics might help guys. Also, can we stop stereotyping? I mean yeah some women are bad drivers, some men are sexist. The majority are fine people.
Two weeks after I bought my first truck, it got totaled in an accident. It was only light body damage and a new door, but because was so old, it was totaled. Bought it back from insurance for pennies on the dollar. That was almost 10 years ago and that truck is still my daily driver.
My stepdad threw me his totaled nissan frontier. I drove around with ziptied on headlights for 6 months until I sold it to my friend for $100. He fixed it up to the point it just looked like a truck. Week later some old lady decided to panic crossing a highway at the top of a hill and he tboned her. He got $7000 from the insurance company and bought a fancy v10 dodge a month later....it blew up....
I wish I would've pulled the trigger on buying my 370Z back from my insurance when they totaled it a year ago. Now I'm stuck looking for sports cars in one of the worst times to buy a sports car in modern history lol
I did not know you can "buy" your totaled car back from the insurance company. I guess it varies state by state. There are laws put into place that prohibit such transactions, the insurance company must sell it to the salvage yard, where it goes up for auction.
My father had a business of selling salvage cars: he bought them salvage, had some good bodyshops fixing the cars and resold them. Since he managed only to buy "one of the kind" salavage mobels (ie: 2000 Mazda Miata SE, 2001 Mazda Miata SE, 2002 Miata SE), people wanted to own those cars but not able to pay the full price for a clean title ended up to buy cars from my father. Straight of the bat, my father always said the status of car (salvage) with all the pictures of the damage from all angles. When he ended up selling a car, he gave every single info about the repairs and also gave all the pictures of the car of his prior damage. Some people ended up to back a 2nd and 3rd car from my father because they trust him. My brother has an 2001 Acura Integra GS with the rebuilt title. My father bought it and fixed it. This Acura Integra still rolling the streets even after 20years after being wecked. Nobody can't tell that's a rebuilt car.
back in the 80's and 90's, my dad would buy cars at auctions for his friend with a shop/lot. Somehow, he'd turn salvaged cars bent in half into brand new, and even had ways of getting the title clean. I'm not sure how, but there was a way to do it back then ig.
needed a *Legally asterisk lol. albeit there's a similar trick used to register cars that don't even have a title period. any car older than 15 years does not require a title to be registered in Vermont, and Vermont registration is transferable as a title to all other 49 US states.
You can but the cost and time just too much...You may well buy a normal used car at market rate... it is better for a million dollar auction car.......
Dude my current car is a salvage and it’s the most reliable car I’ve ever owned. Everyone told me I would regret it but here we are 4 years later and it still drives like new
Here's a tip: Google the VIN of any salvage title car you're considering buying. Auction sites will have pictures of the damage and you can decide if the damage and repairs are an acceptable tradeoff for the price. I got my 2019 BRZ for cheap and all it had was some damage to the radiator mounts and front fender. Replace the bumper, fix the mounts, replace the fender, and boom. Good as new. Runs great and is so fun to drive and I got it for thousands under market.
Honestly younare the real MVP. Works like a charm. I was just about to see a car, I searched the VIN in GOOGLE, found out its had major front impact. Carfax didn't record that. Thank you so much. 🙌🏾
How much you got for 2019 BRZ? I found a GR86 2023 only 2,300 miles and the damage is same as yours but is only 4-5 grand less but it is a rebuilt title
I can hear him now. "Rev Up Your Engines! I found that buying Salvaged title cars makes you STUPID. Back in my day we only ran salvage cars because I got them at a decent price and i could fix it myself, I've never had a Salvage car, You shouldn't buy a money pit..." Guy can't make up his mind half the time... LOL
My dad's van got the windows shot out (by a BB gun) along with about 60 other vehicles that night. The cost to repair was going to be the retail value of the van. Insurance told him vandalizism want covered in his policy, so he didn't go through insurance and a pair a junkyard to replace his windows.
My '02 E55 AMG Mercedes got shot up parked on the street in front of a friends apartment. Thankfully, they only shot out both front windows, rear drivers door window and drivers door frame. S, besides replacing door, which I found a matching door, there was no major body damage.
prolly bc it was an actual rebuild lol, these guys tried to convince my gramma that they could WELD THE BLOCK on her jeep as a 'rebuild', but with no new motor. Keep that zed mint doe
My brother bought a 08 g35 back in 2010. It currently has 280,000 miles and still runs. I’d say it’s just as a big deal to know how well maintained the car was before you, rather then the reason it was salvaged.
@Morocho Vallecitos that’s why you buy real low, like auction sites. I have not lost money on any car I owned(broke even a few times(but that’s still good, I don’t pay money to use a car)). I buy them, fix them, drive them for a few months and sell them. The funny part about salvage is if the car is worth more than you can sell it for you just ride around until the lines meet and the market will take the car. Some times that take a long time. That’s why I stay away from expensive salvages, but if I get a car I really want then I’ll get as nice one, and keep it longer
honestly. i enjoyed his older videos more, straight to the point and was 100% correct. too much clickbait now so it’s hard to find what your looking for
@@HPsawus he’s a pretty weird guy in general lol I mean when he posts a video he’ll change the title the day after, like just recently he posted a video “Toyota fans are gonna hate me for this” and in it he talks about how the GR Corolla probably won’t match the Civic typeR, but the video title basically wasn’t wrong that it might anger Toyota fans….a day later he titled the video “You’re gonna hate me for this” which is most definitely clickbait 😂 because it’s ominous and no longer straight to the point
@@Naxatthedoor I know this is late but I think its a strategy that he uses to get more clicks. People may think he uploaded a new video when he really just changed the title and thumbnail. He's a genuine mechanic, but he definitely knows how to cheese the RU-vid system lol
@@manuelsanchez5028 yeah that’s what I meant, but he takes it a step further by making a certain demographic in the car scene take curiosity to it before everyone else does lol
True, as well as those that are only cosmetically damaged or were in a fender bender, while they might be low mileage and mechanically solid, were too old or depreciated for the insurance company to bother paying to repair it. My first and so far only two cars I've owned have had salvage titles. First one, a 1996 Chevy Beretta that got hit or hit what was probably a pickup truck or something high. Only damage? Busted headlight, bent fender and a bit of a dent in the hood. Got it for like $700, and the seller threw in a fender and hood from a donor car he planned to fix it himself with but never got the time, and I did the repairs and pulled a headlight from a junkyard car. Got the replaced body panels painted at the local Votech's bodywork program for next to nothing and had a pretty nice looking 60,000 mile car with one of those 3100 V6s GM put in a bunch of stuff in the 90s that still had a lot of life in it. Had it for I think 5 years and sold it to a kid as his first car who was tickled pink by it. (Or purple, it was that cool Black Rose dark metallic purple Chevy used to use. I think it wound up on Camaros and Corvettes too). Thing went full circle. My current car is a 2002 Ford Focus wagon in almost the same situation. Fender bender at around 65,000 miles, but was already around 10 years old so insurance said F-it. That time the seller did the repairs, so I paid a bit more upfront for it. So far I've had it for 6 or so years and I'm up to like 147,000 miles and it doesn't show signs of quitting yet. Only issues I've really had with it were a failing coil pack, a coolant hose that came loose from it's clip and rested on an EGR line melting a hole in it, and a cracked radiator housing.
Problem is that salvage shops use drivetrain and suspension parts from other wrecked cars to fix yours. So how do you know what condition those parts were in, or how many miles were on them?
Here in Ohio, most cars impounded by Law Enforcement and sold at auction, come with a Salvage Title. That way they bear no responsibility for any issues with the vehicle.
I LOL'ed at that insurance composite, but the Aflac duck shouldn't be there. Aflac does disability insurance. If you have an extended illness or you become disabled, they pay you most of your salary, and it's tax-free. Disability insurance is basically insurance on your salary if you're out of work for a while for health reasons. It's got nothing to do with car insurance.
Guys, literally 80% maybe even 90% of cars where I live (Kyrgyzstan, look that up) drives salvaged cars from the states, japan and europe. And they drive as any regular car that has clean title
The problem is in states you need insurance and many companies don’t insure a salvage car and if they do its only liability and don’t fix your car if you crash
Funny, I used to know a guy who only buys flooded cars. the guy buys in bulk. I remember in 2003 the guy bought 3 LS1 Camaros for far less than one used clean title. Needless to say, the guy was a pro mechanic. He knew if it had engine damage, and as a performance builder, he was gonna rebuild everything anyway
@@thckitchen434 i sometimes think Blue was a flood truck. Her electrical is crap. Still, I've had her forever and the electrical only becomes a real issue every 3 years or so. Tranny finally got destroyed due to user error after 267k miles. Engine has another 100k before a rebuild, especially if I start using real oil filters.
I disagree with what he said about insurances and salvage title cars. I've owned multiple salvages and many people I know own them. No one has problems with insurance
I don’t see what’s the insurance companies salvage a stolen/recovery car. I mean it got stolen, parts stripped out of it, a ding here and there, wheels were stolen wheels, that’s not a big deal to fix.
Bought a salvaged 96 camry a while back. Pretty good condition and still running. Some old geezer might have hit a curb and insurance said camry wasn't worth it:D
I owned two salvage title cars before, an 08 Civic and an 83 Supra. My current car was bought off of a salvage auction site, but it has a clean title. All 3 cars have been absolute dreams to own
It’s the top dealers who hate us little dealers for taking their business. So they make up this garbage false information about salvage/rebuilt title cars so we don’t get no business, and you npc’s get scammed from them. It’s literally like how the media wants you to believe only what they say because they are the “top dogs” in the industry. Matter of fact most cars they sell at the dealership have been fixed/involved in an accident before but the title stayed clear. Rebuilt title still applies for full coverage (speaking from experience). Don’t EVER believe the nonsense they tell you about cars. If you see a car you like, take it. Just be smart about the purchase (meaning inspect the car before you buy it).
Coincidentally I did have one that would do donuts if you let go of the wheel. It was a Buick Skylark. Once the break pedal fell off too. 1st car I had since moving with maybe 100 pounds of property to Texas. I think it had an AC.
Low mileage, low fuel consumption, kept in heated garage, loved and taken care of, female owner, owner is a retired doctor, only brought to local authorized service center, under market value, no price negotiations.
Im 16 and my grandpa rebuilds vehicle and i drive all of his in order to ensure quality and ive seen his process and its very difficult but its smart and we can turn one mans trash into anothers treasure i mean its miraculous seeing a car go from wrecked to clean af
I worked for a Subaru dealer that only bought salvaged cars and we would fix em up. What we did was intense (even cutting/welding frames) and the cars were extremely reliable. This is in NYS! They are strict with rebuilt titles.
Everyone saying “salvage is great just not flood” it depends on the WL (water line), bought a Cadillac that got totaled by insurance from a dealership because the water went just below the door. Replaced rotors, calipers and brake pads just for safety measure and she was absolutely golden.
One of my uncles bought a Dodge Challenger a few years back, a 2015 R/T with a six speed manual. He got an unbelievable deal on it due to it having a flood title. Reportedly, it was at a Texas dealership during I believe hurricane Harvey, and part of the dealership's lot flooded. However....the dealership's insurance supposedly totaled everything on the lot, even the cars that weren't touched by the floodwaters. Granted, some of this could have been misrepresented by the dealership he bought the Challenger from, but it's been a solid car for him and he loves it.
There's probably hundreds of flooded vehicles running around here, one we're working on has rust where the brake lines used to be. Not a terrible job to replace all the hard line but not something anyone really expects to have to do at any point. Ditto hubs and bearings, ball joints, etc etc. Avoid the crap out of flood cars if they saw salt water, about the only cars that made it out in good shape were all the Deloreans.
@@JustAlanIsCool The thing with flood cars is that you have to know what you're getting in to and the average person doesnt. Even many who think they do. I've bought and rebuilt flood cars and ive bought flood cars to rebuild other cars with. Some of the problems with these cars don't show their face until much further down the line when corrosion takes it's toll and this is where most people get burned from flood cars.
I bought a salvage/rebuilt title 2016 prius with 39k miles on it, earlier this year for bout 5-6k less than KBB of a non salvage title, the dealer provided the car fax and repair records, and when I googled the vin I found the listing from the auction they bought it from, showing the damage, and honestly it didn't look too bad, part of the passenger side bumper was ripped away and there was a dent on the door, I know Nolan said the insurance company decides if the car is worth repairing or not, but I'm pretty sure I've heard from youtubers that buy salvage cars to repair them have said depending on the insurance you have, the owner can decide if they want to repair it or just take the money and total the car out, he was explaining that while at a salvage auction where he saw a nice Porsche, and the only damage was the headliner had become incredibly saggy
I've been screwed on cars with perfectly clean titles. I guess I mention this because these types of purchases need to be evaluated on a case by case basis, not with blanket statements.
It depends what it was salvaged for. I bought a salvage title car that was only worth $4,000 if it were in perfect condition. It had a tree fall on the front fender and hood. The repair estimated Fox was over the limit so insurance had declared it a total loss. A body shop worker fixed it up and sold it for a cheap price. It had already been inspected and passed the state inspection.
I'm a tow truck driver, we have slavage title cars we sell all the time that we're never totaled or even in an accident. Sometimes it's just cars that got impounded for stupid driver reason and then got abandoned in the impound lot. We get salvage titles for those after 3 months if being abandoned. Perfect used car for thousands less
Salvage titles are amazing!! I bought a 2004 nissan 350z for 3 grand, and it only had 100k miles on it all because of a bad fender bender. Definitely do your research, but that's where the deals are!
@@georgeparker555 Cost to repair outweighs the value of the the car. Say that 350Z has 100K miles and would be worth about 8K on the used market, but the damage to the fender, bumpers, etc. cost around $5k to replace, this leaves the insurance with only around no wiggle room on the value of the car with a "clean" title. In their eyes, that's not worth, so instead of paying for repairs, they pay the owner outright the value of the vehicle ($8k in this example) and sell it to a shop that can fork up the repair cost instead of leaving it in the insurance's inventory. The insurance company might take a small hit in the beginning, but ultimately comes out on top considering their insurance policy and the money received from selling the vehicle.
I'm weary about Salvage title cars, but the two my family has owned have been great. We pulled the Carfax on both before purchase to make sure it wasn't flood or frame damage. Neither had those so we bought them. No issues. The first one we had for 6 years, the second one we're on a year. So far so good.
LWRD 05 I’m my experience, the insurance isn’t that much higher for salvage title if its an insurance company that accepts salvage cars. You just gotta shop around and go to maybe less known local insurance companies
One of the most reliable cars I owned had a salvage title. 2003 Pontiac grand am 218k miles paid 700. I drove it for close to 3 years, only thing I had to replace was a starter and tires. Sold it to a friend and it’s still going to this day
Yea "over $70 value" my ass, they're profiting from these $45 boxes which means everything in there is cheap junk, that bag was prob worth less than 10 bucks, knife maybe 15
I'm all for my favorite content creators advertising. I'm never going to buy what they advertise, and can skip through the ad. Let them get the ad revenue, ignore the ad.
Bought my most recent vehicle on a rebuilt title. We've had no problems. It was a theft recovery vehicle with no accidents. It just simply wasn't found in time before insurance paid out. We'd do this again, but due diligence is definitely needed.
My WRX was in a flood after a freshly built motor went in. I ripped everything apart, including the engine. Put everything back together and never had any electrical issues. It was freshwater and not saltwater, so there is that. But ultimately, I enjoyed it for many more years (11 total) after putting it back together. It was a labor of love
I got a f150 that had a blown motor, salvage title, Took body off sandblasted and painted frame, Bought a new engine Put it all together for the f150, 4K for the build including wheels and tires, Check engine light still hasn’t come on 3 years later, no issues
For those on the fence. Im building a Eclipse GSX. It's my favorite car to drive out any I've driven. That said, it's been 3 years and it's still not 100% complete yet and working on it is a pain in the ass. The positive side of this is I'm saving a car from the junk yard and it's not like I'm worried about insurance. (It cost
shardsforme Same, I was in high school when I got my first car a Salvage 545i and I would always try to learn to fix that car myself and completely learned everything about coolant and other small things. Now that I bought a newer car, I do the repairs without worrying so much about something going wrong and that 545i is now a garage princes that will get a new Ls2... someday 😂
I am building a Supra that barely got saved from a salvage title. We had really bad hail in Colorado and the damages on the body were a shit show. $800 later and I'm pulling dents and getting it ready for the paint booth.
@@nakian5316 something everyone seems to forget. Also works if you just never report it. Have two cars that probably would've been salvages had I claimed, but just spent a weekend at a junkyard finding undamaged parts.
I know this is an older video but I just seen it and have to say thank you for making such an honest and unbiased video on the subject. I wish you guys would make a video on flippers also because just like salvage cars, people who flip a car occasionally for profit are also frowned upon because of some bad apples out there that spoiled the bunch... But in the end not all Flippers are bad or dishonest.
I have a rebuild title for a 2006 infinite g35 and the guy who rebuilt it knew what he was doing and I love it. It runs great and I got insurance really easy with GEICO and I’m 20 and full coverage was still only $206 a month and State Farm told me it would be around the same price so don’t be scared to get one as long as the machanic knew what he or she was doing it’s a good deal
Just bought my first salvage car, a MK1 Audi TT, beautiful condition other than collision damage on the front corner, but 225 hp, 6 speed manual, all wheel drive, and it runs and drive, no way i could pass that up for less than 3gs, currently in the process of getting it reconstructed. Very excited
Hey!! I think I had a pretty cool idea (probably not just me): you guys buy any car with a salvage title and make something like money pit, or hi/low, and just rebuild it!! It would be pretty entretanable and we would learn a lot from it!!
I think if you want a project car that you still take out often, salvage cars are pretty good options as long as they’re done right. Just check the frame
I bought my 2001 Celica in early 2013, $400, totaled by flood. Victim of Hurricane Sandy. Its manual, previously original owner, that made it more worth it. Electrical work and cylinder head up engine rebuild (I left the block alone), & clutch job, all my own work. Then I paid for paint job. I'm still driving it now, runs like a dream. With one of few remaining stick shifts; I honestly do better in snow than huge 4x4=16 SUV's! They spin all 4 wheels out while I just drive past them, again a Celica not a snow vehicle !!
Same thing happened to me. My parents bought me a gorgeous shiny Metallic Ruby Red Lexus Grand Sport 350 series for my graduation gift. With a clean record. A year later, the frame and suspension was corroding. Apparently, the once beautiful car was salt water submerged in Hurricane Harvey.... And it was title wiped. We sold it for parts to a Lexus parts warehouse, for half of what we paid, and never looked back. Best decision I have ever made. It was a gorgeous death trap.
I drive a 2014 Acura TL Special Edition, 121,000 miles. Bought at auction for $1,250. An absolute sTEAL. Parts and repairs for about $3,800, and now I have a $12k-15k vehicle for less than half the cost. I would recommend this method and rebuilding all you can yourself to save the money, especially to teach a new young driver about cars, handiwork, and problem solving. You'll probably have to pay for someone to professionally fix some framing damage or body/paint work, but rebuilding a grill, installing side view mirrors or seat belts, headlights, etc is something that is very educational and cost efficient, and anyone can do it with basic tools and some patience.
My first car was a salvage title Celica GTS. It was honestly a fantastic car and I got it for $3000. I drove it to 200k miles before I blew up the motor in the mountains. I’d happily buy another one.
So, i bought a 2005 Honda element, that has been totalled twice. People liked to keep Booting it up the rear so that's kinda fun to read up on. The first crash totaled it in 2010, which was then repaired and branded with a rebuilt title and put back on the road about 6 months later. about 6 years later it got booted up the rear again and totaled for a second time and the same thing happened, and about 6 months later, it was on the road no problem whatsoever. I was initially scared and didn't realize when i bought it, it was rebuilt, but the fact it has been driving around for about 12 years and been given the rebuilt title at least a couple times does give me some comfort that the repairs weren't utter trash. I did inspect it myself, and my mechanics are doing the safety on it and it checked out.
I’ve been driving a salvage title 2012 Honda Fit Sport for two years (it’s late April 2022 now) and it’s been AMAZING!!! It only had 40k when I bought it and I got it for 9k because nobody wanted to bother with it. I got a kick ass deal on a kick ass car. I love this little guy. It hasn’t let me down and I’m going to take care of it for a long long time to come.
Honestly sometimes it’s better to go to repo auctions and buy bumper damaged cars from there. 90% of the time the tow truck drivers cause the damage and the car keeps the clean title. We’ve got a 2011 Infiniti G37 with 87k miles for under $2k because it needed a new bumper. Even the auctioneer couldn’t believe it once the seller told him to sell it to us 😂😂😂
I bought my first car 2010 370z manual 3.7L VQ base model for 12.5k had over 115k miles at 20yrs old with branded title had complete front end rebuild took it home and still today runs like a dream I’m so happy with it, be careful when shopping it worked out for me 2 years later I still have no problems and keep it garaged, never getting rid of it. Dealers won’t take more than 4K for it is the biggest con for me.
Ultimate guide to buying salvage cars are two points: 1.Try to avoid frame damaged cars 2. Try to avoid water flooded car since it is a huge gamble, except for Run and Drive cars and the ones that had no problem reading the actual odometer.
My first car was salvage title and had been in a wreck. I bought it at an auction. I drove it for 1yr and ended up trading it in and got blue book value for its YMM. If you know people who are in the industry of fixing vehicles, I say buy one. But definitely don't buy one if you have no clue what you are doing. You could end up losing all your money and have no car
Back in 2016, I bought a 2004 BMW Z4 with 70K mileage and a salvage title but only after checking it's history. An online search found me photos of the damage, a minor rear quarter panel crunch combined with an owner who was wanting to buy a different car. After a positive review from my mechanic, I was able to talk them down to $7k (the current owner bought it for his wife who disliked it because "the radio doesn't work"). Pulled the radio the next day and replaced it with an Alpine. It was a great deal and the car lasted for another 7 years.
