PROS AND CONS OF A SALVAGE TITLE CAR ?

Pro: Get into the car cheap! If everything works as it should and the car drives in a straight line. Your a happy camper.
Con: Try and get rid of it .

 

Finance and insurance become much more difficult, but not impossible. Try Credit Unions and "high risk" insurance companies

 

What rimoore said above.

Unless it's rare, I'd try not to buy a salvage car. When you sell, you're always going to be competing in the market with a lot of clean, straight cars -- especially with modern used cars like a 360/F430.

I'd say buy the best Ferrari you can afford in the best condition. Don't use a salvage title as an excuse to buy a normally pricier model. I'd rather have a great 550 than a salvage 575M, for example.

 

All cons. No pros. Tempting as it may seem, you just should not do it.

 

Pro: At least the car was salvaged.

Con: It's yours.

 

The sole pro to a salvage-title car is that it's cheap. Everything else is a con. Even if the car wasn't mangled that badly, which admittedly is the case with a LOT of salvage title cars, you'll still take a beating at resale - provided you can ever resell it. Only buy a salvage-title car if it passes multiple PPIs (possibly including one from a body shop) and you're really, really desperate.

 

depends i say. if its just a 308, or a more commonly mass produced ferrari, buy it and drive it. there are so many of certain models that have been made, they will not have any significant value over the early 6o's and 70's cars. i bought a brown 308 gts from a member here that jumped a curb for $9500.00, and fixed it myself. i did have a frame shop go over it, and after all was said and done , i had maybe $11,000 in a nice driving 308. i kept the car a year, and sold it with full disclosure a bit cheaper than a normal 308, but it still brought $22k. that was 4 years ago, and the new owner still contacts me off and on to share stories, and tell me how much he and his wife love the car.

so i say it depends on the damage, and the value of the car. some states, like Georgia do not require a title on pre 1985 cars, so a salvage title wont matter. after 1985, there are state inspection and rules in place that must be followed.


be aware that if a towing or shipping company damages any of the sheet metal under a car with straps or tow hooks now, that the damage is considered frame damage and the insurance companies are taking this really seriously and are going after transport and tow companies.


so a car can have very minor "damage" and a stain on its record / title.


do your homework and buy one to drive!

 

The only way I would look at a salvage car is for a dedicated track day or race car.
Chances are you are going to destroy it anyway, so why start out with a pristine car.

 

LOL! Race cars are rebuilt all of the time and raced again at very high speeds under demanding circumstances. It just depends how thorough the reconstruction was. Agree that salvage cars make good track cars and that a rebuilt supercar makes more sense than a rebuilt 308 or 360. A rebuilt CS with 2,000 miles just went for $122 on ebay. That's quite a reduction from market, but you have to wonder how much of the car was actually fixed and fixed to such an extent that it can perform as designed.

 

Although these cars can be purchased for considerably less, typically you have no what your actually getting into. IMO a can of worms with absolutely no upside.

 

On a newer car, lets say a 550 or even a 575, a salvage car will have no warranties of any kind.

If the catalyst is defective, instead of being replaced by the dealer (as required by federal law) you get to pay for your own. But even more important, using the 550 wheel recall as an example, you will not receive notification from nhtsa or Ferrari of the recall to make sure you get 4 new wheels. You will have to pay for them on your own, if you happen to hear through the grapevine that there may be a problem. Same thing goes for any other safety or smog related recall.

Also, many insurance companies will not provide comprehensive insurance for a salvage title car of any year. You may be able to find a "stated value" policy, but they are going to put a low limit on it.



Jay

 

while they are absolute death to try and sell here in the US there are many (myself included) who could care less about what the title says!!im not talking about those lets make 3 cars into 1 Ferrari's(and theres a lot of them rolling around the market especially 355/360 cars)..theres lots of minor damaged cars that have been repaired properly.if its done right and you can save 25,000 dollars why not??spend that savings on the wife for keeping her yapper shut and drive it and enjoy it guilt free!!!its a win/win deal for those who dont have to finance and like finding a bargain!!
its like dating a woman of questionable virtue.....unless its just looks beat to hell the only way anyone would know is if you told them!!

 

The only real reason I would look at a salvage vehicle, is if it was going to be turned into a track only car. Then warranty, insurance and resale isn't really a concern. Otherwise, no thanks.



Darrell.

 

If you're going to own the car forever or drive it into the ground, then no problem once you make sure it is passes your PPI(s). However, if you 're thinking it's a few year deal, just imagine that your buyer will look at the car, come on Fchat and ask this exact question and get these answers. What will he likely do?

It's purely a matter of supply and demand. If the supply of non-salvage cars is 20:1 that of salvage cars, then you're in the bottom 5% of desirability. If the supply of salvage cars is 1:1 that of salvage cars, then it is much less of an issue compared to actual mechanical status.

 

Pro: as said before - price. A salvage car should be at least 20% below an identical clean title car. With a late model car it becomes a bit more difficult. For instance, most people will choose to buy an older car with more miles rather than dealing with the title issue.

Cons: if you buy a damaged car, getting a rebuilt title will be difficult. It takes lots of pictures, receipts, and documentation.

It is nearly impossible to get financing on a salvage car. Some banks will lend up to 30% on them.

Any new car warranty will be void.

Some insurance providers will not cover it. Some that will do not offer full coverage, liability onl.

There may be ongoing issues with improper repairs.

Tough to sell, unless they are super cheap. For instance if you have to choose between a WRX STi or a 355 with a salvage title at $30k, most go for the Ferrari. If they have the choice between the same salvaged 355 and a clean 355 for $10k more, most go for the clean car.

Buy it right and enjoy it. Buy it wrong and regret it forever.

 

i think your spending too much time on luxury motors/bentley gold coast's website...

- message to LM/BGC debate this on f-chat, not on PM's

joe

 

I didn't see any salvage vehicles listed on their website.... Not in the market, just curious to see what kind of "discount" are given. Couple months back I saw a salvage title 360 Spider sell around 85k. Given the car (don't recall all the specs) had a market value of 125k or so for a clean title, I think that is a pretty substancial discount!

Again, the money you save up front you have to give back when you sell... so there really isn't a savings there, unless you are going to drive the car into the ground. The headache of resale would be too much for me to consider it, especially on an exotic

 

I say if it's super cheap and you plan to buy and hold (DRIVE!) for a looong time, I wouldn't mind a salvage title. BUT...if you're squeezing to save $20k on the 355 purchase, you may not be able to stomach the maintenance down the road which could be that amount or more.

 

One other thing to keep in mind, most insurance companies, will not give full coverage insurance on a salvage auto.


Darrell.

 

Very familar with insurance company policies, and this is simply not true (at least in NJ)

 

No pros when you have lots of clean title cars to choose from.

 

Yea, well I don't live in NJ. Call AAA and tell them you have a 180mph sports car, with a salvage title, and you want full coverage. Good luck.



Darrell.

 

Pro- You can pick one up for cheap
Con-You have to sell for cheap

Pro-You will think you can rebuild for cheap
Con-Your kidding yourself if you think you can rebuild for cheap

Pro-You have a world class machine for cheap
Con-Everyone will know you can't afford a real one.

Pro-Power -speed -braking -handling
Con-maybe -sure -good luck -I hope your back end does not keep going straight in a corner.

 

Roberto,

Sounds like you're speaking with the voice of experience...



just kidding... how're things at the club?

Mike in Kuwait