Thought on salvage titles

I can’t speak for a Ferrari with a salvage/rebuilt title but I bought a 95 Acura NSX with a rebuilt title in 2006 for $30,000 with 27k miles on it. I sold it 6 years later with 47k miles on it for $30,000. I had a PPI done on it before I bought it and it checked out good. It was a fantastic car giving me 0 trouble and the only way anyone would have ever known it was a car with a rebuilt title is if I showed them the actual title.

 

You get to buy cheep the first go around. Don't expect to be able to make a profit from there.

 

You got lucky this is not the norm!
I would not buy a salvage title car just because I would not want to deal with the possible headaches. Similar to marrying a girl that used to be a Stripper ..: who knows what she used to do in the champagne room!?

 

It's not so much you as it is future buyers. They can't finance it and that shrinks the buyer pool drastically. It's hard enough as it is to sell a Ferrari imagine having to sell it to only cash buyers willing to buy your car that has a bad history. Low ball offers would come from all over. With that said, salvage cars are not the worst, I have one, its my own actually. I had a mercedes SL65 for years and it flooded one night bc I left it parked on the street and we got one of our flash floods and it got minimal water inside, but still I pushed for totaling the car and they did it. Anyways bought it from the insurance company, fixed it up and still have it, no issues. So cars that are flooded or salvaged aren't always that bad but the real headache is selling the thing down the road, if you plan to keep it then no biggie I'd buy one right now if I could find a salvage classic car

 

There is a reason they’re called “totals” and not 40% off Sale.
Owned a body shop for 30 years and IMO, would consider salvage title vehicle for a daily driver, such as Honda or Pickup etc. basically a tool to get from point A/B but not an exotic. Not saying it can’t happen, but I would be very skeptical it’s just cosmetic. Going to be like a boat anchor when you go to sell it. Virtually no bank will loan on it, Insurance value will become an issue So if you pull the trigger you better plan on owning it for a long long time.

 

I "thought" about going this route...for about 30 seconds. There are pros and cons. The lower upfront price aside, it sometimes does seem that a door ding will total an exotic, and that will result in a great deal for someone, at least on the front end. Accident pictures and inspections are a must, no matter what. You have to make sure the cost to repair will not end up costing anywhere near buying a straight car would, because it will never be worth it...

When you go to sell, that's where it hits you. The "right" buyer probably only encompasses 5% of those looking to buy. Branded titles also are much harder to finance, and sometimes insure. I see so many rebuilt cars that look nice, but sit forever, because most buyers stop reading after seeing that.

 

I had a car once that just had an accident on the history report and that was itself a huge headache to sell... I can't imagine a salvage title!

 

I'd be in the opposite camp - I'd want my DD to be fully insurable, just since in terms of percentage of it being driven, that represents a higher risk of it needing insurance - and that's tough (or either really expensive) to do with with a rebuilt or salvage title. Unless you own a contracting or landscaping business or something along those lines where your DD is a semi-beater pick'emup truck, then yeah - maybe in that case.

With a "fun car", whether it's an exotic or an old Triumph, I'd be more inclined to go with a salvage or a rebuilt title providing: a.) I know it's been repaired correctly, and b.) I didn't care about resale values down the road.

 

Totally true. Cats on a 550m are $20k and that's a wear item. Ferrari does weird stuff that costs money in a body shop like weld the steel body panels to aluminum frame. Ferrari has a process. The body panels rarely line up perfect nor are the factory body panels perfect so there is more fit and finish with a ferrai vs a toyota. That costs more in the body shop. When buying a branded title you gotta know why and you gotta really know the model well so you know what is right and what is wrong. Then the discount can work in your favor and the discount is passed to the next guy because the title is branded. No big deal. In the 60's classic ferraris many have been wrecked. the joke is any million dollar ferrari can be rebuilt if all you got is the vin plate and some were indeed can the fact that those cars were not original paint survivor cars made no difference at action. Yeah some banks might not lend. Some might not insure. They all will insure for liability only and there are tons of guys who only pay cash. The whole branded thing is sort of like the commercial vs. residential realestate thing. Yeah you can sell a house to anyone with a heartberat and a commercial prop to only a guy who owns a business or an investor. Somehow CRE does fine. You just gotta understand the game.

 

Didn’t mean to say that a salvaged vehicle isn’t insurable. The problem lies when you try to process a claim on that salvage title vehicle.

And how would you know it’s been repaired correctly? Way cheaper to use a plastic welder on say a fan shroud, radiator tank etc. then pay for factory replacement parts and you are none the wiser inless you remove outer panels.
No such thing as a cheap Ferrari Without the salvaged title

 

There may be no way to 100% guarantee that it's been repaired correctly, but I'm assuming that even (or ESPECIALLY) on a salvage/rebuilt-titled vehicle, a smart buyer would have a thorough PPI done.

 

If you know the exact damage and it was repaired by a high quality known shop.
Then it really depends on what the damage was I know it does not take much to run up 50-60k in repairs on a ferrari....
I would need atleast 35%savings if i was comfortable ....with the car...
It is a very had to sell car with a salvage title

 

Would certainly hope so .
To the OP, hope it works out for you.

 

How are you going to know the exact damage? Photos? They’re not going to show a bent tubing/frame component that would require possibly pulling the engine/drivetrain to remove and repair when they could over Compensate with alignment parameters for camber/caster to get the vehicle to track properly ,but later on possibly causing excessive tire wear on that side of the vehicle. Just using this as one example .
Again, truly not trying to discredit anyone’s opinion. This is just been my experience. Roll the dice and see how you come out.

 

Agree

 

Depends on the damage, pictures etc. I’d be open to it. And I would expect to sell at a discount to. As for difficulty selling, these cars ie 360’s are a ***** to sell...might be the difference between 12 months and 18 months on the market.
Or you might just decide to part it out in the end or turn it into a track car.
Also depends on the car...are we talking about a Modena or an Enzo?

 

Incorrect. Most credit unions will finance a salvage titled car. (guessing many here don't "bank" at credit unions . There are stipulations of course, biggest of which is they only finance 75% of book value. Book value and market value can be drastically different and that 75% book value can obviously equate to more or less of the overall market price.

Salvage cars are also insurable, check with farmers or state farm.

 

If you’re buying it cheap ( because it’s salvage) then you are also selling it cheap so more people willing to look.
I had no trouble insuring mine and sold it to the first person that looked at it for my asking price.
At the time my car was listed cheap at 30k.
I’m not saying it’s for everyone and I would be really careful to do it again.
But it can work out just fine.

 

I also think the cars value and age should be considered....someones more likely to want/need to finance a 488 salv car than a 348 salv. So IMO, that potential issue is less of a barrier for older, lower values or depreciating cars.
Then again, im sure a salv f40 will still attract plenty of buyers

 

There have been Ferraris that have been salvaged for stupid reasons and we're fully repairable. Superspeedrsrob has a video about a 458 that they had in the rental fleet that needed maybe 10k in repairs that the insurance company totaled. I have seen cars that were sold at Copart and IAAI that sure looked like pretty minor damage like fender only damage or gender and door damage. There are also videos from folks that purchase these cars and they don't seem to understand why these cars were totaled either. Exotics aren't the only cars falling into this pit either.

That being said I would own one of these exotics that had a salvage title only if I bought the car after my own personal examination and had it repaired under my supervision and didn't plan to ever sell it. I've see guys that say on an exotic that they lose 40 to 50% value with a branded title. I concur somewhat since I'm seeing questionable branded title California's for sale right now mixed in with clear title cars and the sellers not budging on price. If even talked to a few and asked them point blank why should I buy your car with a branded title for the same price as one with a clean title. The best answer I got was from the guy in Colorado who said I won't make any money on the car unless I sell it where it's priced. Mind you this car looks rough, no hood emblem, questionable wrap. Mis matched tires, no center caps, and the powder coating on the wheels doesn't match and 2 of them are chipped real bad. Guy was Asking 95k I offered a generous 60k, he declined.

Moral is more often then not salvage title cars are probably not a "deal" and as others have said the cheapest Ferrari will probably be the most expensive Ferrari you ever own.

 

The thing is you have to know what you get with salvage and what you give. Perhaps you get a value inversion -more car for your money. Others have listed what you give. If you plan on keeping then it may be a good strategy. Especially when you fix it yourself. If you are buying it fixed there’s a lot you’ll deal with and for that discount you may find it worthwhile. I think for owners of shops -body paint or those who can do work themselves -salvage offers an avenue into purchase at a lower point of entry. This limits your exit on the other side. It also is dependent on your appetite for risk. The market has spoken with the downward pressure on pricing which doesn’t stop. I don’t know anyone who said-okay I’ll pay the same as a clear title car.

That said no one can tell when you’re driving it that it is salvage.

It’s like anything else -it depends on you and your needs and ability to capitalize on the value it represents to you. I

 

With the “Resurrection” of La Ferrari and F-40 serials by owners who have destroyed the car but not let insurance “write off” the number...or did they? To continue the conversation, would it be a potential possibility for the Classiche arm of Ferrari to receive salvage 488 or 430 with a salvage title and “rectify” any damage as per the factory, resulting in a renewed car? Obviously the money doesn’t pencil out now, but the salvage declarations by insurance companies today are not consistent with what was done in the past. Over time, and with the percentage of salvage titles “issued” will there be a potential market here? The value of parts cars broken down generally results in the car ending...but I wonder if this would be available to lesser Ferrari’ versions in the future at a simplified rate structure.

 

Actually we know

 

I have a couple of thoughts on the topic. My first one is around an NSX I bought with a clean title. Turns out the title was washed in three states and my car had discernible/measurable unrepaired frame damage. I ended up selling the car as if it were branded, and disclosed the frame plot diagram via a web post. That car looked like it had been driven hard and put up wet. My second thought is that I wouldn't turn my nose up at buying a branded title car so long as the economics were fair. I would also want to see the original damage and repair notes. Still, I would not pay anywhere near current retail for one.