If you are new to the automobile industry, you need to know that buying a salvage title can be risky. You might find challenges and difficulties in ensuring or even financing.
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This article helps you identify the main risks of buying a salvage title.
What is the car title?
Before we even dive into the different risks of buying a salvage title, it's important to familiarize yourself with the meaning of a car title and what are the available titles in the market.
The vehicle's title is like a tag proposed by the Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV), which includes information about its owner's name, make, model, year, and history.
When it comes to vehicles titles types, there are four common types, including:
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A clean title
The first and most common type of title is the clean title. Clean indicates that the vehicle was not involved in major damages by the current owner or any previous owner.
You want to purchase a vehicle with a clean title to ensure it and drive it safely. This doesn't mean that the vehicle is very healthy, and there is no major damage.
A clean title is another word to say that the vehicle most likely doesn't have major issues.
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A clear title
The main difference between a clean and a clear title is that the clear title has to do with finance. When a title is clear, it indicates no liens on this car, and the owner is free to sell it.
Did you know that if a vehicle has any liens, the current owner might not be able to sell it legally?
Thus, if you're shopping for a vehicle and realized that the title is not clear, you must understand who's the third party and get the process done right.
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A Salvage title – Buying a Salvage Title
The salvage title indicates that the car was involved in major damages. In other words, the owner of the vehicle received a total financial loss from the insurance company.
The last thing you would want to do as a regular driver is to get scammed and purchase a vehicle with a salvage title.
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A Rebuilt or reconstructed title
A rebuilt or reconstructed title is generated from a vehicle that previously received a salvage title. The owner of this vehicle spent some money and time to repair the vehicle and receive a state inspection indicating that he can drive this vehicle.
Keep in mind that a rebuilt or reconstructed title doesn't indicate that the vehicle is free from major problems. The vehicle can run on public roads, but it might have significant problems.
Again, as a regular buyer, if you don't want to involve yourself in a lot of hassle and stress, you don't want to purchase a vehicle with a rebuilt or constructed title.
When will a vehicle receive a salvage title? – Buying a Salvage Title
For a vehicle to receive a salvage title, it has to be within one of the following categories:
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Vehicles received major damages Due to accidents
If a certain vehicle was involved in an accident or has some damages for any reason, the damage needs to be evaluated.
Once repair costs get 75% or more from the vehicle's overall value, this car might receive a salvage title.
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Vehicles received major damages due to natural disasters – Buying a Salvage Title
Similarly, if a vehicle was damaged but not two to a car accident, if the damages were related to natural disasters like a fire, hurricane, or flood, the vehicle receives a salvage title. This, of course, assumes that repair costs are 70% or higher than the vehicle's overall value.
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Very old vehicles
Sometimes, a certain vehicle might not necessarily get involved in a car accident or was damaged by natural disasters, but it still received a salvage title.
Those vehicles are most likely older ones who served you for a long. Of time and got rusted and achieved a situation where it doesn't make sense to spend any penny getting it repaired.
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Stolen and recovered vehicles
In some states, a stolen or recovered vehicle might receive a salvage title. For instance, if a vehicle did not have any tires or hood and someone recovered it, it might receive a salvage title.
Also, if a vehicle was stolen and got major damages, the state might consider its salvage.
Remember that every state has its regulations. To familiarize yourself with more details about the salvage titles, you need to go through your state's considerations and laws about salvage titles.
Also, having a salvage title indicates that your car is not drivable, and you can't get it in short or registered. A vehicle with a salvage title will receive a significant decrease in its value, and in some cases and a salvage title might receive up to 40% reduction in its overall value.
What are the advantages of purchasing a salvage title?
While the salvage title might sound like a bad choice, there are a lot of adventures you could get when purchasing a vehicle with a salvage title.
The first and most important thing you can get is a lower price. As we mentioned earlier, salvage titles decrease the overall price by a good percent. If you have mechanical skills and can evaluate how bad the damage is, you can easily profit from selfish styles.
However, you don't want to risk purchasing a vehicle with a salvage title if you don't have a good understanding of the damages because the damages might cost you what.
There are chances to purchase a vehicle with a salvage title, and the vehicle doesn't have a lot of damages. And what happened, in that case, is that the owner might not be interested in spending any time or effort getting their vehicle repaired even if it might be repairable. As a result, the insurance company might give up on the vehicle and consider it salvage.
What are the major cons of purchasing a vehicle with a salvage title? – Buying a Salvage Title
In general, salvage titles are associated with more cons than pros, and thus, you must be very careful when purchasing a vehicle with a salvage title.
The first thing you need to keep an eye on is the significance of the damages. While some salvage titles might have slight damages, others might involve significant in severe issues to the engine block and the vehicle's overall structure.
Also, if you were lucky enough and purchased a salvage title without a lot of damages and you were able to fix it, the vehicle's history will follow you. In other words, if you decide in the future to sell this car, it will show in the history that it was salvage, and it will not receive tons of chances to get purchased.
The other thing you need to consider is financing. If you purchase this vehicle using some finance, you won't find any lenders to finance a vehicle with a salvage title.
Lastly, it's almost impossible to find 100% insurance coverage for vehicles with salvage titles. Therefore, before making your final decision about purchasing a vehicle with a salvage title or not, you need to evaluate the overall risks.
Do you have a vehicle that was a salvage title, and would you like to get rid of it? – Buying a Salvage Title
Are you stuck with a salvage title? How can you get rid of it within one to three days?
Did you know that our company buys vehicles despite their type or condition? Whether they have a salvage title or even don't have a title, we accept them!
Every vehicle has value at our company, and we are willing to come to your house or office and remove it free of charge within a couple of days because we buy salvaged titles!
It takes a quick phone call to our team describing your vehicle type and condition and then receiving our instant offer within 30 seconds from your phone call.
Our offers represent the actual worth and the exact amount of Cash the vehicle will receive at the pickup time.
Conclusion
Salvage titles are clear indications that the vehicle was involved in major damages. Whether you are the owner or the buyer of a vehicle with a salvage title, you need to understand the different consequences of owning or purchasing such a vehicle.
While there are many disadvantages to purchasing a vehicle or the salvage title, you might find a car with little damages and make a good profit if you have the required mechanical skills.
Even if you could successfully repair the vehicle with a salvage title, its history will follow it and you will have a hard time selling it, in shorts, or finance it.
If you have a vehicle with a salvage title and would like to get rid of it, we can buy it! Get in touch with our team today and receive your instant offer!