[Alan smit]

Dear forum members,

I am in the market for a used car and have come across a 2021 Toyota C-HR with a salvage title. The car is priced at $18,500 and comes with a 2.0L L4 DOHC 16V engine. While the price seems reasonable, I am hesitant to make a decision due to the salvage title.

I am seeking advice from the forum members on whether I should go ahead and purchase this car or not. I am aware that a salvage title indicates that the car has been in an accident or has suffered damage beyond a certain threshold. However, I do not have any information on the extent of the damage that this particular car has sustained.

In your experience, have any of you purchased a car with a salvage title before? What was your experience like? Were there any hidden issues that you encountered down the line? Also, do you think the price is fair for a salvage title car?

I appreciate any input that you can offer to help me make an informed decision. Thank you in advance for your help.

 

[igzy]

Dear forum members,

I am in the market for a used car and have come across a 2021 Toyota C-HR with a salvage title. The car is priced at $18,500 and comes with a 2.0L L4 DOHC 16V engine. While the price seems reasonable, I am hesitant to make a decision due to the salvage title.

I am seeking advice from the forum members on whether I should go ahead and purchase this car or not. I am aware that a salvage title indicates that the car has been in an accident or has suffered damage beyond a certain threshold. However, I do not have any information on the extent of the damage that this particular car has sustained.

In your experience, have any of you purchased a car with a salvage title before? What was your experience like? Were there any hidden issues that you encountered down the line? Also, do you think the price is fair for a salvage title car?

I appreciate any input that you can offer to help me make an informed decision. Thank you in advance for your help.

Hey, good to ask, and you asked the most important questions that you need seller to answer:
1) What damage did the car sustain that deemed it irreparable - once you have this, you can decide what that means to you and you are OK with such repairs
2) If you can, find out what shop did the repairs and try to assess if repairs were done right based on what was repaired

A friend of mine bought a WRX with salvage title and he drove it happily for additional 200K. Another friend only buys Salvage cars, he fixes them himself and then he and his family drive them until they are no longer repairable (200~300K)

 

[sho23]

Short of the seller being helpful, you can also bring it to a mechanic and have them do a pre-buy inspection. Emphasize the fact that it's a salvage so they can put extra attention looking at the frame.

 

[zx10guy]

I'd run a Carfax on this car to see what gets pulled. I'm pretty certain since the car has been salvaged, it's been through an insurance claim. Therefore, the insurance company reported to whatever the State the car was registered that the care is a salvage. With that said, there are a number of reasons why the car may be salvaged. Have you seen pictures or laid eyes on the car personally? If there is physical damage, then after an estimate was done on how much it would have cost to bring the car back to as close to original condition it crossed the threshold for the insurance company to declare it a total loss. This is typically 75% of what the insurance company deems as the current market value. So keep this in mind if you are planning on wanting to buy the vehicle and do whatever work it needs to be placed back on the road again.

Other causes for a car to be declared a total loss/salvage is if the car has been through a flood and in some cases if the car was a theft recovery. If the car has been through a flood, this means the car has been submerged in water. For how long, how deep, and what kind of water (fresh/sea water) are variables that may or may not be known. No insurance company is going to attempt to repair a flooded car. There will be too many issues that will eventually creep in as the car ages which the insurance company does not want to be on the hook to repair under their repair warranty. The main issue/fear is electrical gremlins. Connectors will corrode over time. Electronics exposed to water will eventually fail. To absolutely rule out any potential failures due to water damage, pretty much every connector/electronic component has to be replaced that has been exposed to water. But this won't guarantee catching components that may have shorted or have been weakened due to shorts. We're not even talking about mold issues yet.

If it's a theft recovery, then chances are the car may not require too much work to be placed back on the road.

Keep in mind, if you plan on re-registering the car, you need to contact your State's DMV to find out what they require to approve a salvaged car for road worthiness via a re-built title. This will involve some sort of inspection and possibly paperwork which may be proof a professional repair shop did the repairs. While a re-built title will allow you to register and insure the vehicle, keep in mind this will greatly diminish the value of the car if you plan on trading it in or reselling it. Also, don't be surprised if your insurance company will only provide liability coverage for this car and not full coverage.

Aside from all of that, whoever is selling that car for $18,000 as a salvage is smoking something pretty good. There's no way I'd pay that much for a car carrying a salvage title.

 

[Alan smit]

After careful consideration and following the advice that I got here so far, I decided to run a VIN check for this Vehicle like you advised, @zx10guy , and what I saw made me conclude that I will not be buying this vehicle, the vehicle has mileage discrepancies, With an insurance loss, was involved in a Fire incident and surely an accident. I thank you all for the advice and the time taken to write it here for me, I got the report from https://premiumvin.com/

Here is the link to the report: Vehicle History Report for VIN: JTNKHMBX8M1110941

 

[FrmDaLeftCoast]

After careful consideration and following the advice that I got here so far, I decided to run a VIN check for this Vehicle like you advised, @zx10guy , and what I saw made me conclude that I will not be buying this vehicle, the vehicle has mileage discrepancies, With an insurance loss, was involved in a Fire incident and surely an accident. I thank you all for the advice and the time taken to write it here for me, I got the report from https://premiumvin.com/

Here is the link to the report: Vehicle History Report for VIN: JTNKHMBX8M1110941

I didn't see any discrepancies in regards to the odometer reading. Yet besides that, IMHO - I would need to look at the car in person or have plenty of pictures of the car. If that's possible, they can include receipts for the shop repairs. I might be willing to pay $15,000. At their current asking price, I'd rather purchase a new/used non salvage C-HR.

 

[sho23]

11/29/2022, Rosemead

Accident Or Collision Reported Severe Damage Reported Body Repair Performed Structural Or Frame Repair Performed Mechanical Repair Performed

Man, if only we know which body shop so you can get their view on it.