Average rates for marked damaged/salvaged cars?

[EliteRetard]

10% off fair market? 30% off? What if it's marked rebuilt?
Lets assume no catastrophic damage or floods etc, just regular accident type stuff?

I have a friend on a low budget who needs a decent car for a delivery job.
It's pretty much a choice between decades old 100K mile cars or something newer with a marked title.

Like there's a salvaged 2010 Mazda 3 (that's not a bad car yeah?) that might be in his price range...but they are asking around clean blue book value. How much lower could we go percentage wise?

There's a few other options as well, I'm trying to avoid anything that had major damage, or if I can't find out what actually happened to it. Otherwise I don't see any problem getting a car that's had a replacement body panel or two or whatever for a significant price cut...if there is one.

So is there a general rule of thumb for stuff like this?

 

[tortillasoup]

I've read that it's typically half of its value. Considering the car was savlaged, my suggestion is to google the car's VIN, perhaps you'll find the car's previous auction history or something to that effect. It really depends on how the car got salvaged.

 

[halik]

Unless you get it at a salvage auction, you're overpaying.

 

[silicon]

10% off fair market? 30% off? What if it's marked repaired?
Lets assume no catastrophic damage or floods etc, just regular accident type stuff?

I have a friend on a low budget who needs a decent car for a delivery job.
It's pretty much a choice between decades old 100K mile cars or something newer with a marked title.

Like there's a salvaged 2010 Mazda 3 (that's not a bad car yeah?) that might be in his price range...but they are asking around clean blue book value. How much lower could we go percentage wise?

There's a few other options as well, I'm trying to avoid anything that had major damage, or if I can't find out what actually happened to it. Otherwise I don't see any problem getting a car that's had a replacement body panel or two or whatever for a significant price cut...if there is one.

So is there a general rule of thumb for stuff like this?

have an inspection done at a garage you trust...no point in paying for an unusable piece of scrap.

 

[cabri]

Most insurance companies will total a vehicle at 75% cost of the value.

If labor is 1/3 of the estimate costs. figure that the vehicle is worth 1/2 the initial book value if put back together properly (Treating labor as sentimental value for cost purposes)

 

[monkeydelmagico]

Consider the possibility that it could be completely worthless and work up from there. Unless you are a decent body and suspension mechanic with access to specialized tools you are not going to know if it's a good fix or a disaster waiting to happen.

 

[EliteRetard]

have an inspection done at a garage you trust...no point in paying for an unusable piece of scrap.

I have no good trustworthy shops anywhere that I've ever found, and where the cars are at I would have absolutely no clue. I did do a google search for shops near the place of sale and found one with good reviews. I planned on taking it there if it checked out good enough by my eye.

 

[EliteRetard]

It kinda sounds like you guys are saying no salvaged and/or rebuilt car is worth getting or looking at? Why is that? If it was a simple accident is it really that bad?

Like I know someone who got rear ended in a focus, no airbag deployment or anything, just ruined the bumper which then got replaced. Something like this with a marked title would seem like a great deal to me at 25-50% off. Or what about a t-bone that just ruins a door? But maybe there is more to it than that, you guys are suggesting suspension damage or the like?

 

[TerryMathews]

Keep in mind you effectively can't borrow against a salvage title, which limits your resale market to those that can pay cash.

 

[EliteRetard]

Keep in mind you effectively can't borrow against a salvage title, which limits your resale market to those that can pay cash.

Why would I ever want to loan out my car to somebody? I will always want cash.

We're looking at like $8k price range anyway, so if/when he resells it the value will be like $5k.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

It kinda sounds like you guys are saying no salvaged and/or rebuilt car is worth getting or looking at? Why is that? If it was a simple accident is it really that bad?

Like I know someone who got rear ended in a focus, no airbag deployment or anything, just ruined the bumper which then got replaced. Something like this with a marked title would seem like a great deal to me at 25-50% off. Or what about a t-bone that just ruins a door? But maybe there is more to it than that, you guys are suggesting suspension damage or the like?

How do you, as the buyer, know the type and extent of the damage. Because the seller told you so? Or is it because you, or someone working on your behalf, have the skills to recognize exactly what was destroyed and fixed?

I understand your perspective in thinking a replaced bumper = 20% discount with no real safety or driving penalty. But its really only a matter of inches before a crushed bumper starts to impact the unibody, suspension, fuel system, electronics, etc. Do you know where that line in the sand is?

If the cars you were looking at were sub $3k hoopties it would be a different story. All those have to do is run and drive straight. But you are looking in the $10k range so you might as well get something that is less likely to be a lemon.

 

[EliteRetard]

How do you, as the buyer, know the type and extent of the damage. Because the seller told you so? Or is it because you, or someone working on your behalf, have the skills to recognize exactly what was destroyed and fixed?

I understand your perspective in thinking a replaced bumper = 20% discount with no real safety or driving penalty. But its really only a matter of inches before a crushed bumper starts to impact the unibody, suspension, fuel system, electronics, etc. Do you know where that line in the sand is?

If the cars you were looking at were sub $3k hoopties it would be a different story. All those have to do is run and drive straight. But you are looking in the $10k range so you might as well get something that is less likely to be a lemon.

I'm looking for documentation on damage and have/will pay for reports when/where needed. Anything marked with airbag deployed, total loss, flood damage, etc I wont look at.

Then I figure if I can take a look and find no serious/obvious flaws it would be worth having a mechanic check out. They should know where that "line in the sand" is right?

The reason I'm even considering salvage cars is because there is almost nothing under $10k that isn't a lemon. Very few cars under $10k that don't totally suck and have poor reliability...and the few remaining "good" options all have high mileage, like 75-125k miles. For somebody who is going to be working as a delivery driver putting lots of miles on a car we need to start much lower than that.

Looking at salvage cars I have found a few well rated cars with less miles. Like the Mazda 3. There's a 2008 one with 50k miles asking $7k. A 2010 with 30k miles asking about $10k. I figure I can haggle that down lower being marked titles and depending on what actually happened to them and/or what the mechanic comes back with.

My friend of course is dead set on a supercharged race car and doesn't care about gas mileage...so I said I'd look. There's a Scion TC 2006 48k miles asking $8.5k and a 2009 Mustang with 30k miles listed at $10k that he really wants. The mustang especially I don't know if it's a smart choice...but I'm probably going to look at it today anyway.

 

[cabri]

A title should not get marked for a minor accident.

The fact that it is marked indicates that at one point it was considered unsafe to drive and/or repairs exceeded 75% of the value of the vehicle.

At that point an insurance company had to have taken title of the vehicle; reported it to DMV and someone took the vehicle back with the modified title.

Not all titles will have such happen, but if it was marked; that is why: damages exceeded the repair percentage expected.

Find out who the vehicle was owned by prior to the current seller; that person should be able to provide you with an un-sugar coated explanation. More legwork but much cheaper than paying $50-100 for each vehicle you need checked.

 

[EliteRetard]

A title should not get marked for a minor accident.

The fact that it is marked indicates that at one point it was considered unsafe to drive and/or repairs exceeded 75% of the value of the vehicle.

At that point an insurance company had to have taken title of the vehicle; reported it to DMV and someone took the vehicle back with the modified title.

Not all titles will have such happen, but if it was marked; that is why: damages exceeded the repair percentage expected.

Find out who the vehicle was owned by prior to the current seller; that person should be able to provide you with an un-sugar coated explanation. More legwork but much cheaper than paying $50-100 for each vehicle you need checked.

Are you certain about that? I'm pretty sure any accident reported to insurance gets marked. Otherwise, how can you find out about accidents?

How do I find previous owner and/or other information? Doing internet searches for VIN numbers never gives me anything. I can buy some basic title check services for $7 but they don't tell me previous owner either...just when/where it was registered and what marks if any are on the title.

I'm skipping many cars because I can't find good information, just some unknown salvage mark.

 

[heymrdj]

Are you certain about that? I'm pretty sure any accident reported to insurance gets marked. Otherwise, how can you find out about accidents?

How do I find previous owner and/or other information? Doing internet searches for VIN numbers never gives me anything. I can buy some basic title check services for $7 but they don't tell me previous owner either...just when/where it was registered and what marks if any are on the title.

I'm skipping many cars because I can't find good information, just some unknown salvage mark.

You're thinking like when a Carfax comes back with damage? That doesn't mean the title is marked. A title is marked only when the state says that this vehicle is no longer allowed to be on the road without adequate repairs. The insurance company rarely makes mistakes on this, if they pass on the 75% too, generally consumers should too. I'm glad for the states that require inspections before salvaged cars can be returned to the road. Keeps those cars where some shade tree mechanic covered a bent frame with a new bumper and threw some paint on, off the road. If you can't afford to drive, don't drive.

 

[evident]

i know someone decently well who has 2 buddies and a shop. they go to auctions, buy up certain cars that are salvaged as long as no flooding, take it to their mechanic, fix it up and they flip them. they say they make at least $2k easy on each car. He also admits there's lots of risk and he does get ones that cost way more to repair than they can sell them for.

 

[cabri]

Are you certain about that? I'm pretty sure any accident reported to insurance gets marked. Otherwise, how can you find out about accidents?

How do I find previous owner and/or other information? Doing internet searches for VIN numbers never gives me anything. I can buy some basic title check services for $7 but they don't tell me previous owner either...just when/where it was registered and what marks if any are on the title.

I'm skipping many cars because I can't find good information, just some unknown salvage mark.

Accidents that are handled by/through insurance companies in MOST cases will show up on CarFax. Dealers will also logged repairs into the CarFax system.

If an owner has a marked vehicle; they should be able to tell you where/who they purchased it from. If they can not; skip the vehicle; it more than likely has been "washed". Been through at least 2 hands since the incident.