Theft Recovery car - 08' CTS

[Sidekicknichola]

My fiance' and I will be moving out of downtown Minneapolis in a few weeks which will mean needing another car, I've found fairly good deal (with even more wiggle room after talking to the dealer) on an 08' AWD CTS.

The price is so good due to it having a salvage branded title due to it being a theft recovery. I've bought salvage before, are there any other differences when dealing with theft recovery cars? It wasn't stripped at all, everything worked great and it drove well on the test drive.

I still have to do the following:
*Make sure insurance will cover it and if it was "totaled", how much they'll pay on it due to the title.

*Make sure inspection is/was complete

...anything else to look out for with theft?

 

[Sidekicknichola]

UPDATE:

Insurance will cover it and with State-Farm they mentioned that as long as there is no preexisting damage (which there isn't) they would cover it like any other car, salvage title or not.

 

[twinrider1]

My concern would be verifying that theft recovery was the reason for the salvage title.
Also, no matter what the reason, salvage title hurts value. Take that into account.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Risky is not something I want with one if my primary vehicles. Walk away imo.

 

[KentState]

FYI, if the car has the 3.6DI engine, expect to have some issues with the timing chain. Mine had to be replaced at 20k miles due to it stretching. Found out it was a very common repair and does happen multiple times.

 

[Squisher]

I have never heard of theft recovery as a reason for salvage. I thought it was only for vehicles that were not worth repairing. Is this only the case after an insurance company pays off on a stolen auto, or when the original owner refuses the return of the auto, or any stolen auto. How does this work?

 

[madoka]

I remember a couple of stories involving theft recovery vehicles over the years. One involved a couple that found a large cache of drugs hidden inside their car. The other was a young man who was shot and killed when gangbangers misidentified him as a rival gang member due to his car.

 

[iamwiz82]

I have never heard of theft recovery as a reason for salvage. I thought it was only for vehicles that were not worth repairing. Is this only the case after an insurance company pays off on a stolen auto, or when the original owner refuses the return of the auto, or any stolen auto. How does this work?

One of two things:

1. The car was recovered after payout
2. The car was significantly damaged/stripped during the robbery.

If it's #2 I would worry what they cut to get the pieces that they wanted. What harnesses have been patched back together?

 

[Sidekicknichola]

One of two things:

1. The car was recovered after payout
2. The car was significantly damaged/stripped during the robbery.

It is #1.
From what I gather based on the car's VIN and using autocheck and police reports, it was stolen... missing for 3 weeks, found left in a parking garage.

I gave it a pretty thorough check and couldn't find a single thing missing.... there wasn't a spare, but more homework reveled that it was an option... so I doubt it was stolen, probably just not ever purchased.


... we looked tonight and found a 2010 CTS with 40k miles for 22k, odds are that might be the new front runner for her... except she has started to hint to wanting a Audi TT, something small and AWD.... a complete 180 from the original plan of a SUV.

.... the female brain is an amazing thing.