Found a jeep I like, but it has a salvage title, will you explain to me what this means? Suggestions?

that that car have being involved in a major accident and then rebuilded or has being flooded,i probably will keep searching for an other jeep

I would agree with MCG. Although, I believe that Odhinn's mother bought a really nice car with a salvage title. He looked it over pretty good and there weren't any issues with it. I think it depends on what happened to it and who did the work. Otherwise, I'm with MCG, I would probably not take the chance.

I think you are rolling the dice when you buy a car with a salvaged title!

Run quickly and don't look back. I would avoid a salvage title like the plague unless you really know how to fix cars and know what the damage was. Last thing you need going back and forth to school (I believe I read you're in school) is to be fixing a broken vehicle and dumping in money you probably don't have (or ran out of).

If you know why it was salvaged and who brought it back to life, it can be an OK thing. You get a good vehicle for a lot less money. I have had a few salvaged vehicles that my uncle purchased at auction and brought back to life. Never had a bad time with them.

If you don't know the details or the people involved - run!

Mine has a salvage title, it's a great Jeep.

But, like posted above, you have to know what you're getting into.

Many have just major body damage, more than insurance will repair.

Mine was sunk. 1 piston was cracked. Plus some minor front end body damage. I know who did the work on it and trust that it was done right. I've taken it to the dealer for some recalls, and they still do the recall work on it even though it's salvage titled.

It cost quite a bit less than comparable non-salvage titled Jeeps.

Salavage title = parts Jeep

Unless you have the desire to become very intimate with the inner workings of your Jeep.

The biggest issue with salvage anythings is electrical, you never know till it stops working.

Not trying to fend you away, just be aware those gremilns can find you.


Be prepared.

Usally like has been said it's been over a certain $ amout that the insurance Co. Will not cover so they Total the car. It might be the vehicle was only worth 5K and the damage was 3K so unless the owner wanted real bad to have it repaired they just total them.

FRAME Damage can be a bitch so get it checked out if the price is right and your willing to chance it Get it Checked out, If the person selling will not let you have it checked over first the pass on altogether there Hiding somthing.

Just because it is a salvage does not mean the vehicle was necessarily damaged in an accident or flood. I had an S-10 pickup that was a salvage. It was a recovered theft. They took the bed, seats, fenders, hood and doors. No damage to the electrical or mechanical aspects of the vehicle at all. Quick trip around the junkyard to collect some parts and a few hours of wrenching and I had an under 10,000 mile truck that ran perfectly for well under half of blue book.

I know that is not usually the case, so I have to re-iterate that unless you know the history, do not get a salvage.

emill out here they call that something else, but I can't remember what at the moment. Maybe a restored title or something.

There are certain insurance companies that won't insure a vehicle with a salvaged title. So you'd want to make sure that would work out for you okay. Otherwise I'd definitely take a look at it barring any completely obvious issues.

So what year/model and what are they trying to get for it?

Reconditioned title.

Leave it to CA to be different from everyone else. Still "salvaged" here.

All states use both terms just some states use one term more than the other. In Texas we use both "salvage" and "reconditioned". Both terms mean basically the same thing.

Just like reman and rebuilt in theparts industry basically the same.


almost forgot not supposed to post this close to scout....

i know one person mentioned an s10 they bought where all they took was the seats etc....my car was stolen ablout 2 yrs ago. the took the dash and seats, spoiler all sorts of stuff out of it. the insurance company totaled it out and gave us a check for it, no questions asked. I inquired as to why they didnt simply fix it, it could not have been more then a few grand in parts and it was worth several times that. turns out when they took the dash, they took to odometer so there was no telling how much it had been driven.

i thought about how it could have been really abused in a short time. wat about things like driving it in low gears at high speeds? e-brake stops? you know, general abusing of the car that may not show up for a while, but when it does is a major headache.

to me, a salvage title, while tempting money wise up front, is not really worth the possible troubles down the road. i usually dont have enough money laying around to suddenly need to drop 2-3 grand into a car.

Another possibility is a factory buyback car will usually have a salvage title. One example were the early 99 Grand Cherokees. There were lots of buybacks early on due to noise in the Quadra-Drive system w/ the new V-8. EVENTUALLY it turned out to be a fairly simple fix, but at first, Chrysler didn't know how to fix them, so they bought several back and salvage titled them. Once they were fixed, you could get a great Jeep for cheap! I have a car right now that was a factory buy back & has a salvage title, but it's a great car. Try to find out the history & reason for the salvage title. 1st owner had it less than 9 months, GM fixed it, next owner had it for 4 years, no service issues at all, and in the time I've had it, I had one little related issue that they fixed for me for free w/ over 80k on the clock! I guess what I am saying is just that it's worth looking into, but if you can't get the information, or you aren't comfortable, walk away, there will always be another!

Just remember that even a salvaged vehicle that was expertly fixed by a great mechanic will not bring anything if you ever decide to sell it or trade it.

True, unless you can get the "salvage" part of the title changed, it'll always bring less money when you sell it compared to a completely equal non-salvage title vehicle.

You all talk too much about actually selling your jeeps. This is blasphemy. Keep that mofo and when it's paid off dedicate it to weekend warrior status. There is no selling jeeps.

True. I bought my Jeep, knowing it had a salvage title, with no intention of selling it. My son will inherit it and I'll get myself another.
Just being realistic about the title and resale value though.

Thar's neewbies on here.

Not everyone is as hardcore as you are Jack!

YOU CAN RESELL A JEEP?

~Lev

Ha, I'm not hardcore. I just enjoy gettin out and stretchin the rig out on the weekends.

In theory, but after you pound the dog snot out of them for a decade, it becomes less likely...

Well, if you paid a significantly lower price when it was purchased, you have to assume your next sale price will start to deflate from there, not what it would have been worth w/ a reg title.