salvage title on a V70 XC??

[Kate]

my husband found a listing for a 1999 V70 VC with 80,000 miles but has
a salvage title. one local mechanic warned that we would never sell
it for it's full value, but we tend to drive our cars a long time.
(anyone need an '89 mazda 626 LX turbo?? ) Is it even worth the
hour's drive to pick up the car to bring to my mechanic, and find out
more about that salvage title from the seller? or would you just
steer clear?

tia!

kate
with a '91 Volvo 740 wagon, turbo

 

[Timothy J. Lee]

my husband found a listing for a 1999 V70 VC with 80,000 miles but has
a salvage title. one local mechanic warned that we would never sell
it for it's full value, but we tend to drive our cars a long time.
(anyone need an '89 mazda 626 LX turbo?? ) Is it even worth the
hour's drive to pick up the car to bring to my mechanic, and find out
more about that salvage title from the seller? or would you just
steer clear?

At the very least find out what the damage was, and whether all records
and receipts for the repair are available before even going to look at
the car. But note that floods, bent frames, fires, airbag deployments,
and many other types of damage are typically bad news for the long term
reliability, durability, and safety of the car. No records means that
the worst can be assumed, and corner-cutting repair jobs or the use
of aftermarket sheetmetal or bumper parts can be trouble also. Also,
the manufacturer may refuse warranty service on a salvage title car.

Since the car is not that old, that probably means that the damage
was fairly extensive. It's not like a $1000 old car taking a minor
hit on a bolt-on part of sheetmetal with no structural damage being
declared a "total loss" because repainting would cost more than the
car.

 

[Kate]

At the very least find out what the damage was, and whether all records
and receipts for the repair are available before even going to look at
the car. But note that floods, bent frames, fires, airbag deployments,
and many other types of damage are typically bad news for the long term
reliability, durability, and safety of the car. No records means that
the worst can be assumed, and corner-cutting repair jobs or the use
of aftermarket sheetmetal or bumper parts can be trouble also. Also,
the manufacturer may refuse warranty service on a salvage title car.

Since the car is not that old, that probably means that the damage
was fairly extensive. It's not like a $1000 old car taking a minor
hit on a bolt-on part of sheetmetal with no structural damage being
declared a "total loss" because repainting would cost more than the
car.

thanks for your reply. the daughter of the current owner, aka the
seller, says it took a week for the body shop to repair this car and
there was no extensive damage. I'll ask about receipts, but the work
was done by the seller's nephew's shop as a gift to the grandfather
who then owned the car. They bought it as salvage, then did the work.
I, too, assumed there would be extensive damage.... why would an
insurance company total a car that had a scraped up driver's side; the
damage she said it had? the car would have been 2 yrs old at that
point, AFAICT.

my mechanic suggested that I could only get liability insurance on a
salvaged title car? true?

kate

 

[G Klein]

I do not know why the insurance company would not fix what was told to you
as being minor damage. The best idea @ this point is to go & get a carfax
report on this car & find exactly why the title is listed as salvage as one
of the other posters said about Volvo cars doing any kind of warranty
repairs is very slim as most dealers will not work on Volvos that are listed
as salvage or warranty void @ this point the best move is to get a carfax
report for the vehicle & then make a decision from there
Glenn

 

[John Roden]

Check your state DMV on salvage titles. In NY, you have to document
the repairs that were done (including reciepts, etc.) If you can't get
a title easially, it's not worth owning the car unless for parts. I'd
also really wonder about damage to the unibody and how that impacts
safety in a subsequent crash.

 

[Alex Zepeda]

Check your state DMV on salvage titles. In NY, you have to document
the repairs that were done (including reciepts, etc.) If you can't get
a title easially, it's not worth owning the car unless for parts. I'd
also really wonder about damage to the unibody and how that impacts
safety in a subsequent crash.

I'd worry about the opposite. If you can get at title easily, I would
wonder how easy it is to pass off a car with shoddy repairs.

- alex

'85 244 Turbo