# need help in buying a salvage gto



## cdplayer16 (May 20, 2011)

i found a 2005 gto 6speed with 74,450 miles on the car. the person wants $13500 but his willing to sell me the car at $12000, but the problem is that its a salvage title car. he told me that the car was only scratched by a tree that broked the front windshield and damaged the paint ant craked the front bumper. he said that i can take any mechanic to get the car cheked out. i just would like to know if its a good deal, to pay $12000 for a gto with a salvage title


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## jpalamar (Jul 22, 2008)

Is the car completely fixed and has a registerable title? If so, I still probally wouldn't give him more then $8500 for it and that would be after I had a mechanic and a body shop check to make sure the repairs were correct. Think of it this way, with a clean title that car will be lucky to fetch $15-16k.

Also, check with your insurance company as some don't insurance reconstructed car... and the other that do have limited coverages. I know whe NI was looking into it my agent told me that they would only pay 40-60% of what a clean titled car would be worth. Needless to say, I couldn't get that good a deal on the car so I didn't get it.


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## cdplayer16 (May 20, 2011)

the car was all fixed and painted and the title is registerable. so its not worth to pay $12000 for a salvaged gto that was repaired.


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## HP11 (Apr 11, 2009)

cdplayer16 said:


> the car was all fixed and painted and the title is registerable. so its not worth to pay $12000 for a salvaged gto that was repaired.


Way too much for a salvage title. Many insurance companies won't write full coverage policies on them either. Some will offer liability only, some won't insure them at all. Keep in mind that a salvage title means that the car has already been considered totaled and most likely it was an insurance company that declared it so.


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## 05GTO (Oct 6, 2004)

jpalamar said:


> I still probally wouldn't give him more then $8500 for it and that would be after I had a mechanic and a body shop check to make sure the repairs were correct.


:agree


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## cdplayer16 (May 20, 2011)

thanks guys for the help in knowing if the car was worth that much money.


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## amtrucker22 (Apr 12, 2011)

There is a 2004 YJ M6 with only 12k miles in NC for $13,800. Carfax shows that it did have 1 accident, but it is a clean title.

I would go with that one before I went with a salvage title.


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## HP11 (Apr 11, 2009)

But it's an 04 and it's been crashed. I don't think it's worth $13.8 K even with that mileage.


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## russosborne (Dec 6, 2010)

Another thing to think about is the laws vary from state to state with salvage titles. 
In Ohio(where I am) you cannot register or drive a car with one. You have to have it inspected by the state highway patrol at an inspection station, where they look at every piece that has a vin, and if the numbers don't match you have to have a reciept from a business for the part, or a notarized reciept from an individual. If numbers don't match they can confiscate the parts, or if the vin of anything is from a stolen vehicle, well, better have a good lawyer.

If all that goes well, they give you a salvage repaired title, you can't ever get a normal title. 

I am dealing with this with my 70 Lemans, I didn't realise all the hoops I have to go through here, or else I wouldn't have bought the car. 
Russ


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## HP11 (Apr 11, 2009)

That's similar to what one has to go through in California. If the car is truly 'registerable' as stated above, then it would already have been through all of that.


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## Alireza (May 26, 2011)

first off, just scratch by trees wont make a car salvage. Specially a car worth over 18000 retail value. Most insurance companies including allstate salvage a car if the cost of fixing is over 25% of the value of the car. that means if the cost of that accident was 5000 the would have fixed it, if not, salvage. Bear in mind, insurance companies have ways to fix cars for cheap and they take in the deductibles so basically for a repair job that an ordinary person would pay 10,000 they'd pay 5000. Therefore, that GTO was in some serious damage. 
Having that said, I would not pay more than 9000 for a perfect condition - no frame damage - Salvage GTO with that mileage. 

NOTE- if you ever bought a salvage car there are some ways to remove the car from salvage rebuilt status through DMV and also remove the **salvage** from the title depending on the state that the car is registered.


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## HP11 (Apr 11, 2009)

You must have that number wrong. It would have to be more than 25%. They fixed my nieces Camry after her accident and it had almost $6000 damage and I know a 2007 Camry isn't worth $24K.....


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## Alireza (May 26, 2011)

HP11 said:


> You must have that number wrong. It would have to be more than 25%. They fixed my nieces Camry after her accident and it had almost $6000 damage and I know a 2007 Camry isn't worth $24K.....


I hope your niece is ok. Accidents are the last things I would ever want for family members. 

As I said, different insurance companies have different policies across different states. Major insurance companies (and valued agents) consider safety so if the damage is near the axles or resulted in frame damage, they will consider it salvage even if the cost of repair is less than 25%. Some insurance companies might fix a car and spend up to 40% of what the car is worth so they would not have to pay retail value to salvage a car. This again has a lot to do with the state laws.

With all due respect, you can not generalize an event that you have encountered with all the accidents that occurs in America and different ways they are dealt with. 

To get a better look at what cars are being salvaged and in what shape, google IAAI and look at the cars that the insurance companies auction out. 
You can see differences across the states in which the cars are considered salvage.


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## HP11 (Apr 11, 2009)

My niece is fine. I'm not generalizing, I'm talking about one incident compared to your hypothetical example. I really don't have that much interest in furthering my knowlege of salvaged vehicles as I'd never have any interest in buying one.


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