Should You Buy a Salvage Car?

What happens to all those wrecked and abandoned cars? Many of them can be and are salvaged. A savvy buyer can buy a salvage car cheaply and, with a little work, get a fully function and totally reliable car for much less than they’d usually pay for a vehicle.

If you’re bold enough to go this route, you could save yourself a tremendous amount of money if you buy a salvage car. But first you’ll need to find a salvage car. Auto salvage yards are like dealerships for salvage cars. Wrecked cars, those that have been in accidents and the like, end up on these yards, and are there for the taking if you know how to look. You can often find salvage yards in a phonebook or on the Internet. You should call ahead of time to see if they have any salvage cars available for you to buy.

If the salvage yard isn’t your thing, there are other options. Often, salvage cars are sold privately by their owners. Ebay can be a great tool in finding these privately-sold salvage cars. Websites like vehixx may also list salvage cars being sold privately.

Another Internet resource for buying salvage cars is erepairables.com. Not only can you buy a salvage car from this website, you can actually sell salvage cars as well. The buying feature of the site allows you to narrow down your search by model, condition, type and location. The site even includes a helpful forum that allows users to communicate directly with each other. You can discuss exactly the type of salvage car you’re looking for, and possibly find the perfect seller, without any further searching.

Once you’ve found your car, figure out how you’re going to pay for it. Depending on where you go to get the car, you may need to use a specific method of payment. A site like Ebay could allow you to pay with a credit card. However, a salvage yard may require payment in cash. Ask before you buy.

Also ask about the title for the car. The car may have a salvage or rebuildable title. This indicates that an insurance company got the car due to a claim and that the state issued a salvage title. The majority of the time, this type of car will be fixable. You’ll just need to get a vehicle inspection.

The car could, in contrast, have an export only title. It is very important to know if the vehicle as this type of title, as it means the car is not assessable on the road and cannot be titled again in that state. This is not car you will want. A car with this title will either be destroyed or exported out of your country.

Once you’ve checked out the title, also check out the rest of the car. Make sure it is a project you can take on. If you get a car you cannot fix up, then you won’t save any money in the long end. The car should be worth whatever you’re paying for it. Consider how much you’ll spend repairing the car when you look at the price. This kind of car can save you money, and be a fun project to take on if you enjoy working with cars, but only if you know what you’re getting yourself into.