FAQ

Q: What does Salvage Title mean?
A: A salvage title is an car title with a notation that the vehicle has been damaged in excess of approximately 75% of its previous market value. This notation gets applied to a title when an insurance company pays a total-loss claim on a vehicle, but then allows the owner to retain or buy back the vehicle at its post-damage market value, which is often very low. Often a vehicle is still safely drivable even if technically considered a total loss by an insurance company, particularly with older vehicles where even minor cosmetic damage would cost more to fix than the vehicle's whole market value.

Q: Why is There Such a Bad Image About Salvage Cars?
A: Salvage is very objective in the minds of buyers. The attitudes towards salvage are very different. Salvage can be very good, and it can be very bad; it just depends on what you are dealing with.
 
Q: Can I Finance a Salvage Title Car?
A:  Banks do not finance salvage title cars. However, some local credit unions have become very aggressive about their loan restrictions, thus making it possible to get a loan on a salvage title car. Talk to your local credit union to identify what their policy is on salvage cars.
 
Q: Can I Insure a Savage Car?
A: Yes. Most of insurance companies will insure a salvage car, and most of the time they don't even ask if your car is salvage or not.
 
Q: Is it Safe to Buy a Salvage Car over the Internet?
A: It is recommended you get many photos from the seller, an inspection report before you make a purchase "sight unseen". However, you’d better inspect any car yourself. If the salvage car was a theft car with no damage, or a light flood water car, it may be possible to make the purchase long distance. Just be sure to get adequate information and photos from the seller to be on the safe side. It is also important to get a carfax vehicle history report (http://www.carfax.com) or an experian autocheck (http://www.autocheck). Autocheck reports are much easier to read and understand than a carfax, but both reports will provide you with the same information (they both give information from the same sources).
 
Q: How Do I Know if I Can Trust the Seller?
A: If you are purchasing from a private party, make sure you get service records, repair records, etc. If you are buying from a dealer, see what type of dealership they have. Is it well-established? Have they been around for a while? Make sure they have been in the business for a long time. Do they seem like a reputable dealership? Is their website comprehensive and thorough? Most importantly - ask around. See if anyone you know has heard of the seller or better yet - purchased a car from them before.