WA Vehicle Salvage Title question

[AZ800]

So I surf Craigslist pretty regularly for deals on whatever, mostly cars. You know, find a fixer upper and fixer up, try to make a buck.
Been looking for a vehicle for my sis too and It seems that there is an inordinately large number of vehicles with salvage titles. Alot of these are newer or more expensive vehicles that have a salvage title and then a disclaimer that it was only a fender bender, or hail damage to the sheet metal 5 yeasrs ago, like when the vehicle was pretty new.
I know people lie thru their teeth, but there just seems to be a ton of salvage title vehicles that per the description and timeline given, do not add up to what would have been a total loss on that vehicle at the time.
Are there just alot more liars here or is there some weird laws here that end up giving vehicles salvage titles that really aren't a total loss?

 

[Lake Cle Elum]

1) If looking for a car for your sis, I'd say to have it checked out really closely for hidden damage. For years, scammers have been buying cheaply from insurance auctions, do cheap repairs and make a few bux........Any deal Sis gets will disappear when she tries to sell it.

2) If you're looking to make a buck, the guy you are buying from has already done that. Be hard for you to re-sell with a title like that....

 

[Snowlover]

Bought an 06 Dakota quad 4x4 with 9k on the ticker. Airbags deployed, hood and front bumper replaced. The shop had all the receipts for parts.

I got it inspected in WA and have had 85000 trouble free miles.

I knew I would run it to its grave, so resale value did not matter. Worked good for me, but I was a difficult to please buyer. Very picky.

I do see several on CL with salvage titles. Mostly due to high repair bills. My neighbor hit my rear bumper the other day when it was icy. Caused 3k damage to his VW. Put 2 tiny dents in my fender behind the bumper and pushed the chrome bumper in about an inch. Insurance gave me a $1,200 check for the repair and from 5 feet, you could never tell it was hit.

 

[1500psi]

Ttt

Really all that it means is the insurance company thought it was financially cheaper to total it for whatever reason. Especially happens on older cars or big mileage etc

 

[Tmann]

I think it may also apply to stolen and recovered vehicles or any vehicle that is sold at an auto auction. Anything with a "branded" title will be difficult to re-sell. I had a fender bender that I thought was just a bumper cover and maybe a few brackets. Insurance estimate 3k. All said and done at the body shop 10K approved by insurance. The bags did not deploy. A few more $$$$ and insurance would have totaled my 07 ram 4x4 crew cab larimie with 12k on the speedometer. Now days it doesn't take much to total a rig due to high labor and part costs.

My 2 cents.....try and stay away from the branded title rigs unless you are willing to do a good amount of research to ensure the story they tell is not a bunch of crap!!

 

[LeviD]

Think about this. If you have a new car less than a year old and hit something or get hit and your air bags deploy. those airbags are 3,000+ to replace for the insurance company. If your damage to repair puts you over the value of your car they will total it. lots of times its minor body damage and air bags. but definatly get it inspected. you dont want a bent frame or anything.

 

[mtn mike on boost]

just make sure you dont end up with a flood loss. do your homework
and make sure. probably going to see alot of flood cars in the market
soon. i am in the industry and was told a tech got cut on one a while
back and died from the bacteria. not sayin its true, food for thought

 

[AZ800]

Agreed. I have no interest in buying a salvage title vehicle unless I was gonna personally drive it into the ground.
I do know they'll total vehicles that pop the airbags even if the repairs don't reach the threshold if the miles are higher. Happened to a buddy. Nice F150. Rear end fender bender. No damage to his truck but popped the airbags. Defectively it seemed. They totaled a truck worth $10k over just airbags.

Question really pertained to does WA have a more lenient policy for totalling vehicles as it seems an inordinately large # of rather expensive vehicles with " minor damage" and rebuilt titles. Or just more liars?

 

[mtn mike on boost]

a vehicle is usually considered a total loss
when repair costs exceed 70-75% of actual
cash value. so ya on cheap or older cars,
airbag deployment, both dr. and pass. will
total the car when you factor in the physical
damage as well.

 

[sunbather1969]

totaled

I think it may also apply to stolen and recovered vehicles or any vehicle that is sold at an auto auction. Anything with a "branded" title will be difficult to re-sell. I had a fender bender that I thought was just a bumper cover and maybe a few brackets. Insurance estimate 3k. All said and done at the body shop 10K approved by insurance. The bags did not deploy. A few more $$$$ and insurance would have totaled my 07 ram 4x4 crew cab larimie with 12k on the speedometer. Now days it doesn't take much to total a rig due to high labor and part costs.

My 2 cents.....try and stay away from the branded title rigs unless you are willing to do a good amount of research to ensure the story they tell is not a bunch of crap!!

My dad had a 2 year old laramie 4 door 4x4 with 25k bought for 33k and had 24k repair was not totaled

 

[Snodawg]

See the sled in my avatar? That's right, it got totaled, and is now listed as salvaged on the registration. The picture is taken after the "total".

 

[JETJOHNSO]

TAKE IT FROM ONEIN THE CAR BIZ ALL MY LIFE

We use craigs list every day to buy and sell vehicles, YES watch out for the salvage titles, We / I always stay away from them, More trouble than they are worth, And 99% will be posted by a Russian or Ukranian, sorry not trying to profile but thats the truth, If you call on one and have a hard time understanding him or a strong accent, BEWARE, I can show you pages and pages of "oh it was just a small fender bender" ya right, I'll run an auto check on anything you want, just give me the VIN, no cost , If you find something that just seems "to cheep" beware, there's probably a reason,
just my 2 cents worth, dan

 

[AZ800]

Thanks Dan appreciate it.
Yeah went and looked at a truck, was like the Russian mafia there!
Guy was a hole too. Was his uncles truck blah blah. Still had a sticker in the middle of the windshield from a auction! Haha
Really just a general observation so many salvage title cars seem to be for sale here.

 

[JoshBBEX]

how a car gets a salvage title

the thing is not all salvage vehicles are a wreck... here's how they can get their title from an image site (just pics) http://imgur.com/cCVm1SM

 

[diamonddave]

We use craigs list every day to buy and sell vehicles, YES watch out for the salvage titles, We / I always stay away from them, More trouble than they are worth, And 99% will be posted by a Russian or Ukranian, sorry not trying to profile but thats the truth, If you call on one and have a hard time understanding him or a strong accent, BEWARE, I can show you pages and pages of "oh it was just a small fender bender" ya right, I'll run an auto check on anything you want, just give me the VIN, no cost , If you find something that just seems "to cheep" beware, there's probably a reason,
just my 2 cents worth, dan

This is 100% correct.

And trying to repair some of these hacked up vehicles with the amount of computer controls have actually resulted in the cars going to the crusher. It's amazing how twisted these vehicles can become.

I have waved my magic wand many times and shocked myself that I was that good. For others, I couldn't because it was impossible. Incorrect Modules, PCM's, TCM's, ABS, GEM's, etc. CAN-BUS communications down because of incorrect applications (wrong year, engine size, etc.)

I have had to custom build entire wire harnesses from headlight to taillight. Trying to figure out what year and application all of the modules needed to be to match the correct year transmissions (internal gear ratios, solenoids. Replacing modules then needing re-flashes, etc.

I've had vehicles with 30 plus hours of diag time. This usually occurred when a shop we sold a unit to installed it because it was in limp mode for gear ratio errors. Turns out the wrong unit was installed. Boss wouldn't refund money and would expect me to "work my magic" he would always say.

That happened all of the time.

There are plenty of "these people" with chop shops in the industrial areas of South King County.

It's a shame how much and how well this little industry is organized and how successful it is.


Be careful.

 

[miko700]

salvaged vehicles

All good and valid points it appears regarding yer question.......been an auto body painter in the industry for many years and yes the rate of totals has increased and probably will remain the same or increase? Yes there are many rebuild hacks out there .....It really starts pissin me off when I see these guys hackin the braking and and suspension components more than the sheet metal and puttin em back on the road and its rampant .....yes there also many "flood" vehicles out there that "look" not so bad but the undercarriages rot at an alarming speed. Your car is nothing more than a number though to the insurance company and in their very large money making industry when the vehicle hits the threshold of repair 60ish percent (varies by insurance company) of the vehicle yer done, it doesnt make financial sense for them to repair. One of the leading reasons is airbags and the amount of "extra" components in cars these days.....they add to the bill quickly! A door used to have maybe "10" components inside now there are many more. Airbags have saved many lives! but if a car gets hit from a couple directions and they deploy in a few areas it gets spendy.......often times the complete dash must be replaced to replace the front airbag.....this is a full day labor and thousands in parts ......this is what "tips" many of your cars over the edge