I am considering buying a salvage title '91 NSX in Texas. I live in Hawaii. I would like advice on what to look out for in buying a salvage title car and what discounts apply, what other problems I might encounter. The Acura dealer who inspected the car for me said he sees no visible damage to warrant a salvage title. This would be my first NSX. Please advize me. Thanks!
need advice on buying salvage title NSX
- Thread starter stevenlee
- Start date
IMHO, I would stay away from a salvage titled car. You never really know what kind of damage there was and how well the repair was done. Unless you really get a good deal or plan to keep it for a really long time, it really wouldn't be worth it. You may have a hard time with resale if you ever need to sell. BTW, what kind of price range is the car??
Thanks for your comments. It has 40K miles. Is being serviced by an acura dealer w/ new water pump, timing belt, etc. I think I can get it for $20K. The Acura dealer mechanic told me today that there is no visible damage or repairs. The factory "stickers" are in place. His comment is that it may have been water damaged. The Texas salvage tiltle was in '94. There also was a "junk title" in Texas, date unknown. My insurance co told me that salvage title cars don't qualify for full insurance coverage.
I appreciate anyone's advice/comments.
Steven Lee
emai: [email protected]
cell: 808-779-6622
I appreciate anyone's advice/comments.
Steven Lee
emai: [email protected]
cell: 808-779-6622
If it's water damaged, please stay away from it. I have seen the cars with the water damage in person (before they cleaned up the car). You wouldn't even want to know how terrible it is. $20k for the car is not even worth it.
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Is it in Houston?
Steven Lee, You should check out the "crash and burn gallery" your NSX could have been as bad as the others on that page. STAY AWAY FROM SALVAGED CARS....For a little more $$ you can get a genuine clean title NSX..
stevenlee said:
Have it inspected by a top-notch, high-end body shop with NSX experience. A body shop will be more able to spot the kinds of problems that a salvage title car might have.
I agree with the others that buying a salvage title car is a bad idea for anyone other than an experienced body shop professional who knows what he's getting into. It's very risky; you can end up having lots of problems that aren't noticeable, including some that aren't obvious and some that compromise safety as well as reliability and aesthetics. And such cars are usually priced not all that much less than a good car with similar mileage. You may be spending $20K on a car which will give you endless problems, which you can't insure, and which you may have trouble selling for more than, say, $15K. Or, you could spend $30-35K on a nice '91 with below-average mileage that will be reliable, which you can insure, and which you can sell at any time for close to what you paid for it. Your choice.
NEVER EVER buy a car which had water damage. NEVER!!
Waterdamage is sometimes very hard to spot, you will just wonder why the car is braking down so much, and all repairs are new parts only.
Waterdamage is sometimes very hard to spot, you will just wonder why the car is braking down so much, and all repairs are new parts only.
ADVICE: Don't buy it at any cost.
Hey Man....leave it alone.....My G'ma always taught us that we were, "too poor to buy cheap stuff". $20K might seem like a real sweet deal up front but inthe long run man, It'll bite ya.
hondaholic said:
IMHO this is not good advice
from what i can see you have a couple of things going for you
1st the car is out of warranty anyway
2nd the flood was awhile ago so anything that was damaged or going to go more than likely was replaced by now.
3rd you have had it checked out by an Acura tech.
However having said that how bad was the flood? was it salt water or fresh water? because that will make a big difference.
the problem with getting advice from this board is the lack of info that evryone has right now on this car (maybe link pics and title history, car fax etc)
please buy carefull
i've seen many cars with clean titles before that should have had a salvage title for sure and i've seen Mercedez cars with salvage title's when they we're missing tail lights and airbags.
I don't know where some of you get your info. My car had a salvaged title history and I have full insurance coverage.
Water damage is bad. So is fire. Body isn't always so bad because it can be fixed.
Water damage is bad. So is fire. Body isn't always so bad because it can be fixed.
Brian2by2 said:
Define what you mean by "full insurance coverage". Let's say your car is stolen or totalled. You will not receive full market value as though the car had a clean title. It is quite possible that the insurance company's opinion on what your car is worth may be very different from yours, because of the salvage title.
Brian2by2 said:
We got all are info from being older and wiser, someday you too will be on our side. Surprised you haven't yet learned your lesson
if I remember clearly
Junk title means it cant be rebuild (under law. etc )but can only be used as parts car unless a rebuildable title was issued
Junk title means it cant be rebuild (under law. etc )but can only be used as parts car unless a rebuildable title was issued
Adjuster's opinion
First run a CarFax and see what you can find out. Determine from the Seller why there is a Salvage Title on the vehicle. If you are buying the car outright and not placing any lien, check with your Dept of Motor Vehicle dept to see if you can get the title cleaned up etc--some states you can do that. Check with other insurance companies--you should be able to get full coverage but if the vehicle is later totalled out or is a total theft, then the insurance company will diminish the market value by 50%...Thus, if the vehicle is normally worth 30k they will only offer 15k...
If you can find out who owned the vehicle when the vehicle was totalled, that owner should have the insurance paperwork--if it's the present owner, he should provide that info and if it's a prior owner then he should have gotten that info or at least be able to get a copy of the info from the prior owner...
I would not pay more than 13k for the vehicle without more info and only if you can get insurance on it....The seller should already know the difficulty of selling a salvage titled vehicle and should have all paperwork showing why it's worth 20k
First run a CarFax and see what you can find out. Determine from the Seller why there is a Salvage Title on the vehicle. If you are buying the car outright and not placing any lien, check with your Dept of Motor Vehicle dept to see if you can get the title cleaned up etc--some states you can do that. Check with other insurance companies--you should be able to get full coverage but if the vehicle is later totalled out or is a total theft, then the insurance company will diminish the market value by 50%...Thus, if the vehicle is normally worth 30k they will only offer 15k...
If you can find out who owned the vehicle when the vehicle was totalled, that owner should have the insurance paperwork--if it's the present owner, he should provide that info and if it's a prior owner then he should have gotten that info or at least be able to get a copy of the info from the prior owner...
I would not pay more than 13k for the vehicle without more info and only if you can get insurance on it....The seller should already know the difficulty of selling a salvage titled vehicle and should have all paperwork showing why it's worth 20k
My NSX has a clean title. I would get normal value for it if it were totalled. I have full collision...everything.
You said your car had a salvage title history. 
Salvage history vs salvage title
Brian 2x2----if you have a salvage title then it is not clean. If your carfax shows the vehicle was totalled out at some point, then it may have been in a state where the insurance company does not have to report to the DMV the fact that the car was totalled or the state did not require the owner or salvager to obtain a salvage title. In some states, you can simply do repairs and then have DMV inspect and the car can go back on the road...Most states now force any owner of a totalled car to take in their clean title and obtain a Salvage title even after reparis ..HOWEVER---if a CarFax reveals the fact that the car was a salvage vehicle regardless of whether you have a clean title, a future buyer is not going to offer you full value and an insurance company, if they run a history will also not offer you what you expect should the car get totalled out....Most insurance companies will run a PILR to get a history---some do not and only ask for title info---have you checked your title to see if it's clean--some states indicate Salvage/Reconstructed etc and some use a Code.....
Brian 2x2----if you have a salvage title then it is not clean. If your carfax shows the vehicle was totalled out at some point, then it may have been in a state where the insurance company does not have to report to the DMV the fact that the car was totalled or the state did not require the owner or salvager to obtain a salvage title. In some states, you can simply do repairs and then have DMV inspect and the car can go back on the road...Most states now force any owner of a totalled car to take in their clean title and obtain a Salvage title even after reparis ..HOWEVER---if a CarFax reveals the fact that the car was a salvage vehicle regardless of whether you have a clean title, a future buyer is not going to offer you full value and an insurance company, if they run a history will also not offer you what you expect should the car get totalled out....Most insurance companies will run a PILR to get a history---some do not and only ask for title info---have you checked your title to see if it's clean--some states indicate Salvage/Reconstructed etc and some use a Code.....
nsxxtreme said:
Brian2by2 said:
When my bf totalled my GS300 (w/ clean title and no salvage history), the insurance company try to bring down $2k below market value because the front fender been repainted.
But they end up paying me the full value (what I paid for the car), because I own the car for less than a week.
Did you drop the BF like a two foot putt? EVERY state is different and every insurance company has differences on how they handle cars with branded registration. An example, my 98 car with a salvaged certificate was payed out at full value. I was paying a premium for a non salvaged car but that could have gone either way. There are a lot of variables.
ya, i pay full premium on my car and my insurance rep said its insured as a clean titled veichle....fla allows title washing apparently. I've got a whole lawsuit going on right now invovling that...but thats another story.
