Salvage Title ?

[R77F1]

Should you buy NSX with a Salvage Title in its carfax record?

The 2nd owner didn't know what caused the Salvage Title. I checked out the car and the car still took off strong and very smooth shift. Everything else looks pretty well taken care off and in working condition for used NSX. T-Belt and Water Pump had just changed.

Should I arrange a real mechanic to look at it?

Thanks!:smile:

 

[matteni]

Does it have a clean title and a salvage report on CarFax? Is the car priced well below market?

BTW as for your 2nd question - I don't care if it was Mother Teresa's car and came right off the showroom floor - I would always have a qualified tech check the car over on a lift with your presence. You will learn a lot.

If it is just CarFax and the title is clear, has no apparent physical or water damage, and the owner is willing to sign an affidavit that the car has never had the OD rolled back, been in an accident, flood damage, etc then I would think you were OK. I would really look long and hard at the CarFax history, research the car, and go over it with a fine tooth comb.

 

[drew]

I would think you were OK.

Maybe carfax has their info wrong, and maybe not. But a title search is in order.

Salvage titles should be GREAT cause for alarm.

Inspect carefully. Very carefully.

If the car is in excellent shape with no signs of body damage or flooding: be extremely suspicious. You could be dealing with a stolen car. Have the car checked at your local auto theft task force (they physically inspect the car and look for signs of VIN tampering. Takes about an hour).

If at a later date, the authorities determine your car is stolen---you get a crime report and the owner gets their car back. Good luck getting your money back from anybody.

It could be a previous strip, which would be the best version of a salvage possible. Or a "laundered strip" which would make recovery of the car improbable: meaning you are unlikely to get the car taken from you.

Second owner doesn't know? Right, sure, uh-huh. How many states has this car been though?

this and other reasons is why you should not pay very much for a salvage title.

Drew

 

[nsxtasy]

There is another concern in addition to the reasons Drew has already stated. When a car has a salvage title, that means an insurance company has looked at the car after an accident and decided that it's not worth fixing. They typically do this when the cost to repair the car properly would be at least 70-80 percent of its market value. Instead of repairing it, they declare it a total loss and reimburse the policyholder. They can then re-sell the car as a salvage title car, to a junkyard who will part the car out, or to anyone else who wishes to buy it in that condition.

The problem is that a salvage title car is then worth a lot less than a clean title car. This means that the car is not even worth as much as it would cost to fix it properly. So if the car has been repaired to the point where it's drivable, it may very well have been done using shortcuts and inferior parts and techniques, rather than doing the job right. Salvage title cars often have a lot of hidden damage. This is one of the biggest risks of buying such cars. I would never recommend buying a salvage title car to anyone unless they have their own body shop and are prepared to take care of any hidden damages (and such folks probably would steer clear of such cars anyway).

Should you buy NSX with a Salvage Title in its carfax record?

I recommend NOT buying such a car, no matter how good it looks. If it turns out to have problems that are expensive to fix later - or, worse yet, if it turns out to have problems that make the car unsafe to drive (and this is fairly common for salvage title cars) - are you prepared to sink a lot more money into a car that still won't be worth anywhere near the market value of an otherwise-similar car that was never wrecked?

Should I arrange a real mechanic to look at it?

That's always a good idea with any used car. In the case of a salvage title car, I would recommend also arranging to have a highly experienced body shop (preferably one with NSX experience) inspect it as well.

 

[johnny010]

Just a side note, it is not uncommon for us to total a car based on the fact that no used parts can be found.

Also, I paid a subrogation claim today on a car that was not a total loss, but the carrier was much smaller, and did not/doesn't spend the money to get their cars torn down for an accurate estimate. Normally, I wouldn't have paid it, but they'd already sold the salvage. OMG, you should have seen the estimate....all fluff....


I do know of some vendors that will buy a car in anticipation of used parts coming onto the market in the months and years ahead, and then turn a profit by repairing the car. Numerous cars we total would never get to that status if used/am parts had been available. Food for thought.

 

[ETLMD]

When I was shopping for an NSX, I test drove this salvage title car:
The car was repaired very well. It was difficult to tell that the car was in an accident. The car drove very nicely, and shifted smoothly (only 28k miles on it). However, there was some noticeable wind noise on the driver's side. I was also concerned with how the car would hold up during spirited driving. I would stay away from salvage title cars.

 

[darknezz_ghost]

When I was shopping for an NSX, I test drove this salvage title car:
The car was repaired very well. It was difficult to tell that the car was in an accident. The car drove very nicely, and shifted smoothly (only 28k miles on it). However, there was some noticeable wind noise on the driver's side. I was also concerned with how the car would hold up during spirited driving. I would stay away from salvage title cars.

who would repair a car that bad??

 

[my1stnsx]

who would repair a car that bad??

There will always be someone that wants to start a project with a challege they can tackle!!

 

[SFMarine0311]

I concur on that one..ya that nsx sure did get messed up but if someones got the time and $$ i guess it can be worth to rebuild....As far as salvage titles go don't always judge a book by it's cover...my s2k is a prior salvage..i said i wasn't going to get it. But i couldn't resist my car retails for over 20k i got it for far much less. I was very hesitant as to buy a car with a bad carfax. I looked it over...and it looked very good! Drove like new...my mechanic checked it over said you couldn't even tell it was in a wreck..so sometimes you make out..sometimes you don't. Would i buy a salvage title car again? I doubt it because i'm sure i could never find a car as good condition as my s2k is. Find something clean..it will give you less headache in the long run.

 

[darknezz_ghost]

all i have to say is.. WOW..

 

[KGP]

who would repair a car that bad??

Have you looked in the NSX Wanted section lately? Thread after thread of people wanting salvage title NSX's.

 

[Hal_396]

IMHO, Its a crap shot. You can get a vehicle real cheap that way but it'll be hell trying to sell it later. I suppose if you plan on keeping the car a long, long time, it would be worth serious consideration.

 

[Patricio]

Here is my 2 cents. I was seriously considering a salvage car really close to my house, a 94 with 6-speed painted roof ww kit and dvd navigation $27k.
but....
I have a friend who rebuilds all kinds of things from lambos to vipers to mercedes all high end stuff and trust me he does amazing work and usually after seeing/driving some of his personal cars one of which is his personal Viper really proves to me that car can end up looking/driving better than new.

But there is one NSX specific issue that I have wondered about on the NSX , many time more often than not, there are slight alignment isues that need to be adjusted on rebuilt cars to make them drive perfect and usually if the body shop is really good the adjustment is very small and only causes slight extra tire weare. but in the case of the NSX being known for having very aggressive rear tire wear. That may be a big problem.

A rebilt car even with a little alignment issue would deffinatly make you second guess putting some larger wheels and tires on your car when your paying $200+ for 275-35-18s TOYOs or whatever. From what I read factory rear tires on the NSX have a life expectancy of 5-8k miles, so if you consider a slight alignment issue that number may be reduced to 4-7k miles on stock tires, Now Aftermarket wide tires are stickier and wear a little faster so you may be facing to get 4-5k miles out of your adjusted, possibly mis-aligned NSX. Thats a little anoying and costly. Plan on driving hard thats even worse. So that was my own conclusion as to whether or not consider a rebuilt NSX.

Any other car sure mabe I would buy, but a rebuilt NSX, NO. Plus there are Frame strength issues that my affect the handeling of a car as well. I have seen cars get rebuilt and even though they look pretty on the outside, underneth those body panels is a lot if rigging, welding and Make It Work Engineering. NSX is a picky car there may be issues that may be unforseen depending on were the car was hit. OOOHHHH and ONE MORE thing you know how once youve had a car for a while you start noticing every single sound the interior makes? prepare to go bazerk! Most, I repeat MOST rebuilt cars interiors rub, creak and rattle on each other like a stephen king movie once you really start looking for the sounds. That stuff drives me nuts I mean engine noise and exhaust all that dosent bother me especially if its totally modified, but if its still a street car and the interior starts creaking and ratteling, I cant take it, I go nuts.
If I am wrong please correct me as I was using numbers I remember reading in FAQ in regaurds to tire wear.
You can look at my first thread regaurding the car I was looking at since Im usually so impacient, but i gatherd my sences thankfully. The thred should be a little below this one it is titled ** Looking at rebuilt car in PA. **

 

[DIMITRIS]

who would repair a car that bad??

i would fix it
i had my s2000 salvage my nsx salvage my civic salvage and who knows what is the next one?
dimitris