First off let me say that I know they'll be lots of room for personal opinions here, with some people holding the opinion that with cars of our vintage a salvage title isn't that big of a deal if it comes from a non-critical issue back when the cars weren't worth much.

I just looked at exactly such a car that was totaled by the insurance company over what today we would look at as a minor bump. Back when it happened, close to 15 years ago, I'm sure a $1500 repair was probably enough of a threshold to total the car so the insurance company wrote it off and the previous owner bought it back and then never restored it like he thought he was going to when he bought it back.

So all that brings us to today - otherwise clean car that had some rust repair done to a solid but not cosmetically attractive level, just needs an engine to be back on the road. 17's that are ready to Bolton can be readily had for not a whole lot money and you can see where the rest of this thought process goes. Except, except, except the shell has a salvage title.

I was thinking I would just throw this thing together and then drive it for six months and sell it, which I do in a heartbeat if I didn't have a salvage title but I'm worried that even at driver pricing ($4000?) i'll get stuck with it because other people will get the heebie-jeebies about the salvage title just like me.

What do you all think?

A salvage title is taboo to most people. Because of this is will affect resale value. This is something to remember before you spend a fortune fixing it up.

I would buy a salvage but would not pay full retail without a clean title. If I planned to keep it forever, the title status would not matter.

the older the car and the more restoration work it has had the less the salvage title means. Those Italians are rebuilding 356 speedsters from a serial number and a rusted cowl

I've always refused to touch them myself.

I suppose if you have the discipline to just keep it a driver, that is the say get it mechanically on the button but otherwise not spend money on it, it could work out still.

Do you think the salvage title would hold an otherwise healthy driving and rust repaired car back from being worth $4,000?

The salvage titles are not a bad thing they just carry a stigma that effects resale value. For me it is a bargain, and a free canvas to do what I want with the car, and since it is not an issue of resale you don't feel as bad when cutting into it and modify the car any way you wish.

For an artist it is like a blank canvas, for a purist it is a tainted piece of cloth spread over a tainted history that is now condemned for the rest of its life. Some would like the tainted to be cleared from the face of the earth.

If you want the car get it, if it is for you.

If you want to flip it, the title will get in your way.

here in Georgia, before 1985 the car does not even need a title, so someone can simply to to the DMV with a bill of sale and a police vehicle id check and get a new registration which is transferable to a title in any other state and even any other country. Needless to say the registration is clean

I’ve had a few excellent deals on selvaged title cars that were good looking and great runners and I truly loved. I feel as long as you have no expectations of selling it with a good complete inspection just enjoy it and run the piss out of it without the worrying.
I don’t have much knowledge of turning the title back to a good title but have heard of in some states it can be reverted.

I have bought many cars through out the years from junk yards. No titles, just a bill of sale. Here in Washington State, I had the sheriff dept. check it for safety (LIGHTS,BRAKES ALL THE BASICS INC WINDSHIELD). You can then purchase a new title, not a copy of the ordinal, but still a title.
I alway tell the truth, I bought cars for $100.00-$200.00, and sold them for the same(more or less).

good point. I just purchased a c 250 2014 with only 42,000 original miles and perfect, for 7500. It was involved the the Texas floods from earlier this year, but only got water in the rear passenger footwell, NOTHING wrong with that other than a bit of water. The insurance companies blanket totaled all of the cars in that area that had any water in them. NOW although the title is dinged, (salvage AND flood!!) I have a PERFET dependable car for my daughter, and like Wes said keep it forever and drive the "hell" out of it, and after ten years the dinged title will not matter anyway

NH is the same way. I registered my 914 just to make sure it was "clean", it was in no way ready to register when I got it.

Back in 2014 I looked at a really nice Bahia Red highly optioned '73 2.0 in Thousand Oaks.

The guy wanted $11K for the car, but it had a salvage title. It had been involved in an (small front passenger fender) accident. The guy got the insurance payout money, worked a deal to buy the car back, and fixed it perfectly. The car was a 9.5+ out of 10. It was that nice.

I didn't buy it at the time, somebody else here did. I think the car went to Texas and it is/was a great car. You can re-title cars in some states to circumvent a ST and then bring them back into California.

I often wonder where that car is today.

To answer the OP's question, if it's a driver/beater, buy it and enjoy it.

If I would have bought that red car, I would have never EVER mentioned to anybody that it was on a salvage title. None of anybody's business.

Was going though old paperwork today and found a Title for a car I havnt seen in 32 years , wonder if it's still around?

Ok a couple of things that are getting crossed here if you aren't familiar with salvage.
There are essentially three kinds of situations when someone says a car has a salvage title.
1. The car has a re-built salvage title. Meaning it was in a wreck or flood, fixed and then inspected by the state salvage people and issued a re-built or reconstructed title. The car can be registered and driven on the roads like any other car, but the end value will always be affected by the salvage, usually by at least 30%. And if you try and get the title washed by crossing states or backdoor registrations, it will probably still be on the Carfax and you are commiting fraud. Unless you like the possibility of jail, don't do it.
2. The car has a current salvage title, meaning if it is fixed it will need to be inspected by the state and issued a re-built title. This car cannot be driven on the roads or registered. Also, you have to have all receipts for parts bought to fix it, so people don't use stolen parts, so if you buy a car with a salvage title that has already been fixed by someone else and you have no paper trail, the state may fail you, so then you have a useless car. The salvage inspection is not the usual state inspection you get but an appointment only inspection with the salvage people, who can take the whole car apart if they feel like it, and fail you, and seize the car if they think anything is fishy.
3. The last is a salvage Parts Only title, the kiss of death. It can never be driven ever again, no passing go, no $200, straight to the track or the junkyard. I know lots of guys who buy one of these cars only to find out they can do nothing with the car.

Bottom line, know exactly what you're buying and do it with your eyes wide open. My 993 has a re-built title, it was wrecked in 2002, salvaged and re-built. I can't find evidence of a wreck, and Carfax that old is very scant on info, not like today where they are pretty detailed. Here is the biggest trap guys fall into with buying a car like this one. They buy it at a 30-40% discount and are jumping up and down, "I'm the smartest guy in the world!!!" But then when they go to sell it a couple of years later they forget they have to pass the same savings onto the next guy. Except they've convinced themselves the car is worth full market value and they get real angry when the market corrects them. It's also a limited market for selling a car with a branded title, you can't get a loan on such a car, and any and all Factory warranties are null and void.
So if you buy a car with any of these issues, know exactly what you're buying and be ready to jump through lots of hoops before you ever see the road. And be ready if you go to sell it to get lots of people commit to buy, and then back out of the car when they can't get a loan, or their insurance company gives them pushback.
Driving a branded title car can be great, it's a helluva deal, but it can be a lot of work. For example, my 993 was salvaged back in 2002, but it was in Ohio, so when I went to register it in NY with a re-built title, since it as out of state I had to go through a NY salvage inspection, I passed, but it was pretty nerve-wracking.

Friend bought a salvage title BMW cheap and got several problem free years out of it. Selling it was a whole different story even though it was in great shape. Most people will automatically take a pass. Documentation is critical. Can you prove it was only minor damage when it comes time to sell?

It's a matter of perspective. If you want the car as a potential investment, a clean title goes a long way toward value. Like when you were young and beautiful/handsome. You looked for a mate who was as perfect as you could (or were likely) to get. If you love your car because of its history and some emotional attachment, if the title is salvage it makes little difference to you. Likewise, if you have an emotional attachment to someone else (through marriage or whatever) then you are likely to overlook their flaws...just as they overlook your own.

Sometimes the Carfax has a lot of detail on the damage, so you can get lucky that way. Or whoever fixed it may have photos. You have to have before photos for the salvage inspection, some people save them. But it is usually heavy damage in order to total a car out, except for flood, that can total a car quick, but actual damage has to be over half to 2/3 the value of the car to total it, causing the salvage fun to begin.

My '74 is a rebuilt salvage title that I had to apply for here in Indiana. I personally don't think about the salvage much but I do realize I will never make any money on it if I go
to sell it. Once I understood the laws here (it was not explained very well in the BMV materials I read) it wasn't too bad to do. I did have to drive it across town to the police
station and get it inspected, which was only basic operation stuff. After that, I applied for the rebuilt title and it was all good. That said, I probably wouldn't do it like that again
especially with the values on the rise.

That may be true for NY, but if you check 50 states for their "salvage" laws and definitions, you'll probably get 53 different answers

they don't bother me if my purpose is to have a cheap driver;

i have a friend who has b'ot & driven dozens of COPART 'builders, and I've had a few too (not Porsche)

beware - no collision etc insurance

- if you are LUCKY somebody with good Lia Ins will smash into you & their Ins will pay

- my friend just lost a BMW & '15 Focus in the Camp Fire - no coverage under any circumstances

Don't think you're gonna make a profit on one!

Insurance companies are ready to total out cars these days.
About 6 years ago my son had his 89 MKII GLI hit in a parking lot. Light tap. Dented the left front fender, broke the grill and the left headlight. Got an estimate on it and it was $750. Too much I thought, but not my call.
My son had had the car for 6 years already and like it. It was in perfect running condition and everything worked.
The insurance company would not have it fixed. Instead they totaled it for $2450. We bought back for $125, so he got $2300 for the car.
The next week, we went to a pick an pull, got a fender, a headlight, lower valence(because his was previously dented) and I had a NOS grill. Bought some new fender sealer and fixed the car. Since the parts we got were the same color, no paint was needed. Total cost was $85.
He drove the car for another 4 years and sold it for $2700. Now some of the buyer were concerned about the salvage title, but others weren't. We had pictures of the damage, the parts we replaced them with, and the car sold.
As cars, that are desirable get older, the salvage title, becomes less of an obstacle. If a car has been repaired properly, then it will be ok.

My 2 cents.

Greg W.

This is video from when we sold it.
16V GLI

those restoration guys are not getting salvage titles - here in CA & some-or-many other places - one can get a "new registration" on a car long "out of the system" - all you need is a VIN tag & something to attach it to

many threads on this topic
- see the recent advert for the -6 conversion in the classifieds for example

All the more reason to know exactly what you're buying and what your state will make you do to put it on the road. For example, KY is known as the "wash your title" state. If you can sell a salvage title car to someone there and have them sell it back, the title will be a clean title, they have no provision for salvage, at least they didn't 10 years ago, I knew a guy who did this all the time. Life is too short for me to cut such corners, but this guy and his cousin in KY had no such qualms.

A rebuilt or salvage title is another way for insurance companies not to pay twice for a car that they have paid for.

I am in awe reading about the thought of making money on the resale of a 914. I mean a regular 914 like most of us have. The way I buy cars I am upside down on the purchase before the ink is dry on the check.

Being able to drive with liability insurance is another story.

Actively looking for mine right now....

What a great discussion gentlemen.