Quote:
Originally Posted by Glassoman55
Your 100% correct....
salvage cars aren't for everyone....
but what you need to know about the car business is that " there is an ass for every seat".....
All you need is 1 person to want a car and you have a sale...
the person who bought it might want to track it....
I wouldn't want to spend 60k on a car that I'm going to track if I could spend 35k instead......
Also, depending on if the car goes out of the country, other areas don't have salvage titles.....the car will have a regular ownership document just like everyone elses.....
Also , have you ever wondered how many 1m"s got into worse accidents than this one and didn't get totaled ? They're still driving around with clean titles ?
Every insurance company has there specific criteria on what constitutes a total loss....
Technically an insurance company can total a car for a minor fender bender....
I speak from experience...Ive seen it happen....
You need to do your homework no matter what kind of titled car you buy , but they're are deals to be found with salvage cars....
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Insurance companies total cars for one of the following reasons..
1) structrural integrity compromised - ie diamond in frame
2) economic total loss - cost of repairs exceeds a threshold set by the insurer (typically 70-75%) or by local statute. Rental expenses and Diminished value potential for claimants also may factor in here.
3) occasionally vehicles are totaled due to whiny customers. ( no way I'm taking that back!) Etc. Although seriously .. most of the time if it is repairable .. it's repairable. ! I'm sure no one here can imagine someone demanding their lightly damaged 1M be totaled.. because they don't want a car that's been repaired. Enter @glassoman55 and others to swoop in later ... !
A vehicle can be determined to be an economic total loss by the insurer threshold... or... the insurer may have to total vehicles based on local statute.
For example.. a vehicle in ILLINOIS with 33.3% damage from flooding is a TL per local statute.
Another example.... A vehicle that is submerged in flood waters due to an event in LA that is covered by a Gubernatorial declaration must be declared a total loss and the customer CANNOT owner retain the vehicle as it must be branded CERTIFICATE OF DESTRUCTION in Louisiana.
So.. in many cases the reason that the vehicle is deemed a total loss may be due to local statute or requirements , not because the insurer does not want to repair the vehicle.
It is important to know that each state sets it's own guidelines for total loss threshold , as well as titling and branding requirements for various types of vehicles (cars, SUV, trailers, golf carts, ATV, motorcycles, trailer, RV) etc.
Whether or not the vehicle can be owner retained by the customer is greatly subject to local statutes which dictate disposal of different types of vehicles (due to the type of damage sustained) and how the vehicle titles should be branded (or not) when the vehicle is sold.
Some states are very restrictive and require branding of all total loss vehicles. Other states do not require branding for certain types of losses (theft, or hail damage for example) and some states do not require branding at all!
In some instances an insurer may be required to brand a vehicle a total loss , however if the owner chooses to keep the vehicle , the owner does NOT have to get the vehicle branded ( and presumably can sell the vehicle with a clear title ).
Being aware of where a vehicle was titled and what local statutes are is certainly of benefit when searching for salvage deals.