Salvage title

How does everyone here feel about purchasing a salvage title vehicle. I found one that I like, in my price range. It's from a dealership, and the price reflects the fact that it's a salvage title vehicle. After seeing my car and what little damage it takes on an older BMW to be considered "totaled" I don't have such a hard time with the idea of purchasing one. As long as it checks out clean

If you are buying the car to keep, and the PPI checks out OK, a salvage title isn't a problem.

An INDEPENDENT PPI.

Do not accept one from the people selling the car. $tealership or not. Take it to a shop that specializes in BMW's that is not affiliated with that $tealership.

As these cars get older, it takes very little damage to have the insurance pay them off as totaled. Have someone you trust take a good look at it.

Depending on where you live, a salvage inspection can actually be far more detailed then a standard PPI inspection. As a salvage vehicle was usually damaged prior, a lot of governing agencies want to make sure the car is safe enough for road use again and are very stringent on the repairs.

Personally, i would probably avoid buying unless i was using it for parts. Mostly because salvage titles are harder to sell.

meh, depending upon why it was salvaged. was it wrecked?? flooded?? can you find out?? i'd rather take on a wrecked car than one that had been totaled due to a flood.

that being said, i did have a caddy in the shop that had gone through (or attempted to go through) a flooded street. it sucked up water and punched a hole in the block about the size of a baseball. no other parts of the car got flooded, but it wound up a 'flood damaged' car.

shame, too. it was a rather nice car...but this sort of thing would be documented. somehow. not sure if you would be able to run the vin through your insurance company to see who had it insured/totaled last, but i would try that as well. just to try to get more of the story behind the car.


and yeah, independent ppi. get one first.




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Salvage title is very simple: the cost to repair is uneconomical compared to the value of the vehicle. Typically if it's going to cost around 70% or more of what the vehicle is worth, it gets salvaged.

Vehicles depreciate over time, but repairing an older car doesn't get cheaper.

So, the key here is WHEN was it salvaged. If it was salvaged a year after purchase with 10k on it, it probably had $20k of damage on it - that's a bunch and likely compromised the unibody structure so you'll be insufficiently protected in a future wreck. If it was salvaged last month it may have just had a panel or two crinkled for $3k and it's no big deal.

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Basically what you all are saying is exactly what I am thinking. I am contacting them today to try and find out more. It's a 98 m3 sedan with 135k, 5speed, looks immaculate other than normal interior wear and paint peeling on front bumper. Silver. $3999

Seems fair to me as long as it checks out.

Thank you all for input. I don't know that I will be able to travel down there and then find a reputable shop for ppi, might enlist some help from willing locals but I worry about someone snaking the car from me. Lol

You really need a PPI . Period.

Even if it was just salvaged last month, it could have just been $3 k of damage or much much more. Many disreputable places will slap new sheet metal over twisted and bent components and call it a day. The problem with salvage titles and why the title is branded in the first place is to warn you that you could be getting into something that was incredibly damaged.

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Sometimes salvaged may also mean that the car was stolen then recovered but the car may have been stripped and insurance just writes it off since it will cost more to put the missing parts back together in which sometimes the owner will have the decision to buy it back and fix it up...the other scenerio is what previous guys said...regardless of stolen or accident check the records. Good luck!

I'm hoping Karl wont mind me posting his work here, but here is an example of a PPI on a salvage title


The only thing I can really tell is a few fitment issues with random crap, but they might be attributed to other things.

At the very least, it gives you some leverage in price negotiations, but keep in mind the same is true when/if you try to sell it.

If I can get my hands on it I don't intend to ever get rid of it. I have wanted an e36 since I was a small boy (didn't know it was e36 then) and now that I have had one, I don't really want anything else. Call me closed minded but the one I had was probably the most fun car I have ever owned.

I just called the place and the lady that answered was spanish and didn't speak very good english, but basically she told me that it was in a collision (obviously as posted in the ad) and the frame was damaged and had to be straightened. She invited me to come look at it test drive it, check it out, all that. I am going to speak to my bank this afternoon and hopefully get approved for loan. as soon as I have the approval, I will take a trip down and check it out.

What kind of places do ppi's?

Whoa.......that's impressively detailed. Karl could charge serious money for an inspection with a report like that.

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Any mechanic's shop will probably do a PPI, but you NEED to go to one which specializes in BMWs, or at least European cars. Do NOT buy this car without a thorough pre-purchase inspection. Seriously. If it has sub-frame or other chassis damage, you basically won't be able to safely drive this car. I repeat: do NOT buy this car until it has been put on a lift and properly inspected by a knowledgeable technician. I don't even know how you can get a loan for a salvage titled E36. Banks almost always have vehicle age limits, minimum loan amount limits, and I'd imagine most would probably refuse to issue a loan on a salvage titled vehicle since the collateral value is so small.

Originally Posted by petriej

I'm hoping Karl wont mind me posting his work here, but here is an example of a PPI on a salvage title

I don't mind at all. And even my inspection was lacking what I truly recommend, which is getting the car up on a lift, but I had fully disclosed that ahead of time when I inspected your car.

My f-150 is a salvage/rebuild, was due to a leaf spring hanger...my dad and I fixed it and got it inspected and it passed...runs and drives great. I don't think it should have been salvaged but thats why I got about 45% off what there worth on kbb, Karl is also right about a loan, you will most likely have to get a personal loan not a vehicle loan for it.

The other thing is that if you have to take out a loan to pay for a salvage title E36, which at most shouldn't cost more than a few thousand dollars, you really have no business buying an E36 BMW. Particular attention should be paid to Ken's signature, which states: "Nothing is more expensive than a cheap BMW." I promise that this car will require thousands of dollars in work to get it back into shape, which if you have to take out such a small loan to pay for the car, I'm assuming you don't have the extra income to pay for repairs & maintenance.

Originally Posted by ZeGerman

The other thing is that if you have to take out a loan to pay for a salvage title E36, which at most shouldn't cost more than a few thousand dollars, you really have no business buying an E36 BMW. Particular attention should be paid to Ken's signature, which states: "Nothing is more expensive than a cheap BMW." I promise that this car will require thousands of dollars in work to get it back into shape, which if you have to take out such a small loan to pay for the car, I'm assuming you don't have the extra income to pay for repairs & maintenance.

1) If the car is already repaired, which it is, and passes a ppi, why would i need to spend thousands of dollars.

2) If you had read the post, you would have seen that asking price is $3999

3) I wasn't asking if you though I could afford an e36. The question was "how does everyone feel about salvage titled vehicles" you sir are crossing a line. I had money to buy something like this before, but I overpaid for my 325i which is now a total loss. That's why I have to take out a loan, not that its any of your ****ing business. I also have another vehicle that I will be using as collateral.


And to whoever said it will probably have to be a personal loan, I was kinda thinking that, thanks for the suggestion though.


I have to have another car, our family can't function with one, I am going to buy a used car, i am not looking for perfection, I am well aware of how high maintenance these cars are. I am here to ask questions and learn. From now on if your reply to my question, involves you passing judgement on me, do as your mother should have told you, and shut your ****ing mouth.

Thank You,

have a great day

And that's directed anyone. Not just you Karl

1) Even if it has been repaired, I'm sure you'll still have to replace all the typical maintenance items (suspension, cooling system, etc.). 95% of the time, that's the way it goes with these cars.

2) So I was right, the asking price is beans. I still consider $3999 to be "a few thousand dollars".

3) Sorry if I offended you. That wasn't my intent, and I was not passing judgement. Stating that you'd have to take out a loan to pay for a $4k salvaged E36 implies that you don't really have enough disposable income to afford a cheap E36. This is NOT a personal judgement, but rather it's just a statement of fact. As mentioned above, almost all the time when buying an old E36, you immediately discover upon taking delivery that a ton of things have been neglected and need to be replaced. I doubt there is a single one of us on this forum that didn't have to do a good amount of maintenance upon acquiring their E36, myself included.

Your response is incredibly rude. Nobody said you couldnt afford it. People were just stating that a bank may not want to approve a loan on a car that old and instead of a Vehicle loan, you may have to apply for a personal loan. Not one person said you couldnt get a loan.

Cars with frame damage very rarely get fixed properly and usually have alignment issues for the rest of its life. They were trying to help you make sure you didnt end up buying a car that you would regret. You sir, are crossing a line. If you dont want peoples advice then dont post here.

Originally Posted by kaos_325i

1) If the car is already repaired, which it is, and passes a ppi, why would i need to spend thousands of dollars.

2) If you had read the post, you would have seen that asking price is $3999

3) I wasn't asking if you though I could afford an e36. The question was "how does everyone feel about salvage titled vehicles" you sir are crossing a line. I had money to buy something like this before, but I overpaid for my 325i which is now a total loss. That's why I have to take out a loan, not that its any of your ****ing business. I also have another vehicle that I will be using as collateral.


And to whoever said it will probably have to be a personal loan, I was kinda thinking that, thanks for the suggestion though.


I have to have another car, our family can't function with one, I am going to buy a used car, i am not looking for perfection, I am well aware of how high maintenance these cars are. I am here to ask questions and learn. From now on if your reply to my question, involves you passing judgement on me, do as your mother should have told you, and shut your ****ing mouth.

Thank You,

have a great day

Hold up there Skippy. What was said above was not a personal attack. It was an attempt to inform you of hazards. Many of us here have chimed in with helpful information for your benefit. With a chip on your shoulder like that, you'll be finding assistance to YOUR requests far less forthcoming.

As an example, Joey (SlimKlim) paid $7k for his M3 a few short years ago. Since then he's put roughly the same into it again to get it into a quite respectable car.

I paid $8300 for my 328is 3.5 years ago, and I've put another ~$6k into it since.

All that was said was to be careful if you don't have the initial price for a $4k car, as odds are better than good that you'll need to sink a whole bunch more into it for regular maintenance.

Try reading the above again and pull your head out of your ass before getting all offended.

Ed

I paid $6k for mine in January 2010, and I haven't run the numbers lately, but last I checked I've put about $3900 into it, at least. And that's doing all of the work myself.

Originally Posted by DEATH2000

Cars with frame damage very rarely get fixed properly

This. I'm not saying don't buy a salvage titled E36, because we all know it barely takes a door ding to total an E36 these days, but I would never buy a salvage titled E36 without a serious inspection. There's too much risk involved.

Here we go!

Hey jonesin, I have seen and had nothing but helpfulness out of you and Karl both. But the way he said it, looked as offensive as my post did(hence the reason my post was so rude)

If it wasn't meant personally than I will apologize for how and what I said. But you can't tell me that there aren't a bunch of uppity rich judgmental assholes driving bmw's. I guess I just made a mistake thinking they were the ones driving the old fixer uppers.

Karl I apologize, and thank you for the input.

Not only do I have anger issues. But i have had judgement passed on me too many times in life. When I feel someone is judging me, I flip out. For this I am truly sorry. And again Karl, I apologize.

No worries at all. I really wasn't passing judgement - just looking at the whole picture given the info provided. I'm probably the furthest thing from an uppity BMW driver. The only reason I bought a BMW is because of how it drives and how easily it can be maintained by myself.