Should you buy a salvage car?

What about all those wrecked and abandoned cars? Many of them can be and are saved. A savvy shopper can buy a cheap car and, with a little work, get a fully functional, fully reliable car for much less than they would normally pay for a vehicle.

If you are bold enough to go this route, you could save yourself a great deal of money by buying a salvage car. But first you will have to find a salvage car. Auto salvage yards are like salvage car dealerships. Wrecked cars, ones that have been in accidents and the like end up in these yards, and they are there for the taking if you know how to look. You can often find salvage yards in a phone book or on the Internet. You should call ahead to see if they have salvage cars available for you to purchase.

If the junkyard isn’t your thing, there are other options. Salvage cars are often sold privately by their owners. eBay can be a great tool for finding these private sale salvage cars. Websites like vehixx may also list salvage cars that are being sold privately.

Another Internet resource for buying salvage cars is erepairables.com. Not only can you buy a salvage car on this website, but you can also sell salvage cars. The site’s shopping feature allows you to narrow your search by model, condition, type, and location. The site even includes a helpful forum that allows users to communicate directly with each other. You can discuss exactly the type of salvage you’re looking for, and possibly find the perfect seller, without having to look any further.

Once you’ve found your car, find out how you’re going to pay for it. Depending on where you’re picking up the car, you may need to use a specific payment method. A site like eBay might allow you to pay by credit card. However, a salvage deposit may require payment in cash. Ask before you buy.

Also ask about the car title. The car may have a salvage or rebuildable title. This indicates that an insurance company got the car due to a claim and that the state issued a salvage title. Most of the time, this type of car can be repaired. You will only have to pass a vehicle inspection.

The car could instead have an exclusive export title. It is very important to know if the vehicle has this type of title, as it means the car is not road assessable and cannot be retitled in that state. This is not because you will want to. A car with this title will be destroyed or exported out of your country.

Once you’ve checked the title, check the rest of the car as well. Make sure it is a project you can undertake. If you get one because you can’t fix it, then you won’t save money in the long run. The car should be worth what you’re paying for it. Consider how much you’ll spend repairing the car when looking at the price. This type of car can save you money and be a fun project if you like working with cars, but only if you know what you’re getting into.