After much deliberation, you have finally decided to sell your car. However, you’re not sure whether to sell it to a junkyard as a whole or scrap it for parts. Although your vehicle may be in good driving condition and you can sell it below market price, it may be marked as a salvage title car.
In plain terms, a salvage title car is a vehicle that has suffered some kind of significant damage in the past and has been declared a total loss by an insurance company. The damages are usually irreparable, and certification is issued by a motor vehicle agency indicating that the vehicle cannot be driven, sold, or registered in its current condition.
In general, a vehicle can have a salvage title for a variety of reasons, four of which are briefly explained below.
Accidents or collisions
Major accidents or collisions can surely grant a vehicle the salvage title. Although you may want to keep your ride and have it repaired, your insurance provider will still declare it a salvage vehicle because the repairs will probably be beyond the car’s value.
However, a totaled car can still be valuable because there will be parts that may still be functioning. In this case, you should consider selling your vehicle to a junkyard where it will be dismantled for its salvageable parts, and you will get money in return. To get the best rate, you should look for a reputable junk car buyer in your area.
For instance, if you live in Philly or the surrounding areas, do your research on how to sell a junk car in Philadelphia successfully and what you can do to get the most money from it.
Natural disaster
Another thing that can grant a vehicle the salvage title is natural disasters such as floods, hurricanes, forest fires, tornadoes, and earthquakes. Although the damages may not be visible at all to the buyer, the car’s mechanical and electronic parts can be completely totaled, making the vehicle unsafe to drive and unreliable.
Because these damages are harder to detect, it is important that you ask the dealers about the history of the vehicle when you are out buying. If you don’t want to go through this trouble, you can always check the ride yourself using the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN).
Stolen and later recovered
If the vehicle has been stolen and later recovered, then it will most likely end up as a salvage title car due to several reasons, with the biggest one being damage. There is a great possibility that the thieves that stole the car may not have treated it well, causing enough damage to it so it will be marked as salvage.
Another reason why a recovered car may be granted the salvage title is if it has been scrapped for its parts. Between the lack of knowledge to properly remove auto parts and the missing items, the cost of repairs may simply be too high to even bother with.
Also, if the car has been missing for too long, the insurance company will have to write it off as salvage.
Too many modifications
If a car has had many of its components replaced with aftermarket modification, then it is given a salvage title. This actually may be ideal for all the car enthusiasts out there who are eager to buy a custom car for a much lower price.
However, it is important to know all the risks involved with this situation. First off, an extensively modified car is almost impossible to insure because the aftermarket auto parts will not fall under the initial maker’s guidelines. Even if they are up to code, they are still not original, so the insurance cannot be the same.
Also, there is no guarantee that the car parts are high-quality or even fit the car. That’s why most insurance companies don’t want to take chances, as they see modded cars as a huge risk, both for them and the buyer.
Final thoughts
Although salvage cars may be affordable to buy, it is important that you know why they have been marked as such in the first place. Whether the vehicle has suffered serious damages in an accident, has been a victim of a natural disaster, or has been extensively modified, there are many reasons why insurance companies grant such cars the salvage title.
For more information, refer to our post and read more about the most likely reasons a car may have a salvage title.