Fewer things can scare off more car owners than seeing the dreaded word “salvage”. A salvage vehicle, however, is not one that should never be purchased. Instead, when purchasing from a salvage vehicle auction or from a private seller, one should just take more precautions with the purchase than normal.
In this article, we’re going to take a look at a few of the things that you should know before you consider purchasing a salvage vehicle for sale. With these ideas under your belt, you’ll be able to build a foolproof strategy to purchase good-value cars at under-market prices.
Table of Contents
Know Why You’re Buying It
The first thing to think about when you’re looking at purchasing a salvage vehicle is why you’re buying it. Are you purchasing this vehicle because you want to fix it up, flip it, and sell it for a profit?
Or are you thinking about holding on to this car for a long time, running it into the ground, and putting tens of thousands of miles on it?
Depending on whether you’re looking at the former and latter scenario, your approach to purchasing the vehicle will be very different. A salvage vehicle is always more difficult to sell, so the margin from market value to price will have to be larger in order for you to make a profit if you’re trying to flip the machine.
Understand Why the Car Is Salvaged
Once you have a rock-solid foundation on why you want to buy the car, if a salvage vehicle is still appropriate for you to consider then it’s time to understand why a car has a salvage title.
There are different types of damage that can result in a car getting a salvage title.
For instance, the car could have been stolen and recovered thereafter. Or, the car could have been involved in flood damage or might have been hit a bit too hard during a hailstorm.
The damage it underwent will have a large impact on how difficult it is to fix. A car involved in flood damage may have fried electrical components, while a car in a hailstorm will likely have good internals but will need much of its bodywork replaced.
If you’re looking for an auction where there are a variety of salvage reasons, this is where you should go.
Build an Inspection Checklist
Last but not least, you ought to have a solid inspection checklist to use as you look over the vehicle before purchasing. Bring this checklist with you to any auctions or meetings with private sellers, and run through it for every car that you are considering purchasing.
Know How to Buy a Salvage Vehicle
There you have it. Equipped with this guide to buying a salvage vehicle, you should now be far better informed as to whether or not you should buy a salvage title vehicle, and if so, how to do it.
For more auto advice, be sure to check out the rest of the articles on the website!