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Smart Shopper Selecting and Buying My First Car
764 messages, Last post on Aug 17, 2009 at 12:29 PM
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Replying to: jlawrence01 (Feb 15, 2005 12:31 pm) Can anyone give me any info on what exactly is a salvage car? Does this look fishy? Should I stay away? Does it still sound like a good deal?
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Replying to: latham (Feb 15, 2005 4:33 pm) Salvage cars have been totaled by an insurance company as being too costly to repair. Usually they have been in major accidents. Although there can be exceptions such as flood damaged cars, fire damagaed cars, and a (very few) stolen cars that have been written off by the insurer and then recovered. These cars may be repaired as cheaply as posible and sold to the unsuspecting (ie you). These cars can be very very unsafe in an accident and also can have numerous nagging mechanical issues. Your resale value that you eventually get will have to be reduced alot just to get anyone to take a look. Skip this car and find something else. This car is no bargain. |
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Replying to: latham (Feb 15, 2005 4:33 pm) They are NOT a bargain. Run away from it! |
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Replying to: accordv603 (Feb 14, 2005 6:11 pm) I once had a friend who had a 6 month old Taurus with 20,000 miles which sold for $13,500... Words of Advice: If you get a Taurus, try and splurge for the higher priced Duratec 3.0L 200 horsepower engine. |
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Replying to: latham (Feb 15, 2005 4:33 pm) EVEN if you have it thoroughly checked over and determine its never been in an accident, that salvage title never goes away. So try explaining it when you want to sell or trade it. Not to mention, I believe such a thing would void the warranty completely. |
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I agree, run, don't walk, away from that car. I doubt the frame is truly straight. Or can you imagine the mold coming in a few months after you buy a flooded one? -juice |
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| I'll say what everybody else says: Avoid the car. It'll be worth $0 when you try and trade it in, not to mention there could be some crucial structural problems involved. If your budget is tight, you might try an older car. Maybe an older Elantra or Sonata. Or possibly a Chevrolet Classic. Do whatever you can to avoid any cars with salvage titles. It'll be impossible to explain to the next potential buyer when its time to sell. | |
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Thanks for the tips, I walked away from the salvage Elantra. Someone mentioned a Mazda Protege before. What do you think about this one? 2000 Mazda Protege LX Sedan 4D $ 4950 ob 64k miles Automatic link |
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Nothing fancy but decent cars for less money than a Civic or a Corolla. Be sure to get it checked out. I don't know why but the Craig's List stuff always hits me as second rate but that's me. I guess I figure that if they cheaped out on advertising they may have done the same thing with maintenance. It could be a good car for you. |
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After looking so far, here are four I'm currently considering. I haven't yet followed up on these ads, so I'm not yet certain that there's not something hidden wrong, or that perhaps the price is negotiable lower. Which do you think is the best long term value? $4950 - 2000 Mazda Protege LX Sedan 4D 64k miles Automatic link $6450 - 2002 Chevy Prizm Sedan 40k miles Automatic link $4000 - 2001 Ford Focus 63k miles Manual link $9999 - 2005 Toyota Corolla 4k miles link
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