My father totaled his Honda Accord with expected repair cost around 75-80% of retail value. Our body shop was prepared to repair it when our insurance company said "not so fast". They, AMICA, in MA explained it would be a salvage car with a tainted title. They claimed that there is no NADA or similar guide to the value of a retitled car. They did not want to insure a vehicle of uncertain value. You say you have full coverage. Are you saying that your insurance company would replace your vehicle if stolen or totaled with a similar vehicle with clean title? If not, what would they replace it with?

Anyone considering a retitled vehicle ought to at least contact their insurance company ahead of time. If you do not believe that this could be a problem just do a google search of "insurance on retitled vehicles."

Rebuilding these cars as a hobby for family and friends is a LOT different than selling these retitled vehicles with a profit motive. You pride yourself on the work you do and they might well pride themselves on how much profit they make.

Also, your comment that TPMS is "not required" is wrong. As of 2008 all new cars sold in the USA must have TPMS. It is required same as safety belts and airbags. In many states the TPMS must be operational and the light not taped over in order to pass inspection.

 

This whole debate is about money.
Sure one can argue that expired food is still good and can be edible, but given a choice, most people in their rational mind would chose food that is not expired.

Similarly with cars, if one can afford a clean title (let alone new) car, sure they would chose it over the salvaged ones.

There is a reason, after all, that the salvages cars of similar age and mileage cost significantly less. To each their own.

 

I appreciate the heads up, but like rev said, these are pretty severe accidents where frame damage and airbags were deployed... I have ( oddly enough ) seen a TON of salvaged fits in my area where there has been no frame damage nor bags deployed. I actually picked up my first fit ( 09 sport ) with 63K miles last year for $6k .. Drives mint, straight as an arrow and haven't had one problem in 30k miles..

I also believe its where yu buy the car.. Here in MN I think it takes 80% to salvage a car? which is insane.. My car came from IL I believe where they total cars at 30% damage..

 

Read my post above... some people are skeptical , while others are looking at the big picture.. IF.... IF it can be fixed without structural damage, water damage, or nything severe, what is your issue with a salvage? Or in my case a "rebuilt" that passed state inspection, my frame shop, and my mechanic for 1/2 the price of the exact same car without a clean title?

 

Tons of cars with airbags deployed get repaired and sold as salvaged.
If you think you can estimate what is "totaled" and what is "salvageable" by watching these videos, you are being naive.

In countries like Mexico, Russia, China, cars can be repaired and look new from 3 separate thirds of wrecked cars... for a fraction of the price of a new one. In fact, some countries don't even have a definition of "totaled", it's American insurance term.

So, when one buys a good looking salvaged car keep in mind (with all the glorious mechanics out there, that it could have looking like this shortly after the accident.

5 reasons to avoid salvage title cars
http://westmichigantransmission.com/...ge-title-cars/

 

Once again.... You missed my point .. I said I know there are "severe" situations where the frame, bags, motor has been compromised..... THat is NOT the cars IM looking at.... I said multiple times I will not buy a car with frame damage or bag deployment.. which you can not hide on a true totaled car

 

It is not possible to know which car had or did not have "unibody" (we are not talking about old cars with body on "frame") damage.

If it was so simple as you say to detect and choose a car without "frame damage or air bag deployment", everybody would be driving a perfectly safe "just scratched" car that was wrongfully deemed TOTALED.

It's very easy for grey shops to not report to insurance company (or in cahoots with them) and just replace air bags and replace cheap fenders and lights.

The reasons the car is damaged beyond "margin of safety for many reasonable and safety conscious people" is because a once wrecked car can not be repaired to be returned to an original state.

If you break a chicken egg, sure you can add the pieces together, but it will never be anywhere as structurally solid as an unbroken egg. Same thing with car, which is infinitely more complex with its crumple zones, 100th of an inch alignments and other complex engineering parameters the vehicle's body is designed to have to spec (e.g. torsion rigidity).

That being said, please enjoy your fit. But I would never recommend people I care about buying a salvaged car.

 

When I buy a "Repaired" salvage vehicle, I always go look at the photos from when it was sold by the insurance company at auction.

Just for the record a salvage title vehicle in not licensable. After a salvage title vehicle is repaired and inspected by your state a "Repaired" title is issued.

A Salvage / Repaired title says that the vehicle was insurance company owned. It usually means accident damage, but it can also include any reason that an insurance company previously held the title.

They can be a good deal if you know what you are doing when looking at them. We own two "repaired" vehicles here and have full coverage including zero deductible comprehensive on both of them.

The Honda Fit that my daughter totaled 3.5 months ago had a "repaired" title. We took a 15% hit in the settlement because of it. But we also saved more than that when it was originally purchased. About a year ago we had a comp claim on the same car when a tree branch hit it during a storm.

 

Not what I was saying. One of my salvaged cars is a 1996 Del Sol. It doesn't have TPMS, and I'm still smart enough to check the air pressure in my tires. Yes, I know they passed a law requiring TPMS on all cars manufactured after 2008. That doesn't make it illegal for you to put aftermarket rims with no TPMS sensor. Actually airbags are not required either. You can purchase a new car and remove your airbags and be completely legal. I'm not saying that doesn't make you an idiot.

 

Yep, I had a 1991 CRX HF and was getting crazy high MPG! The car is small and everything was manual except for power brakes. I think it doesn't even have power steering and not needed since it's a small car. It did have A/C which is good to have for S. Florida at the time.

 

If I knew the shop and was confident in the quality of their work then I would possibly consider a salvage title car

You might have had a good experience with your current Fit but it's not worth it to me otherwise

 

It seems you are pretty adamant about getting a deal out of this.

Two points I hope you think through.
1) Keep in mind "someone" physical inspected the car and labeled it as such. Why do you think they choose that? The insurance guys that asses cars have YEARS of body work under their belt, not interms. Companies hire them to save the company money, not offer some hidden deal for some lucky guy/gal.
2) just to throw this onto the mix, look up "title washing". This does not pertain to this car since it is already labled as such BUT the idea it to read up on the scams and get the sense things are not what they seem. And yes, a lot of things can be hidden. You have too much faith on greedy people.

That said, it could be a decent car if YOU know what to look for and accept the risk. The comment about tolerance when repaired is very important too. Some things just aren't repairable.

 

Dude, I had a 89 CRX SI. I loved that car. It was also salvaged. Bought it for $400. Put a new bumper on it. Drove it for 2 years and my gf wrecked it. Got $800 from insurance for it. It actually drove away from the accident. Thing was a little tank.

 

Here's something to ponder: I totaled my '08 Sport a little over a month ago. I wanted the adjuster to save my car if it was possible. I waited 2 1/2 weeks for him to...adjust. In the end the damage was just too severe. Air bag deployed, broken motor mounts, the whole engine moved backward, no lights, hood, or fenders left. I paid $17,000 and some change back in '08. The car had 56,000 miles and was in good shape. My insurance company gave me very close to $12,000. I was expecting $9000 at the most. The frame bent inward on both sides and the engine never let out another peep. The car goes to auction and some pit crew wannabe will try to fix it up. Mark my words, that car will be on the road again. Scary....

 

My take is that the Fit is a very inexpensive and light weight vehicle right out of the box so I'd be shopping for a good deal on a used one rather than going salvage. When I bought my new '10 Sport I knew it wasn't designed to be a demo derby winner - I was looking for good mileage and Honda reliability.

 

I dont know...i find the GD looks kinda of goofy when i see them. Its like the car looks soo narrow but with the greenhouse so large it just sort of wierd. The GE i like because even though it does have alot of glass its body to glass ratio is just right for its size and it reminds me of a EP3 Civic Si. I think the belt line of the GD is too low and thats why it looks off to me.