flyhigh123

I am looking at a 1995 Lexus SC400, 100,000 miles..

the body is clean, leather is soft, everything works fine...

only problem is the title is salvage. looks like front end damage and was repaired. the paint on the car is excellent with no flaws..

took the car for a test drive and everything drove smooth...

Now, what is the value of the car when it has a salvage title? What would you pay for it?

whomiked

I would pay about $4000 for it, maybe $4500 if it was really clean. But i've owned a few salvaged title cars before, it's not the best investment.

JamaicanSC

I paid 2500 for a salvage 92 sc300 with 126,000 miles.... and I've been working on her since last summer interior and exterior needed and still requires work.

aliga

iTrader: (147)

4-5k is not a bad price. people pay more for 92s on here.

sc250tt

i paid 900 for my katrina baby ,97 sc400 and invested at least 4500 in it ,someone has to really like my car or know how much time and money was invested in it for me to get more than 7000 for this car

O. L. T.

iTrader: (17)

Todays salvage title is not like it was ten years ago. You used to wreck a car beyond repair and the car would be salvaged, but now with cars being built to crumble on impact the salvage is much more easily acquired in an accident. Most are built so that the section affected can be removed and reinserted into place with a new section so they end up being good as new (for the most part).

With SC's it is VERY easy to total one. They usually have higher miles, parts are expensive to replace from the dealer when the insurance company goes to do the numbers, and the age of the SC at best is 7 years old for the newest one out there. Most are easily ten to 15 yrs old. The insurance company pretty much instantly cans them if they are wrecked.

With all this in mind, whether or not a car is worth it depends on the damage it suffered. The average dollar loss for a salvage title is between $2000 and $3500 depending on how new the vehicle is as long as it was rebuilt back to near perfect condition.

A 92 Sc4 in clean shape for instance is worth about $5500 with 100k miles. A salvaged one built back to clean shape is worth about $3500.

Most banks will not loan on a salvaged car so they are harder to sell, but some lending institutions will loan on them exactly half the book value.

O. L. T.

iTrader: (17)

Following up, my Black 92 SC400 was a "victim of circumstance" when it had a frontal impact before I bought it. It only needed the bumper, hood and fenders replaced due to some light warping, no engine cabin damage aside of the header panel bent. Due to the higher miles and parts replacement cost the insurance company totaled the car and it was rebuilt for around $900 back to new like condition, versus the $2300 estimate the insurance company provided the previous owner. Once he had it rebuilt, I bought it. There is no way to tell it was ever even wrecked aside of two dimples right behind the header panel, no frame damage was even present at all.

You just need to know exactly what happened when you buy a salvage.

flyhigh123

ah... thanks guys... i have always wondered the value put on a salvage car.. of course it is case by case, but there is no true rule of thumb...

anyways, i'm thinking about making an offer of 4k-4.5k.

I will pay in cash.

What insurance affects are there?

aliga

iTrader: (147)

no affects.

JspecSC3

iTrader: (4)

True. When I got into an accident in Dec of 2006 my insurance company had totaled my SC and deemed it Salvaged. All I really needed to repair it were new headlights, high beams, front bumper, aluminum beam, paint, and a frame alignment. My car was appraised at about $6500 in 2004. The cost of the repairs where estimated to be almost $5000. I was told that if the cost of the repairs are more than half of the value of the car then it is automatically deemed "Salvage" because it is just not worth it. Lucky for me I still have my SC and am in the process of redoing the entire front. Just need a set of clean headlights and the upper reinforcement.

flyhigh123

update: I see another car,

$5,000
1994 White SC400
180,000 miles
clean title?

$4,000
1995 White SC400
100,000 miles
Salvage title

which would you take? If you were a gambling man, which one to go with?? lol...

Dougspeed

iTrader: (2)

Clean title ftw. Less to worry about in the longrun since you will never really know what happened to cause the salvage title.

SlowCoupe

if the salvaged title one rides and looks just as good as the other one then i'll go with the salvaged titled one.

flyhigh123

lol... the options... we at

1: clean
1: salvage..


i should get a poll for this

O. L. T.

iTrader: (17)

*cough*