My daughter's car (I bought from e-Bay) had a "salvage" title.The used car dealer that sold it said it would not make a difference.Usually a "salvage title" is issued when a vehicle is damaged to the extent that the cost of repairing the vehicle exceeds roughly 75% of its pre-damage value, via collision accident, natural disasters (hurricane, tornado, flood, etc.), or some other damage (engine fire, etc.). Of course the 75% threshold is approximate - it differs from state to state. Insurance companies generally consider the vehicle a total loss and submits it as either "salvage" or "junk". Some states treat "junk titles" the same as "salvage titles" - but many states use this title to indicate that the vehicle is no longer road worthy and cannot be titled in that state again. Doesn't stop some used car dealers to buy salvage and/or junk titled or otherwised distressed vehicles at auction - apply for a new title in a different state, fix the damage, and Cha-Ching road worthy again. Lots of time - the damage is superficial - but with most of the unitbody construction - sometimes the damage is just severe enough to compromise the passenger cabin. Pretty hard to give up though - take a gamble and get a super deal - or find out later, that there was much more damage than anticipated.
I got it cheap and the car looked and ran fine.
What does "salvage" mean and how does it affect anything like insurance, registration, etc??
