No. affiliation,
Have seen this up for sale before...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... 0624863584
Have seen this up for sale before...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... 0624863584
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Salvaged 92 500E on eBay (Smoke Silver, $6k, Illinois)
- Thread starter T-500
- Start date
What are ya'lls thoughts on salvage title? Does it really hurt value? Due to my lack of negotiating skills, my e500 has salvage, despite being a rather minor accident (well, it did require rear subframe replacement) but I've spent boatloads of money putting it back together right, fully documented, etc. I hope it doesn't translate to a $6k car 
jano said:What are ya'lls thoughts on salvage title? Does it really hurt value? Due to my lack of negotiating skills, my e500 has salvage, despite being a rather minor accident (well, it did require rear subframe replacement) but I've spent boatloads of money putting it back together right, fully documented, etc. I hope it doesn't translate to a $6k car
Most salvage cars sell for 30%-50% less that a comparable car for what I have seen and they are very hard to sell.
IMHO, a salvaged title might affect the resell of car, if one was to buy a salvaged car and try to resell it. But if the car is to keep and the work on a salvaged car was done right, I can see the car being purchased. Unlike some peeps, I would never sell my 500E and have been asked by more than 6 people with offers ranging from 15K to 30K. A none salvaged car is just piece of mind and less worrying about what else was damaged, not to mention the upfront cost to have the salvaged car checked thoroughly before the purchase.
Mods, are a different animal.
Mods, are a different animal.
Some years ago i bought an 85 911 that the owner had damaged moderately. He had it repaired correctly and made it known to me.I got a fair bargain and a nice car. It sold from me in the same maner.
In the end a good car is a good car and a knowledgeable buyer will usually know it.
Difficult to tell from pics but judging from the nice shape of the interior and the miles this one may have been cared for before the thief beat it up.
drew
In the end a good car is a good car and a knowledgeable buyer will usually know it.
Difficult to tell from pics but judging from the nice shape of the interior and the miles this one may have been cared for before the thief beat it up.
drew
Speaking from personal experience, a salvage title can be either a death knell, or a wonderful opportunity. Overall, Karl is right -- it means the car's value is pretty much automatically reduced by 30-40%. I think a salvage title has a black mark on it that is often times very well deserved, but sometimes not so deserved.
It all depends for what reason the salvage title was awarded. If you can get documentation that the salvage title was given for a very minor thing, like a bent fender or such, that would be easily repairable, then it's a good thing because the damage can be easily repaired, and an otherwise great car can be kept on the road (albeit with a salvage title black mark). I've seen a lot of cars with hard hits get salvage titles when they were still young and quite valuable, and the car was repaired because the overall value was still more than junking it. Our E500Es are nowadays way past that point, so salvage titles are awarded for very minor hits and accidents.
When you get one of these cars that was hit back in the 1990s and was repaired -- and you can tell it was a serious hit -- then it's something that you should run away from. Unfortunately, owners seem to want to "deep-six" this type of information so when you see a salvage titled car, you almost NEVER see or have any information about the actual damage inflicted on the vehicle nor the repair. You just have the title with the black mark on it.
I personally have purchased a couple of salvage-titled MBs (my 560SL and my 1995 E320 wagon) where I fully knew, through photographic evidence and direct contact with the person who repaired said vehicles so I knew the extent of the damage and had evidence of it. In both cases it was minor damage (the wagon had a simple, easily repaired fender damaged with nothing else; the SL had a bent A-pillar which required a new factory MB A-pillar, windshield, and a new factory dashboard, no body panels were touched) and thus I was 100% confident in the integrity of the car. But this is almost never the case, and I would not have purchased either car had it not been for complete knowledge of both the issue and the resolution. It also allowed me to get both cars for a song (the 1987 560SL, particularly, only had 45K documented California miles on it) and of course I've never had any sort of abnormal issue with either car. I didn't buy either car to resell it though, but rather to keep and enjoy and drive for many years to come.
My advice with regard to salvage titled cars is to avoid them unless you get solid documentation, proactively from the seller, up front, about the issues with the car and how they were resolved. The issues have to be minor/cosmetic, and NEVER structural. If structural, a hard hit, etc. or there is little/no definitive information, then I'd run not walk away from any seller.
Life is too short to deal with accident related issues. As with any car purchase, choose carefully, and know what you are doing/getting into. If you do your homework and have good information, you can do quite well and get a very nice car. If not, you will have a bundle of problems that will never (and I repeat NEVER) be right even if you throw bundles of money at it.
Cheers,
Gerry
It all depends for what reason the salvage title was awarded. If you can get documentation that the salvage title was given for a very minor thing, like a bent fender or such, that would be easily repairable, then it's a good thing because the damage can be easily repaired, and an otherwise great car can be kept on the road (albeit with a salvage title black mark). I've seen a lot of cars with hard hits get salvage titles when they were still young and quite valuable, and the car was repaired because the overall value was still more than junking it. Our E500Es are nowadays way past that point, so salvage titles are awarded for very minor hits and accidents.
When you get one of these cars that was hit back in the 1990s and was repaired -- and you can tell it was a serious hit -- then it's something that you should run away from. Unfortunately, owners seem to want to "deep-six" this type of information so when you see a salvage titled car, you almost NEVER see or have any information about the actual damage inflicted on the vehicle nor the repair. You just have the title with the black mark on it.
I personally have purchased a couple of salvage-titled MBs (my 560SL and my 1995 E320 wagon) where I fully knew, through photographic evidence and direct contact with the person who repaired said vehicles so I knew the extent of the damage and had evidence of it. In both cases it was minor damage (the wagon had a simple, easily repaired fender damaged with nothing else; the SL had a bent A-pillar which required a new factory MB A-pillar, windshield, and a new factory dashboard, no body panels were touched) and thus I was 100% confident in the integrity of the car. But this is almost never the case, and I would not have purchased either car had it not been for complete knowledge of both the issue and the resolution. It also allowed me to get both cars for a song (the 1987 560SL, particularly, only had 45K documented California miles on it) and of course I've never had any sort of abnormal issue with either car. I didn't buy either car to resell it though, but rather to keep and enjoy and drive for many years to come.
My advice with regard to salvage titled cars is to avoid them unless you get solid documentation, proactively from the seller, up front, about the issues with the car and how they were resolved. The issues have to be minor/cosmetic, and NEVER structural. If structural, a hard hit, etc. or there is little/no definitive information, then I'd run not walk away from any seller.
Life is too short to deal with accident related issues. As with any car purchase, choose carefully, and know what you are doing/getting into. If you do your homework and have good information, you can do quite well and get a very nice car. If not, you will have a bundle of problems that will never (and I repeat NEVER) be right even if you throw bundles of money at it.
Cheers,
Gerry
Salvage titles can also be due to a vehicle theft, which is the ideal scenario... if a stolen car is recovered after being considered a total loss by insurance, it can have a salvage title. I had a GLI 16V years ago like that... car was absolutely mint condition, and fully loaded too. Got it at a very reasonable price due to the salvage thing. Never had an issue with it and I didn't care one bit about the title, as I wasn't worried about resale.
If a car has a salvage title due to structural issues (hit hard enough to make it a salvage), there has to be proof the car was repaired PROPERLY, and when buying a car like this a very close inspection should be done on the repaired area.
Interestingly, a clean title car can be worse than a salvage title car, depending on when the work was done. For example, if the car was fairly new (say, a 500E damaged when only 5-7 years old) it could have $25k in severe damage but no salvage title, as the cost to repair was still within insurance company limits without getting a salvage title. The car could be fixed (possibly poorly!) and have a clean title. On the flip side, a 500E could be hit today and have maybe $10k in minor damage, and get a salvage title due to the current book value today being far less than 15 years ago. This car could be repaired beautifully (and have much less damage in the first place). I'd much rather have the second car, but many people would turn their nose up at it due to the "salvage" problem.
Bottom line: Each case is different, and you should do your homework on any car purchase, whether or not it has a salvage title. A clean title does not automatically mean "no major accidents"!
If a car has a salvage title due to structural issues (hit hard enough to make it a salvage), there has to be proof the car was repaired PROPERLY, and when buying a car like this a very close inspection should be done on the repaired area.
Interestingly, a clean title car can be worse than a salvage title car, depending on when the work was done. For example, if the car was fairly new (say, a 500E damaged when only 5-7 years old) it could have $25k in severe damage but no salvage title, as the cost to repair was still within insurance company limits without getting a salvage title. The car could be fixed (possibly poorly!) and have a clean title. On the flip side, a 500E could be hit today and have maybe $10k in minor damage, and get a salvage title due to the current book value today being far less than 15 years ago. This car could be repaired beautifully (and have much less damage in the first place). I'd much rather have the second car, but many people would turn their nose up at it due to the "salvage" problem.
Bottom line: Each case is different, and you should do your homework on any car purchase, whether or not it has a salvage title. A clean title does not automatically mean "no major accidents"!
That's a good point -- theft recovery cars often have salvage titles on them, and as Dave said can be 100% fine with no damage whatsoever. However only too often, thieves tend to trash cars they steal and often there's a fair amount of cosmetic exterior and/or interior damage to theft-recovery cars. But I have seen plenty of "perfect" cars at Copart auctions etc. with salvage titles.
BTW another situation that often happens are "flood" cars which generally always get salvage titles. My best advice and rule of thumb is NEVER to buy a flood car for anything more than parts. It's a situation that one will usually always come to regret in the long run.
Cheers,
Gerry
BTW another situation that often happens are "flood" cars which generally always get salvage titles. My best advice and rule of thumb is NEVER to buy a flood car for anything more than parts. It's a situation that one will usually always come to regret in the long run.
Cheers,
Gerry
I would add that a lot of cars are salvaged due to cost to repair vs. resale value these days. Depending on WHEN a 500E was salvaged it could be a good deal. cost to repair vs. resale value on a 500E is not a good proposition for an insurance company currently vs. 10 years ago so it could be something easily repaired that caused the salvage title.
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