Is it worth buying a salvage title S?
 

Greeting,

Im new to the forum. And recently , I am looking to buy a S2000. I've found one that's around the area.

but the car is salvage title. it's 2001. The seller claims the car was theft recovery. For the parts there were stolen, he replaced them with oem parts. and he claims the car runs great and no problem whatsoever.

2001
58k miles
seller asks 13k obo

my qusetion is that, when i go test drive the car. what kinda things i should be aware of with salvage title car?

will the insurance company insure it?
how about the resell value? I am sure people will have a second though when comes to salvage title car.

Is it even worth buying a salvage title s2000?

any input is welcome . thank you in advance

When you go check it out see if it drives straight. Check the body to see f i was repainted newhere. Check the moldings too to see if theres paint on them. The insurance company will insurance it I never had a problem Ive owned 4 salvage title cars myself in the past. The resale is cheaper and obviously your getting it for cheaper buying salvage title. If it runs good and for that price Id pick it up.

-a salvage title usally considered half the value of same car with a clean title. if your salvage car get totled by your insurance company you may not get the expected amount.

-resale on a salvage title is lower, if you plan to keep the car for a long time this is not an issue.

-in 2004 i picked up a 2001 55k miles in good shpae with a regular title in nj for $14K. granted i had to fly out there and drive it back home. lots of risk buying a car sight unseen like that. i think the s2000 used valuations have increased since then

if you are getting serious on your car gets its vin number, do a car fax. be aware its not been flooded.

good luck, i would seriously consider the car too.

13 gs is way too much for a salvage s2000. 14-15 gs will get you a clean title 2000-2001 s2000. Milage might be a little higher, but it's still a clean title.

Yea thats too much. last year i got my '01 for 14K and it was very clean with some goodies installed. It only had around 65K at the time. wow a year later and some cross-country driving i've put some miles on that bad boy.

13K isn't a great price for a salvage S2000 but, the seller can easily get that for the car if it's in decent shape. Post it on Ebay and someone will buy it. I saw a motorless S2k with body damage go for $9600 on Ebay just 2 months ago.

Alot depends on how much you want an S2k and how long you'll keep it. It's a decent deal if you keep it for awhile. Resale will always be lower than clean title though. Offer him 12 but, get it inspected and the alignment checked before you hand over the cash.

So, I test drove the car this afternoon.

Red lined it a few times.

So, the salvage title will be always there even if i could get a clear title after the paper is transfer to my name?

I do like the car. I want to work out a deal with the seller.

your opinion is worth a lot to me. Thanks

If you transfer the title to certain states you can get rid of the salvage title, but if you keep it in your state it will stick. It may be possible to have it marked "repaired" or something like that depending on the state. Talk to your DMV. Salvage will always show up on CarFax though.

You never mentioned what damages it had when stolen and what needed to be replaced. I'd definitely have it inspected by a dealership and possibly also a bodyshop.

the seller told me that
the wheels, front bumper , headlights, and air bags were stolen.
He said he bought the car with salvage title. that's what the previous owner told him.

so. the seller just passed that to me.

This is always a tough call. I wouldn't do it, but that's just me.

If you have access to some good mechanic(s) (or are one), then maybe that'd be OK.