73 Chevelle in SF

This just came up in the Bay Area

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/cto/6568827126.html

Straight, swivels, ss cluster, looks nice.

I wonder why its a Salvage title?

Yeah...drives me nuts when people list a vehicle with salvage title and don't explain it in the ad. It's a pretty important piece of information...even ahead of the all the other specifics of the vehicle IMO.

I've dealt with salvage titles for years here in New York.  A salvage title can mean alot of different things.  

An insurance company is supposed to issue a salvage title when accident damage exceeds 75% of the vehicles value.  For them its a total loss.  But I've seen insurance companies salvage a vehicle with damage no where near the 75% threshold.  

Now lets say your car is stolen and you have theft coverage.  You usually have to wait 30 days before an insurance company will pay you the value of your car.  This is supposed to give the police department time to "find" your car or the car pops up somewhere and its recovered.  So you wait the 30 days, insurance company pays you the value, you give them the title and keys and you got your money.  But then the car pops up but its after 30 days so now the insurance company owns it.  For them its again a total loss.  So they write it off as a salvage and it goes to auction.  BUT !!  the recovered car could be a mere shell or it might be untouched with NO DAMAGE, in a warehouse or something.  Its still a salvage and goes to auction.  

Now when you get into an accident and your insurance company says they are going to total your car, you do have the option to "buy it back".  Usually the insurance company will give your their "salvage" price, deduct that amount from the value they were going to pay you and you keep the car.  Now the tricky part.  Sometimes, even though your going to keep the car, an insurance company wants a new title issued and branded "salvage".  Thats a question you have to ask before you buy it back.  

There are several other scenarios that would make a vehicle a salvage.  Cars as old as ours have very little book value unless you have specialty insurance on it.  But if you have regular insurance as with a daily driver, a simple fender bender can total our cars out with minor damage.

Theres also the issue of "washed" titles where people take a salvage title and apply for title in several states hoping that it comes back without the salvage designation.  It does work, but a short time later the state DMV catches up and the owner of the car has to bring the vehicle in for inspection and then they get a new title branded salvage.  

It's a San Francisco car. Maybe it was rear ended or something.

Haaaaa!

A salvage title wouldn't necessarily be a deal breaker for me on a car like this per se ...but, it does raise a red flag in my naturally suspicious mind when a Seller doesn't divulge why it was tagged as such.  And, at the very least, I'd want some documentation that it was repaired by a reputable source.

i'm pretty sure that was the car I posted here. not sure what happened to the picture I posted with it. I think the guy got it from Pick and Pull for less than $2k. any car you get from there leaves with a salvage title. the guy put some elbow grease in it and some new ralleys, looking for some profit.

https://www.g3gm.com/t11360-73-swivel-bucket-console-car-pick-n-pull-sf-bay-area

I hope it is that car. Maybe the guy did a good job with it and makes a good payday. Keeps one of our cars on the road, records a good competitive price, we get a new member when someone purchases it. That’s a win-win-win-win as far as I can tell. In that thread last year everyone was hoping someone would save it. Hopes come true,

crice63 wrote:I hope it is that car. Maybe the guy did a good job with it and makes a good payday. Keeps one of our cars on the road, records a good competitive price, we get a new member when someone purchases it. That’s a win-win-win-win as far as I can tell. In that thread last year everyone was hoping someone would save it. Hopes come true,

Agreed. If it's in as decent a shape as it appears, it seems worth the price, salvage or not.