CLUofI

After over a month in the shop, my car is back. There was a huge hail storm in my area, the body shops were backed up for months. It went in on sep 7th, and 5300 dollars later, it is back. Now the only problem is that my car is now on a salvage title because the damage was over 5000, does this actualy make a difference when i sell it or not. Thank god for insurance, best part is no more rock chips, and the trunk has no holes behing the 'A' so i am thinking about blanking out the back. I had them leave off everything else on the back.

Repo1234

If it is a salvage the value is definitely going to be affected. I dont know by how much but I do know that the value gets affected.

CL-Z

Yes it's true the value will drop....several thousand I believe.

CLUofI

Damn, would my insurance go down as well since the value is lower? its a good thing that i am going have this car untill the engine falls out.

CL-Z

I don't think they will lower your insurance...........sorry.

MauiWowieCL

This subject was the topic of disucssion not too long ago. A family friend, who is also an insurance guy, told us that with salvage vehicles the insurance will often times be HIGHER than a comparable vehicle with a clean title. Reason is that the car isn't 100% and cannot fully be relied on to perform properly in the event of a crash. Aside from possible mechanical failures or malfunction of safety devices (i.e. bumpers, door beams, etc), bodily injury is at a higher risk and the insurance sees that as an open door for greater damage in the event of an accident. Interesting stuff. Regarding resale, I know most reputable and higher-end dealers will not even consider taking in a salvage vehicle as a trade due to the things mentioned and the greater difficulty in trying to convince prospective buyers of the vehicle's soundness. My dad, for instance, will not even think to put a salvage car on his lots. Most times, he'll only assist people with a salvage vehicle in trade if the customer absoloutely cannot sell the car on his/her own. AT that point, my dad refers them to other wholesalers or used car dealers. More often than not, those cars are sold at several thousand dollars below wholesale value just to get them off the current owner's hands. Well, I'm glad you seem to enjoy your CL. If you're looking to keep it for awhile and have not problems with your car then that's all that matters. Just be careful in the event of a crash... you may just be looking at some sue jobs!

NOMAD

So insurance didn't pay for your hail damage?

I can't wait till I get a house with a garage. I'm always afraid a tree branch or hail or whatever is going to cost me one of these winters.

CLUofI

MauiWOwie, the car wan't in an accident so there is not structural damge to the car, the car just looked like a bunch of 6 year olds went to town on it with ball peen hammers.

And thank god insurance did cover it. Originally my insurance company estimated the repairs at 2200, and the total ended up being over 5000. But they ended up covering every dime including the deductable.

NOMAD

Wow, so you actually got out of the deductable too? Good for you. Insurance companies are soo sheisty!

MauiWowieCL

I figured that it wasn't structural damage, so that's good. But, what I was getting at was that a salvage title is a salvage title in the eyes of a consumer and insurance company. Anyway, glad to hear that your car is alright now