I've been in the market for a CL-S for a while now and I haven't been able to find one I want. I found a 2001 black on black w/navi, spoiler, everything, $10,500. Sounded to good to be true, but I had to check it out anyway. Ran a carfax, the car had been previously issued a slavage title, but its since been repaired and now it has a clean title. The current owner has put over 20,000 miles on it without any problems and according to the acura ownerlink, the transmission is still warrantied. I want to have it checked out by a mechanic, and if he says its gonna be a problem, I'll walk away. What if he says the car's in good condition, though. Should I buy it, or is it just to big of a risk. Any opinions on this would be greatly appreciated.

 

I thought that salvage title cars lose any mfr warranties, might check on that. never heard a title could be changed back to clean?

 

Well first off that a hot car, I just got that Black/Black w/navi. Well if the car is a clean title now (and I am not sure how that would be possible) I think its worth it to buy it anyways. You can sell if for profit if anything is not ok. Keep in mind if the car was given a salvaged it was hit so hard that it was written off, so it had to of been put back together, and you dont know who put it back together, how they put it back together and whether they did a good job.

Price is good though, even for a salvaged title.

 

... if i were u ....i wouldnt get it...look around for more...

 

salvage titles can be fixed IF you know someone-and i dont think its illegal either, just something not known to everyone. Me and my GF have cars that had salvage titles in the past(a 2000 NSX and a 99 NSX) and there was nothing wrong with them. the titles are fixed but you DONT get a warranty from them(in this case acura) if something goes wrong your paying out of pocket. how can you beat paying less than $50K for two low mileage, modded NSX's with no real flaws??

and when it comes time to sell, we'll get full value cause it has a clean title. even if its a little less than full value you cant lose.

but the all important question is WHY was it salvaged. reposesed, flood, drug seizure(thats what the NSX's were, used in a crime, hard hit.

some of the things arent bad, some can be really bad.
check that car inside and out, top to bottom. pull up the carpets to check for wetness, unplug the wires to look for condensation and corrosion etc...

 

Wasnt there a guy on here a few weeks ago talking about whether or not to sell his salvaged car? It sounded just like this car. If I remember right the guy had water (flood) damage.

 

The owner got it from a dealer who got it at auction. She said the car was hit in the front passenger side, but everything was repaired when she bought it and her title doesnt say salvage. Actually I dont think she even knew it ever was salvaged. If anybody knows anything more about extended warranties on a car like this please let me know.

 

Good thing you carfax'd it. I'd personally pass on it if it were a flood or major accident salvage, there are just too many things that might still be questionable about it. Although, for 10k, it might be a nice car to pick up for a couple months and then sell off...

 

I remember reading about a girl who died in an accident when her car just fell apart when it got hit. The car had been creamed in a previous accident, totaled by the insurance company, then bought, "fixed up", and sold. Sadly the "fix up" was done cheaply not correctly(bad welds or not enough welds I think). So the girl buys the car, gets hit, and it really didn't offer her the protection it should have and she dies because of it. This was several years ago; I'm not sure if it still goes on or how you could check for it. I'd be very leary.

 

A salvaged title stays with it for the life of the car.
Anyone that says they can be “fixed” is doing something illegal.

Most of the time the cars are shuffled across state lines several times until the history of the car is mysteriously lost.

 

Well I would only buy it if my mechanic said it was ok. In other words, I think I would find out in advance if the welding was done poorly or anything like that. My main questions are regarding long term reliability and warranty information. Has anybody had any personal experience with this?

 

nothing illegal with the salvage title
I've researched this, if a car has been issued a salvage title it can be repaired and it must pass a state inspection to be issued a new, clean title
thats the case with this car, after the damage was fixed it underwent a NYS safety inspecion and passed

 

my wife's civic was a salvage, rebuilt in NY, titled in NY, then PA, then NJ. came through w/ a clean title. took months to get the story straight.

 

A car with a salvage title can occationly end up with a clean title if someone changes it for you. But it will still be on the vechicle history. And I'm pretty sure that the warranty is voided by the salvege title.

How many miles are on it?

 

56K, original warranty is voided but that would be expired anyway, for some reason when I put the VIN into ownerlink it listed the tranny as under warranty tho

 

How long did the owner have it for? Did the lady who's sellin give a reason why? (Obviously she wont say anything negative but maybe you can feel her out in her voice and how she answers).
Ive dealt with salvaged cars before but i used to buy em to fix up to keep myself, so then i would know the extent of the actual damage. I would stick to the "light strippers" as opposed to the "lightly hit"
But getting back on subject, did you look at it/drive it yet?
If not, you should do that first, look for obvious bad signs and then go back with your mechanic to have a closer look.

 

I see you're in NY also, just before i bought my CL-s, i called that "Lemon Protector" guy and was quite satisfied with his inspection (if you're in need a mechanic to check the car). I'd recommend him

 

Ok, but assuming I have a mechanic check the car out and everything seems ok, do u guys think I should get it? I'm not looking for a fucked up car, so if anything feels wrong, I'd walk away. Does it seem worth it if the car is in good condition? I guess I'm just kinda concerned because I dont wanna get screwed over on a car that could end up having long term problems. Has anybody had a car that was in an accident that could have caused it to be totaled? If it was fixed how does it run now?

 

It might run great for you now, but if there are questions about the title you're going to have problems selling it down the line.

There's a reason why it's priced at 10K... Spend a couple of grand more and get a "no questions" CLS

I'd NEVER buy a car w/ a salvage title...

 

I got a friend of a friend here in Toronto that buys salvaged CLs in states and brings them here to fix up and sell. So I considered getting a salvaged CL at first and the guy actually could sell me one for under $10,000 CDN ($8200US) but then I talked to a bunch of people in the business and some dealer friends of mine. They all said "salvage is salvage". And that's exactly what it is. The frame was bent already and God knows what else... and nobody knows how it was put back together.

I wonder if the title is clean why the girl told you about it in the first place...
If you try to sell it to someone, they will carfax it too and there goes your resale value.

 

I bought one before they had to title it that way 1984 Dont buy it you will have more promblems than you can think about.

 

so is there anyway to tell if it was repaired properly by looking at it

she didnt tell me, I found out on carfax
judging by her reply I don't think she even knew it was ever salvaged

 

if its been wrecked before, and it looks like there have been many new parts underneath the car, it could be a safety issue and its not worth your life or who ever is riding with you or even around you, to save a couple grand. dont look at it as "i can get a hot car for cheap" really get it looked at from top to bottom by a professional you trust. some insurance companies will total a car willingly after an accident-even if there is little damage -depending on the year, some will not.

 

anybody know anything more about extended warranties?

 

Okay, Acura does not honor warranties, INCLUDING THE TRANSMISSION ONE, on salvage vehicles. If you get it, you will be paying for your transmission should it ever go out, and if it fails again past 12/12000 you'll be paying again. It doesn't matter if it suddenly has a "clean" title or not, they simply don't cover it - and I don't blame them.