Hello, long time lurker first time poster. I've been looking for a TL lately to replace my SUV and stumbled across one on Craigslist. I've done a lot of searches and seen the debates for and against salvage titles. This particular vehicle, priced at $6700, has only 85,000 miles (2005 model, 6MT, silver ext/black int) on it which makes it appealing to me. They said the title was due to the first owner getting rear ended. I'd obviously check to see if airbags were deployed, but the engine and transmission haven't been rebuilt. Just wanted to see if anyone had any words of advice about this particular case. Thanks in advance!

 

Buyer beware. Low mileage is meaningless if the car was wrecked. Save your money and buy something else.

 

Good things come to those who wait... my $0.02.

 

theres tons of TLs out there, WAIT

 

Don't settle just because the price is tempting.

 

This is an incredibly controversial subject and has to be approached on a case by case basis for any type of car.

In general it is not a great thing, but at least you know what you're getting into. I didn't realize my car had been in a rear end accident until after I bought it and pulled a trim piece back near the trunk latch. Prepurchase inspection was half assed IMO. There was some other evidence that I missed, but a shop should have found. Title is still clean, but I would have went for a lot more off the price with this knowledge and possibly passed.

The real killer is resale value. If you plan to keep the car until it dies it's less of an issue. If the car was repaired locally maybe go chat with the shop. My previous car was a salvage title and it worked out just fine. It belonged to my Grandma and when its value was ~$2k it was in an accident. She didn't want to get a new car so she bought it back and fixed it. She took it back to the shop multiple times to get it right. You couldn't tell it was ever in a wreck without looking at the title and it never gave me a single problem in three years until the engine went which was obviously entirely unrelated.

At the end of the day I won't give you an outright "FUCK NO MAN DON"T DO IT", but I'd definitely consider it a lot more carefully and you obviously need to take it to a shop you trust and have a relationship with who you know will give you an honest opinion. That's the mistake I made. The car was way too far away to get it to my trusted place so I had to pick based off Yelp reviews. The place was the highest rated but it fucked me over good. Their lack of thoroughness is going to cost me well over $1,500 when I'm done fixing everything in addition to the stuff they actually caught.

 

Selling that later will be worthless

 

Given that around my neck of the woods a clean title example with similar mileage would be over $10k I'd say it's already there.

 

Thanks for all the replies. I needed the reality check and certainly wait it out.

 

Be patient, I waited 3 years for mine. It may appear to be nice or look nice, but I guarantee under the sheet metal it has a lot of gremlins, especially the rear suspension.

 

I would try to avoid a salvage title vehicle if at all possible, but for the sake of due diligence here are some thoughts:

Body/Frame - You could have it looked at by a collision/body shop, for a marginal cost (if you have done work through one previously, with your insurance for example, they might give it a look free of cost).

Mechanical - Find a private Japanese Auto repair shop (if you don't already use one). The small shops will inspect the vehicle pretty thoroughly for ~$50. Assuming the vehicle is private owner, and not a lot/dealership.

Cost - Although priced low, it could probably be talked down even further. Try making a lower (but reasonable) offer. Is the seller private? You could ask them to "gift" you the vehicle for registration purposes. Offer 5.5K plus the gifted registration, and be prepared to walk if the owner won't budge. There are plenty of others out there, and patience can be rewarded greatly (it was in my case, took me 1 year to find my 2008 TL).

Basically, if the body/mechanical condition was good, I might consider making a low offer. But I wouldn't hesitate to walk if I felt like I was anywhere close to overpaying.

 

How exactly can you guarantee that without looking at the car?

The blanket statements are a little bit suspect. Plenty of people have had great experiences with salvage title cars. It shouldn't be an outright no, it should simply be more carefully considered and inspected, with the understanding it will not sell for much down the road.

 

I actually had good experiences with the two salvage titled vehicles that I've owned. A CR-V then a Camry later. I was able to sell both after a while for close to the same amount I originally paid for them. But, honestly, it's a crap shoot. Each car comes with its' own risk and luck plays into it a lot when it's time to sell. In both instances I was lucky enough to find buyers who didn't much care, they just wanted reliable transportation. For TL buyers, the reasons for buying might be a little more.