IS A SALVAGE CAR WORTH BUYING IT HAS 56THO MILES ON IT AND IS RUNNING BEING SOLD ON E-BAY HOW MUCH IS IT WORTH
Asked by brooklynman Jun 27, 2007 at 12:38 PM about the 1995 Mercedes-Benz SL-Class
Question type: Shopping & Pricing
3 Answers
1. I would never recommend buying a car with a salvage title. A salvage title can mean anything, but simply put tells you that it was either totalled by the insurance company or unfixable by the last owner. 2. There is no easy way to estimate the value of any automobile (especially without being able to inspect it directly) that has a salvage title unless you restore vehicles for a living or on a regular basis.
another thing to bear in mind is that trade in value is typically half of what an undamaged car would be, and the prices are usually only 2-3000 less than a legitimate car- builders tend to have more electrical and other repairs needed down the road than an undamaged car also. remember, it has had to have more than 70% of the car's value in damage to total it, so that is a SIGNIFICANT amount of damage, not just a little fender bender. my vote is no also.
majanboo22 answered 6 years ago
Although, Keep in mind that a mercedes or other luxury cars parts are very expensive. So that car can just be salvaged based on price of the parts alone and not even the severity of he damage. For example, an 2003-2006 s55 amg is worth $9,500 private party. Lets say you hit a parking curb while trying to park. If the front plastic bumper gets damaged and needs to be replaced, the front plastic bumper from Mercedes costs about $3,400 at the dealership. Just with that alone cost alone we are at 37% if the worth of he vehicle. Now lets say the oil cooler(a small 3.5”x14”x2” oil radiator) and AC condenser behind the bumper also got pushed back and damaged. Add on another $1,600 just for those 2 parts. So we are at $5,400 (56% of vehicle worth) for 3 parts and without includidng any labor fees. This type of damage for he vehicle is not severe at all. But it is just the expensive cost of the items that places the vehicle near “salvage” status. So please keep this in mind with luxury vehicles. Their replacement parts can be 5- 10 times more expensive than your Toyota corolla or Camry, and the insurance doesnt want to take too big of a loss so they salvage it out.