if the car is rebuilt, it has been evaluated and road worthy and can carry coverage. if it technically is salvage, you cannot license it.
Pretty much any car in an accident has reduced structural integrity
Reduced value and potentially reduced structural integrity. The salvage title doesn't necessarily say why it was salvaged, so insurers assume the worst. A weakened structure is more likely to fail in an accident and cause injuries to those inside.
if the car is rebuilt, it has been evaluated and road worthy and can carry coverage. if it technically is salvage, you cannot license it.
Pretty much any car in an accident has reduced structural integrity
if the car is rebuilt, it has been evaluated and road worthy and can carry coverage. if it technically is salvage, you cannot license it.
Pretty much any car in an accident has reduced structural integrity
It's evaluated but there is no way to test the amount of fatigue on the metal that is essentially invisible.
And yes, any accident will lower the amount of force the vehicle can mitigate.
Personal opinions aside, insurance companies just don't offer collision or insurance on the vehicle itself if it's salvage or rebuilt. That's just the way it is.
I wouldn't be surprised if it mostly has to do with the fact that for a car to become salvage in the US it pretty much is only from an insurance company paying out on it. If you wreck a car and the insurance company isn't involved it will generally still have a clean title.
I have dealt a few times in salvage/rebuilt cars, never an issue getting coverage. the car still has value and will be covered based on value not on structural rigidity
in our state you (the owner) can buy the car back and it 'can' retain a clean title... not always, but it can.
I think you may have terms or something mixed up. No way can you wreck a car, it be determined a total loss, the insurance company pay out, then the insurance company not flag it as salvage or rebuilt.
I'm fairly familiar with insurance processes among various states, and I cannot imagine any situation where a car is determined a total loss, you buy it, and the title stay clean.
Even if it's a weird damage situation... A friend of mine had a z8 that was flooded but ran and smelled fine. Insurance company would not allow him to pay the remaining 25% value and keep a clean title. In any regular auto insurance situation, if the insurance company pays out for full value = salvage.
Maybe you live in a state with laws different than most places in the US, but it's unlikely to apply to the OP and his situation.
All I am saying is I have seen it happen... which is why carfax is such a joke. nobody really knows the history of a car. You are better off bringing a bodyman with you to look at the car. I looked at an evo a few yrs ago. low mileage "clean" 2 owner car.... whole rear end of the car had been repainted but nothing showed on the carfax.
Zivic didn't state there was an insurance payout. He is only stating the car had a clean CF but had obviously been involved in a major accident.
He said "in our state you (the owner) can buy the car back and it 'can' retain a clean title... not always, but it can."
The only way you could buy it back is if insurance paid out replacement value..? Unless I'm missing what he's trying to say..
I would've guessed you paid $1800-$2000 max.. Knowing it had a CEL, but otherwise an ok car.
Ahh, but critically, it DOESN'T have a CEL, because the bulb is out. Or removed. (Haven't pulled the dash, probably won't now). Obviously if it had a CEL it would have been a no-buy, as we had no intention of buying a car that had serious issues out of the gates which is why we bought a Honda. When it turned to run weird at speed, we thought no biggie, clogged VTEC solenoid, which turned into a headswap, which is now precursored on a salvage title. It idles/revs/drives around the auction yard without issue and sounds perfectly fine -- only when it kicks up to > 4200RPM in motion does the VTEC-issue limp mode kick in. Very, very difficult to detect without a higher-speed test drive.
Alright, talked to the dealer and they were more than happy to work with me, and appreciated my calm, solution-oriented approach. We settled on 650+full refund. They'll be sending their tow man by tomorrow to pick it up.
Parked in front of my house right now is a very rare rear-engine model honda civic -- engine is in the trunk!
As an aside, I was told that the seller had presented them with a temp title from some other civic in the first place and that they were going to go after him with a vengeance since they're holding the bag.
Thanks for everyone input on this one! If I get a plot twist other than a check, I'll let y'all know!
How does somebody buy a used car without making sure that it has no stored codes inside?
Seriously, you have the ability to put new engine but did not even bother to verify if the CEL is functioning before making the purchase?
I have looked at a rebuilt exotic, and state farm would not touch it unless it was pulled into an umbrella policy as a separate rider for total loss. IE not insured as a motor vehicle.
The problem is the value.. No mainstream insurance company has a way to determine the value of a previous salvage vehicle.
Again... The issue isn't getting coverage for yourself.. IE if you hit someone, they pay for the other person's car. But no regular, mainstream policy is going to cover collision (IE you wreck your own car) on a rebuilt vehicle.