Im looking at a travel trailer it says it has a salvage title what does this mean?
Salvage simply means that a total loss claim was paid by the insurance company. It was then likely sold for cheap for someone to rebuild. It was likely in an accident where the cost to fix it was 75% or more of the value of the trailer. For example, at the time of the accident, if it was worth $10K, it sustained at least 7500 in damages (possibly more). Salvaged property is always a safety and reliability gamble because it will only be as good the mechanic who rebuilt it. Granted safety may not be as huge of a concern on a trailer vs. a vehicle, but if you ever wanted to sell it, the fact that it's salvaged makes it worth a lot less. You will also want to make sure your insuance company is able to cover it. Many will limit or decline coverage on salvaged property.
What does "cumulative damage" mean on a car title?
is it a used car? Cumulative damage means it has been in accidents or has been damaged more than a few times.
Is it illegal to sell a car with a salvaged title without disclosing it to the buyer?
Yes, but.... If the car or the title say "rebuilt" the judge could rule that a reasonable person would & should have known. And in my state, the vin plate on the door of the car is removed with one that says "rebuilt". It would be up to you to sue, then convince a judge that you were not told. Its not guaranteed that you would win. And even if you did, how would you collect ? Most dealers tend to avoid them like the plague because they don't want to get sued. I sold probably a dozen over the years and always kept a copy of my bill of sale which clearly stated it was a "previous salvage title" and the buyer initialed it. The ones that almost always lose are the big new car dealerships that sell a previous salvage and didn't tell the buyer or note it on the bill of sale. Most judges will rule against them in a heartbeat. A smaller dealer or individual, its not as cut & dried. I personally didn't want to risk being sued because as a dealer, I had to have a bond which meant if someone won a judgment, I couldn't skip out on it. The bonding company would pay it and then come after me. If the seller lives down the street at the trailer park, losing it could probably wouldn't bother him. He doesn't have the money and you cant collect it. Its highly unlikely the police would get involved. Its a civil matter. The fact that you are asking this question means you know or suspect its previous salvage and therefore you wouldn't have a case if you bought it after knowing or suspecting it. In my state, the titles no longer say "rebuilt" or "previous salvage". They look like any other title except the vin # is state asigned and starts with AL. Now, if someone sells you a SALVAGE car as opposed to a previous salvage, you wont be able to get a tag for it without paying a licensed rebuilder to apply for one, even if you do all the work.
What does a lien title mean?
It means that a vehicle is financed and hasn't been paid off. The financing company can take possession of the car if you don't pay. This is the most common reason. Another possibility is that the owner owes the government money (back taxes for example) and the IRS puts a lien against your vehicle. If you don't pay your debt they at least can claim the vehicle.
How bad does frame damage need to be to salvage a vehicle?
My wife was recently rear ended. She had a trailer hitch in the back that is of course bolted to the frame. She has a 2006 Mitsubishi Outlander SE with 46k miles on it. The offender was in a low dodge neon and hit the hitch and rear bumper of the car, bending the trailer hitch downward at a 45 degree angle (the hitch stayed intact) therefore bending the frame down at the rear as well. It also pushed the bumper in, and I noticed on the hatch area floor caved in a bit, the quarters crumpled to where one of the rear doors wont open and the other hits the quarter when closing and is hard to close/open. I do not feel any car with frame damage can be repaired properly unless it is a super laser aligning shop (been working with cars for 20 years now). Also, the whole rear quarter needs to be replaced as I will not accept bondo as a legitimate repair. I am assuming I will have to wait for the insurance to give an estimate but I wondered if I could demand salvage if I deem the vehicle unsafe??? Any help would be great. I am expecting a call from the offenders insurance and I would like to have my arsenal fully loaded.
Is it bad to buy a car with a salvage title?
Not necessarily.A salvage car is a car that has been declared by an insurance agency as a total loss. Most often, these are cars that have suffered damage to a degree in which that the owner’s insurance company decided that it would be too expensive to fix the car because the overall value of the car is close to being met or even exceeded by the costs of the repairs. Insurers will write off, or “total” a car in a situation like this, and will often offer a settlement to the car’s owner in exchange for taking the wrecked car off their hands.This, however, does not mean that the car has been completely wrecked, as in some cases even relatively minor damage may be considered to be too expensive to fix in a lower value car. In other cases, however, a car can be declared a total loss if it has been stolen and has gone unrecovered for a specific period of time.Cars in any of these circumstances become property of the insurance company and are reclassified as salvage. This means the car has to be issued a new title that lists its status as a salvage vehicle under state law. Insurers then take these salvage cars that they now own and attempt to sell them off to the highest bidder at a used car auction.While each state has different regulations, there are several aspects in common. The most important one is that you cannot get a car with a salvage title back on the road without repairing it first. This means that if you do buy a damaged salvage car at auction, you can’t drive it until it’s rebuilt to the point where your state will let it back on the road once more. For most people, this may seem like a bad deal.However, there are some advantages to buying and then rebuilding a salvage vehicle. First and foremost: buying a salvage car at auction can be incredibly inexpensive, as insurers just want the car out of their possession and are little interested in recovering their costs.Additionally, if you are going to restore the car yourself or otherwise absorb the labor costs, it will be much less expensive to repair the vehicle than it would have otherwise been. This makes it a solid investment if you want your own reasonably-priced used car as a daily driver or if you own a used car dealership and you’re planning to sell rebuilt salvage vehicles to customers.Reference: A Primer on Salvage Cars and Online Auctions - Auto Auction Mall
What does "lot drives" mean on repairable cars?
It means you can drive the damaged car around the storage yard or parking lot to verify that everything works, and to load it onto a trailer, but it's not safe to operate on the street without repairs.