Archive for June, 2009
Buying salvage titles
When one is looking to buy used cars they can usually come across some vehicles referred to as “salvage title”. The price of such cars is usually way cheaper than other cars and one could be easily tempted to rush into a deal. However one should make some considerations before buying salvage titles and act with their brain rather than their heart.
Before buying vehicles with salvage titles one should make sure they understand what salvage title stands for. A car is given salvage title if it sustains damage which is worth more than 75% of its original value.
One should make three major checks before buying salvage titles. For starters they should check the frame of the car. As this is the basic skeleton and foundation of your vehicle, one should check for any weak spots and inspect for any permanently fatigued metal resulting from collisions. One should also have a good look at the airbag deployment history. This would indicate that the vehicle was in a collision and one would have to further inspect the car and make sure that the airbag was properly replaced.
A mechanical inspection is always recommended regardless of a used vehicle’s title. Such an investigation would point to any potential long-term or short-term performance worries. Although such problems aren’t automatic deal breakers, they would need to be included in determining the car’s value.
It is obvious that there is quite a risk involved when buying restored salvage titles. Despite the fact that many parts might be replaced with new or second hand parts, there will always be some damaged originals that even trained professional mechanics might have a hard time spotting and which could cause several future problems and expenses. Further, the car will be much more problematic to resell if you need or choose to as just a few dealers, if any, will consider a trade-in.
Pulling Engines Within Salvage Yards
Stripping cars down for parts can be very profitable providing the time to do this does not eat into the bottom line. What is also true that many salvage cars that are to stay on the road needs a donor car of some sort for car parts? If you have bought a flood damaged salvage project then their is a good chance that a new engine will be needed, so buyers will expect that engine to be taken out of the car first before purchase.
Searching through the internet we have found a cool machine that makes the task of removing an engine from a salvage car as easy as opening a tin with a can opener. The machine is called the SAS Scorpion engine puller which looks like an electric attachment to a fork lift. The time to process a vehicle is deemed at 60 seconds, although not sure what condition the engine is really in when removed. So although marketed for salvage yards, it may be more suitable for wrecking yards. See for yourself below.
How They do It In Canada
We often talk about car auctions in the UK and the USA and how the internet has changed how we buy anything via an auction. But here is a video on how to do it in Canada, clearly they have American influence, or is it the other way round we are not sure. But this is a TV advert on how to get people down to the car auctions and to get a good buy on your next car.
It is called the video