Salvage/Reconstructed/Totaled Insurance

[eur04lif3]

Hey guys, I just learned something today. Was shopping around for new insurance, and kept getting the door slammed in my face for having a salvage car. Some didn't want to cover at all, others only liability.

So far, Progressive was the only company that openly disclosed that they will cover salvage cars. Others either refuse or operate on a "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

If you have a salvage car, who is your's insured through? And did you disclose your title status to your agent?

[Exodus_2pt0]

This is why I don't buy salvage vehicles. It's a total deal breaker. Hard to insure and hard to resell.

Also I have a suspicion a salvage title will ensure you get a check for next to nothing if the car is totalled (again) by another driver.

[Das Delfin]

I always thought a salvage vehicle would receive no pay out if totalled, since it would have already been paid out. Because of this, it makes sense that you'd only be able to get liability on a salvage title car.

[Vincent Brick]

I had no problem re-insuring my old Neon ACR when it got totaled and I fixed it myself, they never asked and I never told them, I never had any clue it was a concern. I lived in Ohio at the time though and their titles won't say "salvage" its marked as a "replacement" title after you go through your Highway Patrol inspection.

I'm probably replacing my E30 with a salvage-title S2000 in the next few months so I guess that is good to know, but I am still with the same ins. co. so I'm not really that concerned. Either way, salvage title is about the only way I can start getting into the stuff I want.

[anabolice30]

Didn't know a totaled car would not be paid out by insurance. Good to know.

[Vincent Brick]

Also I have a suspicion a salvage title will ensure you get a check for next to nothing if the car is totalled (again) by another driver.

I got next to nothing when my car was totaled even when it wasn't salvaged. After 6 months of fighting and all I got was half of what it would take to replace it with a stock example of the same car, and it was rare enough that would have taken months of searching. I get the cheapest insurance possible, lie about whatever I can to them to make it cheaper and have no expectation of ever getting a penny out of them, fucking scumbags.

[Vincent Brick]

Didn't know a totaled car would not be paid out by insurance. Good to know.

The way I read that post it was just speculation. I'm sure they would devalue it, but even in this slanted world I don't think they can get away with charging you for a policy they will state up front that they will not pay out on.

[101]

I was getting some pushback once we rebuilt the 87 es. I politely told my agent that if they didn't want to insure this rebuilt title car that I would be moving my homeowner's insurance and other vehicles elsewhere. It was amazing how fast they came around (Nationwide).

YMMV.

[ClayW]

http://thegarage.jalopnik.com/why-you-dont-want-to-buy-a-rebuilt-salvage-vehicle-1653320003

Worth a listen.

[nando]

the problem is it doesn't take a major accident to total something like an E30. a fender bender could be more than 70% of the value of the car.

the idea that a salvage vehicle must have been in a major accident is ridiculous. That would likely apply to a newer car, where it's worth quite a bit more so an accident that is 70% of a $40,000 purchase is quite severe. But on a car that is 25-30 years old you're talking about a new fender and $500 in paint.

I've never had an issue getting insurance on a salvage car. also, whether it's salvage or not doesn't really matter on a payout - if you're paying for X amount of coverage, that's what you should get.

[eur04lif3]

This is why I don't buy salvage vehicles. It's a total deal breaker. Hard to insure and hard to resell.

Also I have a suspicion a salvage title will ensure you get a check for next to nothing if the car is totalled (again) by another driver.

I've owned salvage cars for over 10 years, they were cheap and as long as it didn't have frame damage i was good with it. They were cheaper and being college broke, was a good deal for me. Re-selling was not an issue at all, as you already buy them at a lower cost. If you're having a hard time selling a salvage car, then you must of over-paid.

The last two cars that i bough are clean title, and sort of wished i bough them salvaged to save some money.

I always thought a salvage vehicle would receive no pay out if totalled, since it would have already been paid out. Because of this, it makes sense that you'd only be able to get liability on a salvage title car.

Didn't know a totaled car would not be paid out by insurance. Good to know.

False, the car still has value, it's just lower. And insurance companies have a hard time assessing the value, as KBB/NADA doesn't value branded titles. It's certainty harder to come to an agreement on value, but you'll still have a payout of sorts.

Sometimes I just think that the insurance companies don't want to give you more money than you've already paid for the salvage car...

I had no problem re-insuring my old Neon ACR when it got totaled and I fixed it myself, they never asked and I never told them, I never had any clue it was a concern. I lived in Ohio at the time though and their titles won't say "salvage" its marked as a "replacement" title after you go through your Highway Patrol inspection.

I'm probably replacing my E30 with a salvage-title S2000 in the next few months so I guess that is good to know, but I am still with the same ins. co. so I'm not really that concerned. Either way, salvage title is about the only way I can start getting into the stuff I want.

I was not aware of insurance companies having issues with it either, and always operated under the "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

I was getting some pushback once we rebuilt the 87 es. I politely told my agent that if they didn't want to insure this rebuilt title car that I would be moving my homeowner's insurance and other vehicles elsewhere. It was amazing how fast they came around (Nationwide).

YMMV.

Good to know. Progressive and Geico are also companies that don't really ask.

the problem is it doesn't take a major accident to total something like an E30. a fender bender could be more than 70% of the value of the car.

the idea that a salvage vehicle must have been in a major accident is ridiculous. That would likely apply to a newer car, where it's worth quite a bit more so an accident that is 70% of a $40,000 purchase is quite severe. But on a car that is 25-30 years old you're talking about a new fender and $500 in paint.

I've never had an issue getting insurance on a salvage car. also, whether it's salvage or not doesn't really matter on a payout - if you're paying for X amount of coverage, that's what you should get.

That's exactly my scenario, my car got salvaged when a tree branch fell on the car when the PO owned it. Changed the hood, windshield and both fenders--nothing structural. I love the car and will never sell it, but was just surprised when some insurance companies chose not to insure it.

Also, worth mentioning that Allstate was willing to insure the car only if i had it professionally upraised.

[Oly_Schmidt]

Whether or not the title is salvage, the key to being completely covered on an older car is to go with and "agreed value" or "stated value" policy.
You tell the insurance company what the car is worth to you. It costs a little bit more, in my case I pay an additional $84 a year, but if the car is totaled I'll get back my investment. I was told I may have to provide documentation for money spent if that happens but that's not a problem.

[ncsubowen]

I got next to nothing when my car was totaled even when it wasn't salvaged. After 6 months of fighting and all I got was half of what it would take to replace it with a stock example of the same car, and it was rare enough that would have taken months of searching. I get the cheapest insurance possible, lie about whatever I can to them to make it cheaper and have no expectation of ever getting a penny out of them, fucking scumbags.

Was this before or after you got the cheapest possible insurance? Because with Esurance I wrecked my car and got full replacement value, including a valuation report and + 10% of all maintenance items I had done (with receipts) in the past 12 months. I paid $1500 for the car and got paid out close to $4.2k by insurance.

Maybe getting the cheapest shit is part of your problem.

[eur04lif3]

Was this before or after you got the cheapest possible insurance? Because with Esurance I wrecked my car and got full replacement value, including a valuation report and + 10% of all maintenance items I had done (with receipts) in the past 12 months. I paid $1500 for the car and got paid out close to $4.2k by insurance.

Maybe getting the cheapest shit is part of your problem.

Not sure how you're drawing the correlation between cost of insurance and value covered. There's the question that value of vehicle needs to be discussed before purchasing insurance, but that shouldn't suggest purchase the highest policy.

[BlackSpeed66]

I can't speak for other insurance companies... I work for one of the companies mentioned in this thread. It seems we do insure salvaged/reconstructed vehicles as I have come across them on more than one occasion while writing an estimate and (usually) performing yet another total loss evaluation. I don't know the hows or whys as to how we figure rates/coverage, etc on the policy side, but it's always fun telling a customer their car was a prior total when they didn't even know it. Yeah, fun conversation there. Buyer beware.

When i run the VIN through our database doing a total loss eval, it will usually flag it once i get the value back that it has a prior title history. The software uses an algorithm that figures out the deduction for the title history. The good thing is that we don't really ding you twice on it (I have to assess the overall condition of your car too). So - if your car is a prior salvage and it's a piece of shit, we only ding you on the prior salvage (which is still usually a pretty hefty deduction). At that point, provided you don't have a lien on the title, you have the option to keep your piece of shit (minus the salvage value). And the cycle begins again