Salvage Auction-Clear Title

[Jasper_72]

To start off, I am a new member but have found this site very helpful over the last year + learning about and ultimately searching for a Seven of my own. I knew someone with a factory-built Lotus Seven S4 as a teenager many years ago and have been fond of them ever since. Driving that thing as a 16-17 year old ruined me in some ways, lol. 
 

I wanted to ask this knowledgeable community about salvage titles. I recently came across a Caterham for sale through a dealership, but in researching the VIN it was purchased through a salvage auction. The car currently has a clean title and no damage/accidents reported in the AutoCheck history. The damage didn’t appear to be that significant, front wheel and possibly some undercarriage. I’m curious why the owner took the insurance payout rather than fixing it unless the damage was more substantial than it appeared, but, that’s to be explored separately.

 

What I’m curious about is, will the title be updated to a salvage title after purchase when trying to register the vehicle, or is it possible for the vehicle to go through a salvage auction with a clean title that stays clean? I’m not scared of the damage if it was repaired properly and there is benefit if the title was able to stay clean. I just wouldn’t want to purchase it thinking it’s a clean title only to have the DMV catch up to it and brand the title. 
 

Sorry for the long post, appreciate any insight.

Edited yesterday at 03:06 AM by Jasper_72

[mrmustang]

9 hours ago, Jasper_72 said:

To start off, I am a new member but have found this site very helpful over the last year + learning about and ultimately searching for a Seven of my own. I knew someone with a factory-built Lotus Seven S4 as a teenager many years ago and have been fond of them ever since. Driving that thing as a 16-17 year old ruined me in some ways, lol. 
 

I wanted to ask this knowledgeable community about salvage titles. I recently came across a Caterham for sale through a dealership, but in researching the VIN it was purchased through a salvage auction. The car currently has a clean title and no damage/accidents reported in the AutoCheck history. The damage didn’t appear to be that significant, front wheel and possibly some undercarriage. I’m curious why the owner took the insurance payout rather than fixing it unless the damage was more substantial than it appeared, but, that’s to be explored separately.

 

What I’m curious about is, will the title be updated to a salvage title after purchase when trying to register the vehicle, or is it possible for the vehicle to go through a salvage auction with a clean title that stays clean? I’m not scared of the damage if it was repaired properly and there is benefit if the title was able to stay clean. I just wouldn’t want to purchase it thinking it’s a clean title only to have the DMV catch up to it and brand the title. 
 

Sorry for the long post, appreciate any insight.

The answer depends on the state the original title and the new title were issued in, can an salvage auction company have a title that was never marked as salvage, absolutely, happens all the time. Will your new title be marked salvage, that is a question for the selling dealer, not a web based forum.

Damage wise, on a tube type framed vehicle like a 7, you can have torsional twist. To understand this, if the car was damaged in the left front, depending on how hard the hit was, could twist the frame all the way back to the right rear. To visualize what I'm talking about, grab a small note pad in both hands, now or drop the left corner and see what happens to the right lower corner in the process, the same thing could have occurred to the car you are looking at. So while the damage to the front of the car was repaired, if the car was not tied down to a frame rack, and several cross measurements taken to check for such torsional damage, you'll never know if the car was truly properly repaired, or just cosmetically repaired. 

As for why an owner chose not to repair the car, as a retired bodyshop owner, I can tell you that owners become gun-shy about the car once an accident occurred, they no longer want anything to do with it, superstitious or otherwise and will essentially push for a payout and walk away.  Sounds strange, but it happens more times than you would think.

 

Bill S.

[Croc]

 

Usually in even minor insurance claims these days, the insurer does a quick calculation of parts cost plus labor cost to repair and decides it is not worth it.  The owner/insured has no real say in the matter unless they decide to purchase the car back and fix themselves.  When you consider that you likely have to source parts from the UK and the cost per hour of specialists to do say aluminum panel repair plus keep the claim live for 9 months plus - insurers have not got the stomach for that.  

 

But when that happens the car usually earns a salvage brand on the title.  Sometimes they do not.  Sometimes some disreputable people title wash to keep it clean and unbranded.  A car can end up through Copart even if it is not an insurance claim car - bankruptcy can send a car there - no salvage in that case. 

 

Some owners get skittish on a car after a crash and dump it.  Call it lack of confidence - that could be the situation here.

 

Crash damage can be hidden on these cars.  Watch for warped chassis or bent tubes hiding in odd spots.  

 

For your answer I think you have to consider the dealer - good quality Caterham dealers will know the history and be upfront about what happened.  Others may not.  Try having a conversation with them and see what answers you get.  Obviously you are right to be on guard about this.