Buying a Salvage Car

rainbow12

I have been looking for a new or nearly new car. I have seen some 'salvage' cars offered for sale at about half the price of buying in good condition (they mainly appear to have been accident damage so would need bodywork repairs).
Does anyone know anything about the pros and cons of buying a salvage car and getting it repaired?
I think I could possibly save a significant amount of money doing it this way (and know a garage that has done reasonably priced body work on my car in the past). I would obviously check out the car to see what needs to be done and make sure it is completely safe after the repairs before driving it.
But I wonder:
Would I be able to insure it?
Would I be able to sell it at a later date?
Would there be a register of it being a salvage?
Would I basically be taking my life in my hands by doing this?
Any advice would be welcome
Thanks

Scooby_Doo.

rainbow12 wrote: »

I have been looking for a new or nearly new car. I have seen some 'salvage' cars offered for sale at about half the price of buying in good condition (they mainly appear to have been accident damage so would need bodywork repairs).
Does anyone know anything about the pros and cons of buying a salvage car and getting it repaired?
I think I could possibly save a significant amount of money doing it this way (and know a garage that has done reasonably priced body work on my car in the past). I would obviously check out the car to see what needs to be done and make sure it is completely safe after the repairs before driving it.
But I wonder:
Would I be able to insure it? Yes.
Would I be able to sell it at a later date? Yes, but at a reduced price.
Would there be a register of it being a salvage? That depends, but most likely.
Would I basically be taking my life in my hands by doing this? Depends on the damage and your ability to repair it.
Any advice would be welcome
Thanks

It may not be as cheap as you think, with the questions you have asked best to stay well clear.;)

Hammyman

If you don't know what you're looking for, you can get really seriously shafted. That car that didn't look that bad can end up needing £100's spending getting re-jigged just so it drives straight before you even start doing the cosmetics.

You can sell it but it would be on the DVLA database as being a write-off.

rainbow12

Thanks Scooby
Do these cars tend to be worth paying for the repairs or does that make them too expensive?

rainbow12

Thanks Hammy.
Do you know any reputable places that sell salvage cars?

Scooby_Doo.

rainbow12 wrote: »

Thanks Scooby
Do these cars tend to be worth paying for the repairs or does that make them too expensive?

If you know what your looking for, but ask yourself why the insurance compainies wrote then off.

forgotmyname

Just look at the photo's online. Light frontal damage. Everything forward of the bulkhead needed to be jigged.
Not my idea of 'light'

Buy something older with a scrape on the bodywork is one thing, But anything fairly new may be a major nightmare.
Airbag modules may need to be replaced or reprogrammed.

It can be very costly.

Watchdog did a feature a little while back garage selling accident damaged cars which had been repaired badly. Bumpers held
on with flimsy sharp pieces of metal tacked to the front panel. No strength if you bumped it.

Dippypud

If you have the facility and expertise go for it.

If not, leave it alone, there are enough backstreet butchers of cars out there, thank you.

harveybobbles

There was someone on here last year who bought a salvage C4 Picasso (I think) cos it seemed cheap at the time. They are now into hundreds of pounds worth of repairs and it still wont run properly...

Edit: Heres the thread...

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2507139

The saga continues...

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3074190=

Mankysteve

rainbow12 wrote: »

Thanks Scooby
Do these cars tend to be worth paying for the repairs or does that make them too expensive?

They tend to be only worth it if you can do most of the work yourself. Have a neighbour who buys write off's repairs and sells on. Legitimately may I add, but they do all the work themselves owning a local garage.

pendulum

I fancied buying a damaged/repairable for a project, but in the end I decided I'd probably lose money. If you are a mechanic, know what to buy and what not to, can work quickly and efficiently and know your stuff, have all the necessary tools and experience, and have contacts to get cheap parts (e.g. the lads at the scrapyard you visit regularly), then yep, there's profit to be had/money to be saved and it could be worth doing, and that's why some of them do it.

If your just going to pick a car you like the look of (with probably no service history, no idea of other faults, and to the tune of Fools & Horses: no MoT, no guarantee, needs VIC, etc) and pay for a garage to fix it, hmmm, good luck!