Hail Damage = Salvage Title???

[renegade_987]

So there is a salvage/damage lot near my town and they put all their listings on Craigslist. Everytime I see a car with nothing but light hail damage, it has a salvage title. Why is that? I was under the impression that a car had to be totaled to recive such a title. Thanks!

 

[daves87rs]

Depends on how much it would cost to fix it. It can get pricey...and can become more than the car is worth in a hurry...

 

[Drew99GT]

Salvage titles only exist on vehicles that have had an insurance claim paid on them from what I understand, so maybe the vehicles have hail damage that wasn't fixed and they were also in a bad wreck.

 

[NHGUY]

Replacing a hood or trunklid isnt all that expensive,but replacing a roof panel thats welded/bonded on and requires removal of trim,headliner,front/rear glass....that gets expensive,and a lot of insurance compmnies wont bother fixing it,but will make a generous offer to settle the issue without a body shop involved.

 

[OtisBlkR1]

Originally Posted By: daves87rs

Depends on how much it would cost to fix it. It can get pricey...and can become more than the car is worth in a hurry...

+1

 

[Drew99GT]

Originally Posted By: NHGUY

Replacing a hood or trunklid isnt all that expensive,but replacing a roof panel thats welded/bonded on and requires removal of trim,headliner,front/rear glass....that gets expensive,and a lot of insurance compmnies wont bother fixing it,but will make a generous offer to settle the issue without a body shop involved.

That makes sense, especially on an old car with little value.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: renegade_987

So there is a salvage/damage lot near my town and they put all their listings on Craigslist. Everytime I see a car with nothing but light hail damage, it has a salvage title. Why is that? I was under the impression that a car had to be totaled to recive such a title. Thanks!

Well, up here, there is no distinction between salvage and total loss. We had a major hailstorm up here this summer, and there was all kinds of different damage visible on vehicles for sale. One dealer fixed a few and sold others at considerable discounts (i.e. $10,000 below the previous advertised price). And yes, if the damage is too costly to fix, they will be written off, and a number of cheaper vehicles (or vehicles more expensive to fix) were written off.

 

[MrCritical]

In many areas when it gets to a certain % of value to repair, it's a total/salvage. Supposedly the knock on many "cut rate" insurance companies-their % before total is higher.