Mustang with "salvage" title: Impact on value, sale-ability?

Have a friend with a 66 Mustang in very good to excellent condition
(restored, I think) but the title -- this is in California, if that
makes any difference -- has "Salvage" on it. He wants to sell the car,
and is concerned about the 'salvage' thing. What impact does that have
and, if a negative one, is there any way around it? What impact does
'salvage' have on the value of the car.

Thanks!

Christopher A. Steele

wrote:
> Have a friend with a 66 Mustang in very good to excellent condition
> (restored, I think) but the title -- this is in California, if that
> makes any difference -- has "Salvage" on it. He wants to sell the car,
> and is concerned about the 'salvage' thing. What impact does that have
> and, if a negative one, is there any way around it? What impact does
> 'salvage' have on the value of the car.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Christopher A. Steele
>
I generally walk away from cars with a salvage title. That means at some point
it has been damaged enough for the insurance company to dump the car. Then somebody
pulled it out of the bone yard and rebuilt. Maybe built one car out of 2 or 3 cars.
Maybe they did a good, and maybe they didn't. Maybe it's just water damage from
a flood. Who knows.
Finding out what damage was done, and how good the repair was can be difficult.
If it's water damage, you have to look in side all the small places and make sure
it's not rusting from the inside out. If it's trauma, it needs to be put on a frame
table and measured, and you need a very carefull inspection of repair points, frame
welds, etc.
In any case, it's a real risk. Unless the car is really something special, I
just won't spend my time on it.

--
..boB
1997 HD FXDWG - Turbocharged!
2001 Dodge Dakota QC 5.9/4x4/3.92
1966 Mustang Coupe - Daily Driver
1966 FFR Cobra - Ongoing project

On 25 Jul 2005 21:01:43 -0700, wrote:

>Have a friend with a 66 Mustang in very good to excellent condition
>(restored, I think) but the title -- this is in California, if that
>makes any difference -- has "Salvage" on it. He wants to sell the car,
>and is concerned about the 'salvage' thing. What impact does that have
>and, if a negative one, is there any way around it? What impact does
>'salvage' have on the value of the car.
>
>Thanks!
>
>Christopher A. Steele
>
Usually a car with a salvage title is diminished in sale price by
about 50% if not more. Many people wouldn't give a plugged nickel for
a car with one. However, since we are talking about a 40-year old car
(most of which have a dubious history to begin with) I doubt it would
have as much impact as it normally would. Hell a `66 could have been
in a fender bender pre-restoration and totaled because of repairs of a
thousand bucks with no major structural damage.

It is really going to depend on the overall rebuild quality of the
car, but I wouldn't expect it to being absolute top dollar.
--

Please Don't Steal - The Government Hates Competition

ZombyWoof
(take the dogs when replying via e-mail)

Salvage title pretty much kills the value of a car. Since we are talking
about a 39 year old car, it might not be as bad. Depending on when it
happened, it wouldn't take much for it to be a Salvage car. There are a
number of '66 Shelby's that were rescued from wrecking yards, Christie
Edelbrock's car is one example. The important thing is to find out what made
it a salvage title. Accident? Rust? someone commit suicide in it with a
shotgun? (I know of a case where this happened). If the reasons can be
determined and verified that the recovery work was done properly, it would
still be worth less, but be a bargain to the purchaser.
Good Luck


> wrote in message
oups.com...
> Have a friend with a 66 Mustang in very good to excellent condition
> (restored, I think) but the title -- this is in California, if that
> makes any difference -- has "Salvage" on it. He wants to sell the car,
> and is concerned about the 'salvage' thing. What impact does that have
> and, if a negative one, is there any way around it? What impact does
> 'salvage' have on the value of the car.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Christopher A. Steele
>

About any time an insurance company figures repairs will exceed the
book value, they write it off as totaled and off it goes to salvage.
Often, the owner turns around and buys it back for the salvage value
directly from the insurance company. My own father has done that a
number of times.

It could also be that the owner had no idea of the value, and didn't
have the funds to put into repairs (like an engine overhaul) and had
it hauled to a wrecking yard. lady I know was going to do that with a
'68 Mustang. When I told her what it might be worth if it was
restored, she reconsidered and is in the process of restoring it
herself.

Anyway, it could have been in salvage for a week, or decade, or 30
years. How long it sat, especially the older cars because they were
prone to rust, can make a big difference, as can where it sat...
Nevada desert, snow belt, SE humidity, or salt air?

Remember that many of the old cars you see restored to become show
pieces and command top dollar, were found in barns and fields, etc,
where they sat for decades. There is little difference between sitting
in a field for 40 years where the license expired and was never
renewed; or it was placed into "non-op" status"; and sitting in a
salvage yard.

Many buyers do not care about a car's history They only care about
it's present condition. They don't care that road salt ate the entire
floor pan and it had to be replaced. It's covered with carpet. Who is
gonna see it? There are some who will back off, but most won't as long
as any restoration work was done properly.

Your friend might consider getting the car inspected and appraised. It
will cost a few bucks, but it's something which can be presented to
prospective buyers to help take away any fears they might have. That's
what I did with a 66 FB I sold a couple of years ago. With those done,
the deal was closed "sight unseen" (they did get to see photos with
the report).







On 25 Jul 2005 21:01:43 -0700, wrote:

>Have a friend with a 66 Mustang in very good to excellent condition
>(restored, I think) but the title -- this is in California, if that
>makes any difference -- has "Salvage" on it. He wants to sell the car,
>and is concerned about the 'salvage' thing. What impact does that have
>and, if a negative one, is there any way around it? What impact does
>'salvage' have on the value of the car.
>
>Thanks!
>
>Christopher A. Steele

Spike
1965 Ford Mustang fastback 2+2 A Code 289 C4 Trac-Lok
Vintage Burgundy w/Black Standard Interior; Vintage 40
16" rims w/BF Goodrich Comp T/A gForce Radial
225/50ZR16 KDWS skins; surround sound audio-video.

"When the time comes to lay down my life for my country,
I do not cower from this responsibility. I welcome it."
-JFK Inaugural Address

A quote from the latest 'Mustang Monthly';

"...Cars we were buying as parts cars 10 years ago are now being
restored..."

(I'm paraphrasing, but you get the idea).

Its a 1966 mustang. If you go over the car with a fine tooth comb and
do good quality work AND document everything you have done, I wouldn't
worry about salvage status on the title.

Total rust bucket, decrepit 60's coupes in my area are going for about
3 grand canadian dollars. Ridiculous.


ZombyWoof wrote:

> On 25 Jul 2005 21:01:43 -0700, wrote:
>
>
>>Have a friend with a 66 Mustang in very good to excellent condition
>>(restored, I think) but the title -- this is in California, if that
>>makes any difference -- has "Salvage" on it. He wants to sell the car,
>>and is concerned about the 'salvage' thing. What impact does that have
>>and, if a negative one, is there any way around it? What impact does
>>'salvage' have on the value of the car.
>>
>>Thanks!
>>
>>Christopher A. Steele
>>
>
> Usually a car with a salvage title is diminished in sale price by
> about 50% if not more. Many people wouldn't give a plugged nickel for
> a car with one. However, since we are talking about a 40-year old car
> (most of which have a dubious history to begin with) I doubt it would
> have as much impact as it normally would. Hell a `66 could have been
> in a fender bender pre-restoration and totaled because of repairs of a
> thousand bucks with no major structural damage.
>
> It is really going to depend on the overall rebuild quality of the
> car, but I wouldn't expect it to being absolute top dollar.
> --
>
> Please Don't Steal - The Government Hates Competition
>
> ZombyWoof
> (take the dogs when replying via e-mail)