Recently, I considered buying a 2008 Honda Fit. I drove it and it seemed fine; however, it has a “rebuilt” (aka “Salvage”) title. The owners stated that the car had been rearended and then repaired and taken to the state for licensing. Since in the state of Washington such a title apparently means that the DOT has inspected the car and deemed it OK to drive, I was inclined to pay a mechanic to further examine it and if he/she said it’s OK, go ahead and buy it (the price was significantly less than other similar Fits). However, two people whose opinions I trust told me to “not touch it”, as did my wife. So - I walked. Now I’m still wondering if I did the right thing, and I’m searching for further opinions - any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks - Eric Page
You did the right thing, I’d never buy one with a salvage title. How much of a discount were they offering? It had better have been 50%, or more. Even then still not worth it to me.
I’d walk. Just because it’s supposedly safe to drive doesn’t mean it might not cause you lots of trouble anyway. You’d also have a terrible time selling it.
A Salvage Title car may be fine but there a couple of ifs. (There always is.)
It would depend on the asking price. Generally speaking, a salvage title vehicle is worth about 50-60% of the average retail.
The other would be the extent of the damage that caused a Salvage title to be issued.
I would want to see the repair bill and spend a little time going over both that and the car itself before considering a purchase. A thorough checkover would be in order no matter what.