Buying a salvaged Prius?

I agree it's not a "scam". If only because the usual course is that if a vehicle is in an accident that renders the vehicle damaged to the point of being designated salvaged upon repair? Usually the original owner is given or has taken the insurance payout.

They can buy a new car, minus the difference in depreciation and payout, nobody is forcing anyone either original owner or prospective new buyer to accept a salvaged title. If you buy a salvage title, you should be aware of what you are buying. It would only be a scam, if you were never told or not aware.

Sort of off topic, but somewhat related, what I do think can be a "scam" that significantly helps dealerships...is CarFax.

While a useful tool for used car buyers, that I'd highly recommend. For a new car owner, that might be in a "gray area" cosmetic damage accident? It can REALLY backfire and hurt the value of your vehicle.

Between total loss, Salvage Vehicles and Car Fax reported accidents...I think I'd almost want the "total loss". The way thing are now, you can be in a fender bender with purely cosmetic damage, and if your vehicle is NOT totalled...suddenly you have a vehicle with a blemished carfax. Your resale value goes way down, with either dealerships who will use it as an excuse to pay you far less for your trade in, regardless of how well it was fixed or repaired, and with private parties that will look up Carfax and discover if not revealed a blemish on the cars record.

 

Let me just say where i am coming from-
My 09 was totaled in January with 22,000 miles on it.
http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-prius-main-forum/89494-prius-crash.html


So now toyota, or any/all car manufactures should keep people on staff to evaluate weather or not a vehicle should be totaled? And If Toyota agrees that the cost of repairs is too much, and the car should be totaled then they can void the warranty and it's not a scam?

First off, I think it took long enough just with The body shop and the insurance adjuster (and it wasn't just some new guy, i think it was the district manager) when my Prius was crashed. If you add on a few days for someone at toyota to go over the numbers, thats just a waste of time. and secondly, How many people would toyota need to keep on staff for the # of cars they have in the us that are under 36,000 miles? where are these peoples salary coming from? you can bet it would be tacked on to the cost of a new car, because toyota is not going to eat that cost!

What surprises me most about this discussion is that fact that you purchased salvage car (at a great discount verses what a comp clean title would be) and you were lucky enough that toyota covered something that they had every right not to (because as a salvage your warranty is void, and you were aware of this) and rather than being greatful, you just go on and on about what a scam it is and how they have no reason to void the warranty!

A warranty is not Free, you pay for it in the price of a new or slightly used car. Thats why so many used cars are advertised with "balance of factory warranty" a salvage does not have this, and is generally priced much much lower. It's a risk you take for the price savings.

But when you figure here's a 08 Prius salvage with 47,000 miles on it for $8950
Southside Automotive - Repairables Of Minneapolis & St. Paul Minnesota - 11-106

and also listed about 30 minutes away is a 08 1 owner with nav and only 36000 miles and it's price at the dealer is $19495
Toyota City Used Cars | 2008 Toyota Prius Basic

It's still about a $10,000 savings and both of these cars are out of the bumper to bumper portion of the warranty anyway!

 

Now that you mention that, about 5 years ago when we sold my wife's 2000 Acura TL, Car Fax listed an accident the car had been in. Fortunately I had taken detailed pictures of the damage and gotten the full labor and parts bill from the body shop even though our insurance had covered the repair work.

From my documentation the buyer could see that the damage was cosmetic, localized to the rear of the car and hadn't effected anything critical. The car sold easily and after seeing what the damage was there was no attempt by the buyer to negotiate the price down based on the accident.

I didn't keep the paperwork and pictures for a Car Fax event but they came in handy for that.

 

as usual, i'm mis-understood.

i'm only saying it's "bad business" by the manufacturer because the manufacturer (Toyota) uses the "salvage title" designation as a means to no longer honor warranty work even though they have no "say" in the decision making process of whether or not a vehicle is designated as such.

the manufacturer has no information regarding the circumstances surrounding the reason why the vehicle is designated salvage.

and, as previously stated...the insurance adjuster has alot of latitude when making the final determination of whether to "total" a vehicle or not.

in fact, depending on the damage, the adjuster will give the owner an option to fix or not.

so insurance repairs a vehicle that had the option to be totaled and it's considered a "clean" title.

or...insurance doesn't repair that same vehicle...it's auctioned off, then repaired at the same shop but is now designated "salvage".

same vehicle, same repair quality, different designation.

and in both instances...the manufacturer (Toyota) has no info on the vehicle damage (location) or no influence on who repaired the vehicle (body shop).

that's all i'm sayin'. the system is "flawed" in the way in which vehicles are designated as salvage.

the "scam" part i'm referring to is the way in which the manufacturer uses this designation to get out of warranty work.

 

I live in Ventura, just curious which Toyota Dealer you went to so when and if I ever need service I'll use them since my 2010 has a salvage title too.

 

I agree. I've owned several salvaged Corollas. Heck one was total because it had been stolen, airbags removed and located after 2 months. Installed new airbags only! Never had any problems, but if I did the warranty would've been void! Really, why would they still not honor a warranty that covers their workmanship? just sayin