Hi guys! I'm thinking of buying a salvage S40. I will definitely stay away from flooded cars, if it's salt water at least. Do you have some other recommendations, like what I should be aware of, and should I buy salvage car at all? I realize that it's a risk of course but how can I minimize it? Here are some cars I'm choosing from, what do you think is the best deal?
http://www.advertisecarsfree.com/669...40%202.4i-Side
http://www.advertisecarsfree.com/616...fwd-Front+end/
http://www.advertisecarsfree.com/674...wd-Mechanical/
http://www.advertisecarsfree.com/663....4i-Rear%2Bend
http://www.ridesafely.com/Inventory....r+DESC&isct=0&
http://www.autobidmaster.com/carfind...UNTA_GORDA_FL/

 

Strange, all of your links take me to the same car. But I did look at a few by just copying that fist part of the links text and pasting that into a new tab.

I bought my Volvo with a rebuilt title, but made sure there was no structural damage and that the airbags had not gone off. I think by law they have to state on the title if the airbags had gone off... (airbags = $$$). My S40 was hit squarely in the rear. Needed a new deck lid and bumber, tail lights... that was about it.

The Volvo's you posted look pretty bad. How good are you at body work? Looking at this one, seems to be the least damage: Damaged 2007 Volvo S40 for sale in Haslet, Texas. YV1MS382472313807 ... but that drivers side rear wheel looks like it may have been hit too and turned in towards the car a little. That can be $$$ to fix and if not done right you can have serious alignment issues. Also I would stay away from front end damaged cars. There are a lot of plastic brackets holding everything in place up there (radiator, lights, hoses...) and they usually get snapped when hit. Not to mention alot of sensitive high dollar parts under the hood.

As far as water damage, salt water may be alittle worse because of its corrosivness, but fresh water still ruins transmissions/engines just the same. And with any water you can get bad mold issues in the interior.

You can save big on totaled cars, but you also risk losing alot of money.

 

Livens, I have no idea why those links were taking to the same page :/ I guess I fixed it now. Thanks a lot for your answer, it is really helpful! Did you do all the repairs by yourself? I'm afraid Im not very good at body work so I'd have so spend even more to pay to someone who can do that..

 

Well, I dont buy salvaged cars from auctions... too risky. I let someone else take the risk and pay a little more

A lot of small car lots buy from auctions and fix cars up and resell them. You can also find them listed on craigslist. I found my Volvo on craigslist. The guy who bought it replaced the deck lid and bumper, good enough for me. But when i went to look at the car he had a lot full of 'projects' he was working on. I asked his about some of them and he said he gets burned on some of them, usually from frame damage or some mechanical issue the car had even before the accident.

For me the risk of getting burned is too great. I cannot afford to buy a car only to find out it would cost more than its worth to fix it. So I would rather pay a little more than what I could have gotten it for from the auction house, and let him take the risk. I got a really good deal on a decent car, and the seller made some money too.

Just search craigslist for 'rebuilt volvo'.

 

Good advice, Livens. An amateur buying a salvage car? You are going to get burned.

I go the other way. When I buy a used car I only buy well-maintained cars from private owners in good zip codes. No curbstoners, sketchy sellers or mechanic specials. You pay more up front but less in the long run.