Class A with a Salvage title

If nothing else check with your insurance company I had a friend who had a hard time retitling a vehicle he bought with a salvage title.

He did finally got another title but it was like a rebuild title and he still could not get insurance.

Sounded like a good deal on the front end but it was a nightmare to deal with.

Dale.Traveling wrote:
A salvage title associated with a failed transmission seems a bit unusual. One would normally associate such with an insurance lose. Although it doesn't appear to have been in an accident. Maybe it was caught in a Northeastern or Sandy and flooded. A VIN trace might disclose a bit more history.

As mentioned you could have problems with the new ownership registration plus if you ever intend to sell it. $15K seems OK with the salvage tile if it runs.

What Dale said! That does not seem correct. Before I retired I was in law enforcement and the agency I worked for did consumer fraud. I was looking to buy a Jeep once and I came across a nice used Jeep at a local dealer. (It was even a Jeep dealer). On the price tag was disclosed that the Jeep was a "Lemon Law Buyback." I asked him about it and he said there was a leak in the dash and water would come in when it rained. He gave me this story about how great Chrysler was with customer service so they bought the Jeep back and because it was a buy back they had to list it as a lemon law buyback. Well his story didn't seem right because that isn't how the lemon law worked.

I opened a case and pulled the DMV history on the vehicle and found the previous owner. I interviewed her about it and her story was much different than the dealer. She talked about electrical shorts from the water and how it was back in the shop five times and they never could get the leak fixed so she hired an attorney who specialized in lemon law cases.

Anyway, to make a long story even longer, I wanted to wait until the dealer sold the jeep and then go find the new owner and see what they were told about the lemon law issue. My boss didn't like that idea so he made me go to the dealer and talk to the actual owner about his salesman and the info I had. Of course the owner of the dealership was outraged that his employee would tell such a story and he assured me he'd take care it.

Anyway, the point of my story being, I think there's more the story here than a bad transmission.

after some research sounds like salvage vehicles are more trouble than they are worth. in CT, you have to get inspected at dmv headquarters and the tires cannot touch the ground. you have to bring it there on a flat bed. plus you have to show receipts for everything that was added to it, but if something was added to it just before you got it you can be in trouble

I've never heard of a salvage title based on a failed transmission. I don't own a huge class A, so I could be off base, but I don't think so. As stated, salvage titles are usually associated with a collision or flood damage....something an insurance company would insure. Also, don't you think it is a gall suspicious that is all the ad says? Not much information there. They don't even say "the salvage title is because..." They just say the problem is the transmission. Might not even be related to the salvage title. I say run like the wind.

An insurance company writes off a vehicle when it would cost THEM more money to fix than it is worth. Once the payoff is made to the owner, they take the title and sell the vehicle as salvage for whatever they can recover.
I can't imagine a transmission problem causing a 2003 RV to be scrapped. In 2003 a lot of the electronics for the engine and transmission were electronic so I can see flood waters causing a problem. Insurance companies will write off flood vehicles if they anticipate future safety problems on corroded electronic components that cannot be foreseen with a simple inspection, especially if it was salt water. As salvage of parts only, that are not electronically controlled, the price is way too high.

Check with your insurance company before you make the purchase.
I've heard some companies will not insure a vehicle with a salvage title.
Maybe it's just a rumor but, it's worth checking.

A salvage title associated with a failed transmission seems a bit unusual. One would normally associate such with an insurance lose. Although it doesn't appear to have been in an accident. Maybe it was caught in a Northeastern or Sandy and flooded. A VIN trace might disclose a bit more history.

As mentioned you could have problems with the new ownership registration plus if you ever intend to sell it. $15K seems OK with the salvage tile if it runs.

Salvage title post

there are quite a few salvage posts.

actually I just looked it up on the CT dmv website. it is not good. its possible it could be retitled but only if its not branded "Salvage Parts Only" or "Salvage Unrebuildable" or "Salvage Unrepairable" .

http://www.ct.gov/dmv/cwp/view.asp?a=804&q=244912

There can be legal issues with salvage titles, especially getting them registered and street legal. I'd get some advice about your home state's laws before I'd risk the cash.