Salvage Cars
Beware of salvage cars or previously wrecked cars.
WHAT’S WRONG WITH A SALVAGE CAR OR PREVIOUSLY WRECKED CAR?
No one knows how many salvage vehicles are repaired by incompetent mechanics or crooks just looking to make a fast buck with shoddy and incomplete repairs.
Blown airbags may not have been replaced. Some companies even sell dangerous fake airbag covers that look like the real thing.
Bent vehicle frames may not have been straightened. Damaged parts may not have been replaced or repaired at all.
The front half of the car may not come from the same car as the back half (called a clipped car in the business). Mandatory rebuilt vehicle safety inspections may never have taken place at all because the insurance company provided the repair shops with vehicle titles that “hid” the truth about their past record.
A Salvage vehicle can be worth thousands and thousands of dollars less than one that is not a salvage vehicle. Kelly Blue Book reports that the decrease in value is between 20% and 40%, depending on the particular vehicle. “Diminished value” is what it’s called and there are experts who can help you figure out how much it amounts to even when the salvage vehicle is repaired properly, let alone when it’s not.
If you were ripped off, call us at 1-888-331-6422 or email us today for a Salvage Fraud Case Review! We are experienced consumer Law attorneys who handle wrecked car cases every day.
DID YOU BUY A SALVAGE CAR OR TRUCK, OR A PREVIOUSLY WRECKED/REBUILT CAR, WITHOUT KNOWING IT?
Was your vehicle totaled out in an insurance claim and they did not brand your title as a salvage vehicle?
Or did someone sell you the vehicle without telling you that it was a salvage car or salvage truck?
You might be able to get all your money back or a replacement vehicle. In some cases you can even
get triple your damages and still keep the car.
In every case you could be driving a dangerous and unsafe motor vehicle so get it checked out by an experienced, competent mechanic right away. Don’t drive a dangerous car or truck.
Call us at 1-888-331-6422 or email us today for a Salvage Fraud Case Review.
Every year thousands of vehicles are totaled out by insurance companies after accidents or a flood. A total loss usually means the vehicle cannot be repaired cost-effectively up to mechanical or safety standards. Such vehicles are supposed to be junked and used for parts only. But that doesn’t always happen.
Many of those same totaled out vehicles are later sold to “automotive recyclers” (repair shops, junk yards, rebuilders, etc.) with a “clean” title from the insurance company because they can get more money out of the vehicle remains if the title is not marked to disclose that the vehicle is just junk salvage. No one knows for sure how many vehicles are involved every year in this ripoff scam but it can number in the tens of thousands. Doing that allows thousands of totaled cars and totaled trucks to be “rebuilt” and resold without future buyers getting the required notice that the vehicles were actually supposed to be just salvage and parts.
It happens more often than you would think.
In 1998 State Farm Insurance Company was caught selling their salvage vehicles with clean titles, got sued by the state of Indiana, and a court order was issued that ordered them not to do it again and also required them to buy back cars for the full amount of the consumer’s purchase price. That did not stop them though, because only a few years later State Farm admitted that they had continued to resell at least 30,000 more unmarked totaled out vehicles across the country.
HOW MUCH LESS IS YOUR VEHICLE WORTH AS A SALVAGE CAR OR A SALVAGE TRUCK?
Here’s an easy way to find out.
Take your vehicle to a new car dealer who sells your kind of vehicle new (take a Ford to a Ford dealer, a Chevy to a Chevy dealer, etc) and ask them what it is worth if you trade it in. Don’t say anything about it being a salvage vehicle. After they give you a number, then tell them that it has a salvage title and ask them what they will give you now. You’ll find out real fast!
Legitimate car dealers simply do not like salvage vehicles and will not pay much for one at all — assuming they are willing to buy it at all! Why? Because salvage vehicles can have all sorts of problems that have not been fixed and can cost more to fix right than the vehicle is worth. Worse yet, the car might look fixed but cannot really be fixed at all, leading to serious injury or death in an accident. No car dealer wants to be responsible for that.
Failing to brand these wrecked cars as salvage can violate motor vehicle title branding laws and title defect laws in many states.
If you are the victim of a salvage car ripoff, we can help you. Consumer protection laws can entitle consumer victims to recover your actual damages and, in some cases, punitive damages too. If you bought it from a car dealer, your state law may entitle you to recover three times your damages (e.g. Ohio). Plus these laws can be used to make the car dealer pay for your legal fees, too.
Do not be a victim of insurance company greed or car dealer fraud. We can help. Call us at 1-888-331-6422 or email us today for a Salvage Fraud Case Review.
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We strongly advise consumers to contact the Consumer Law attorneys at Burdge Law Office by phone (1.888.331.6422) or email info@burdgelaw.com with your specific questions and to get specific answers to your problems.