A lot has been said [or better still, not said] about accidented vehicles. There are lots of assumptions, truth and myth surrounding it and that is why i decided to do this posting in particular to our recently completed project in California.

I was approached by a friend here in California to source a salvaged 2006/up Honda Accord because he was low on Budget and we tried to get the best for our money and hence the project was commenced.

Let me begin in general by addressing some [size=14pt]FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (F.A.Q)[/size]


WHAT IS A SALVAGED VEHICLE?  In the U.S, any vehicle that has sustained any type of "loss" can be salvaged for various reasons. In insurance terms, a "loss" is defined as any type of occurrence that has affected the value of the car. This occurrence can either be accident, vandalism, Theft, other types of damages like fire, mechanical, water etc can render a vehicle salvaged.

HOW IS A VEHICLE DETERMINED TO BE SALVAGED?Most insurance companies usually have a % system assigned to the damage. In general cases, when a vehicle has sustained about 50% damage of its value, it will probably be salvaged. The insurance company will take into consideration the cost of repairs plus other costs like car rental for the owner while vehicle is in repair shop and just decide to salvage the car.

In the US, the insurance company ARE REQUIRED by law to fix any damaged vehicle with BRAND NEW parts. So for example, a 2002 Camry with a front end damage. After buying the lights, grill, radiator, sensors etc, it might not be worth it for the insurance company. However, a private individual can fix with used parts and save money.

WHAT IS THE PROCESS OF SALVAGING A CAR? After a loss, and the insurance company has decided to salvage a car, the insurance company will pay off the owner of the car the market value of the car in question. At that point, the vehicle then belongs to the insurance company. It will then be taken to the salvage auction where it will be sold.


ARE SALVAGED VEHICLES SAFE? YES AND NO.  Depending on the type of damage or where it was damaged AND MORE PARTICULARLY the type of repairs that was done on the car, any salvaged vehicle can be safe. If for example, the air bag was not replaced or replaced with fake ones (which is very common in Nigeria) it will make the car unsafe. But if everything was done properly, there is nothing to worry about.

And a vehicle can have a salvage history from being stolen (Theft Recovery). Thousands of vehicles are stolen every year. Some are recovered with zero to very minor damage. Some are recovered with lots of critical parts stolen while some are never recovered at all.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ACCIDENT HISTORY AND SALVAGE HISTORY: An accident history signifies that the car has sustained some type of accident that is not major enough to salvage the car. Usually the car is fixed and returned back to the owner. However, salvage will require that the insurance company "buy back" and re-take ownership from the current owner to the insurance company.

HOW MUCH SAVINGS CAN I GET BUYING SALVAGED? There is a myth or rumor that any accidented vehicle will be sold for cheap price. That is not necessarily so. Salvage vehicles' prices are determined by the type of damage the vehicle has sustained. A theft recovered vehicle with nothing missing or a car with minor accident will sell for more than one with heavy damage. And depending on who performed the repairs, you might (or might not) save any money. You have to be very careful when you buy accidented vehicles. Make sure there is no extensive damage that will end up costing you more than necessary. You might have been better off buying one on the street in the first place.

Remember that even when a vehicle is beyond repair, its still worth a lot of money to the spare part dealer. As a matter of fact, most cars are worth more sold in parts than sold whole. So you have to compete with them at the auction when you go.

[size=16pt]In general a good salvage buy should save you between 20%-30% compared to clean title vehicle.[/size]


HOW DO I KNOW IF A VEHICLE IS SALVAGED? When buying any vehicle, the first thing you want to do is do a CARFAX check. While most vehicles with accident history will reflect on its report,its still not a perfect system. Sometimes an accident MIGHT not show up on the CARFAX. The accident history is triggered when police report on accident scene. The police report is then filed with the department of motor vehicle who in turn record it and end up with the car history.

But if its an accident that the police are not involved, it might not be on the CARFAX. As a matter of fact, i have been in few accidents that didn't generate police report and hence no blemish on the CARFAX 

OTHER THINGS TO LOOK FOR IN BUYING ANY CAR THAT ARE POTENTIALLY SALVAGED: A good inspection is the ultimate solution when buying any potential vehicle. Check that all warning indicators like airbag, check engine etc comes on when buying a vehicle.
Check that the headlight/tailights are weathered the same. In other words, one light is not newer than the other. Check the paint matching. Make sure all the paint matches one another.

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So how much do u reckon this wud go for?

This is the floor that was severely damage and wrinkled. It was repaired using a state of the art frame machine. The the end results speak for itself.

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@kunle how much wld 1 like this cost, as in the whole wrks, buying,repairs,shipping and clearing and how long wld in take, Just wanna knw do u have any 04 Honda on ground at the moment,1 needed urgently.