Hi, I am new to the RX-8 rotary engine and I am very interested in acquiring one. However, I was wondering whether I should buy Salvage Title and save some money, or a Clean Title? I am going to tune everything up and get body kits and everything, so would it be better if I get clean title or salvage title?

 

Clean.

Unless you're in the auto business (mechanic, body man, whatever) and really know what you're doing. In which case you wouldn't need to ask.

If you're going to put money into a car, then it makes more sense to put the money into something that does not have the Mark of Cain.

Ken

 

I did. Very low mileage 2005 at a steep discount. I'm quite happy so far.

Some things to consider:
- You won't be covered by any warranty. OTOH many of the used ones I looked at didn't have maintenance records, so no warranty there either.
- If you total it, the insurance company will probably try to stiff you. Getting coverage was no problem though.
- It will be very hard to resell if you need to.

Obviously, you need to make sure you know exactly what happened to the car, and what condition it is in. This is tougher than it sounds, not many shops know anything about RX-8's. You probably want to good body shop to check out the frame, if it was in a collision.

I think if you are looking for a 2006+, an 8 with sub-100k miles and good records is the best bet. I was looking at lots of high-ish mileage 2004-5s with dubious maintenance.

I should note, I'm not a mechanic, but I have spent about a thousand hours in my life working on cars. I'm not sure I would advise any of my friends to do what I did.

 

I agree whit Ken if you are familiar with salvage cars is OK .Couse you can get it & see why is salvage & fix it the way you want it . get a 2006 or newer & low milage to be in the safe side . One thing you have to remember salvage lose engine warranty to 100k. but if you are thinking to mode some mechanical areas you may lose warranty in clean title too. is up to how much you want to spend. but you have to know what you are doing. when I got mine I had $ 17,000 for my car 2 years ago .
I knew about 04 & 05 cases with problems engine & flodding. at that time only find 04 05 over 60k for that many & most shift for my needs i was loloking auto. & have acces to salvage cars couse bof family busines . check around for about 4 months & have the oportunity to got 06 rx8 26k gps auto base model my final price afetr fix & put strakes fog lights,spoiler ,new tires & tio sam & plates $11,000 & had extra got me a mx5 2001 38k after fix spoiler & roll bar for about $7,000. at that time rx8 p.p. kbb was 18,000 & mx5 10,000.
dealers about 20 & 12.

 

NO Salvage

 

i would buy a crashed salvage title over a flood salvage any day of the week. i'm rebuilding a flood RX-7 as we speak. ever had to drill the heads off of dash bolts to remove a panel? me neither until yesterday..

 

Only if it's cheap and you can't afford a better ride. I mean REAL CHEAP. It needs to be 25-50% or more below book value.

 

+1...i concur. Bought it salvage my self and repaired all by my self (exept paint).


If you dont know what you are looking at you should have someone inspect it.
It it was rebuild well and you are planing to have it for some time - it is a good deal. It is easy to sell when it will be older with more miles (since it will be in price range where kids can aford it )

 

Dont do it

 

How did you manage to registar your title and g
et a license plate
with a salavage Title?

 

Do not do it.

Do not be a cheapskate

I did it...3 times ...and will NEVER do it again.
Hey I am a slow learner.

Somehow, one can never get everything right.
>colin, in Texas it is done everyday but the title is a different
color.

The title is stamped "salvage" to forever indicate the vehicle has been seriously damaged; those that have been repaired to streetworthiness are branded "rebuilt salvage.

Blue - "original" title - the one you receive when you first purchase a vehicle, or make a significant change to the owner record such as adding/deleting a lienholder, or adding/removing a second owner.

Brown - certified duplicate - issued if/when the blue title is lost; has the same legal value as the blue original.

Purple - (it's actually kind of dark-pinkish) - salvage title, vehicle has not yet been declared "rebuilt." Voids the registration; vehicle can not legally be driven even with a temporary permit. You're stuck with towing or trailering it. And beware of a salvage title, from any state, that has an "export only" stamp on it. Even if you can successfully repair it, it will take a court order to allow it to be re-registered in Texas.

Orange - non-repairable title. Voids the registration. A salvage vehicle that may only be junked for scrap metal or used for parts.

Blue or brown titles may have a "rebuilt salvage" brand if the vehicle has successfully passed inspection after being repaired.

A "clear" title is one with no liens recorded. It can be any color. Folks sometimes use "clean" to indicate a title with no salvage or non-repairable brands. "Clean" can also refer to a vehicle being sold by the person(s) actually named on the title record.

 

Me too...i'll say no to a salvage title. If i own a auto body shop, then that's a different story...

 

Exactly.

Every Salvage Title is different, so there's no way to answer the general question. But if you have to ask, then you obviously have no idea what you may be getting yourself into.

 

Do salvage titles specify if car was flood damaged? My concern would be if a car had been in a flood, I wonder if mold would be a problem. I would think the carpet and the seats would have to be replaced. Maybe the dash too?

 

My truck got about 4 coffee cups of water from Hurricane Ivan. I made an insurance claim because I damaged & barrings my breaks driving people from the flooded areas.
With out looking at the truck State Farm Totaled it. I was not happy because they took 3 weeks to look at it due to the volume of claims. I already had spend $2500 on repairs. I tried buying it back at the auction buy missed my bid due to internet dropped on iPhone.
I did buy a RX8 that i knew only got the carpet wet. However I cannot title the car.
I have bought 3 total and eventually will end up with 2 complete cars.

The crazy thing is you can part out a flooded vehicle but can't use them on the original car and put it back on the street.

 

Typically you will not know why the vehicle was salvaged. it could be as simple as hail damage or as bad as a flood. Mold would be the least of my worries in flooded vehicle. Typically you will be chasing electrical gremlins forever. We got lucky on my uncles car. His was flooded after driving through a flooded street. After it was towed back to his house I noticed the the primary power fuse had been tripped. I told him to pull the battery leave it in the garage with hood, windows, and truck wide open, even open the garage door when possible. Left the car like this for about two months. Replaced all fuses, replaced the battery changed oil, gave it a few cranks with the plugs out. Did a few other small things as well and she fired right up, and has been running fine since. You don't always get this lucky though. if you don't know why it was salvaged, I would stay away from it. If it was flooded with sea water throw it in the trash.

 

you would need to know what exactly happened to the car and how bad the damage was.

in my case my GT is a rebuilt title(salvaged) as it rearended another car. the only structural damage i found was the front support braces were all replaced(hood latch crossmember and bumper support) as well as a few missing undertrays in the front and a new front bumper. but hey.. it came with a mazdaspeed bumper and HID upgrade to fix the damages.

the paint work had much to be desired but it didn't take much to redo the half assed front bumper.

the air bags did not deploy so it wasn't all that bad obviously. if the airbags do deploy from a front or rear collision you can bet the damage will be rather extensive. the frame is the most important piece of the car and is unreplaceable and in most cases unrepairable. if the frame is damaged pass on it, most everything else can be repaired with the exception of extensive unibody crumpling.

look over repair reciepts and/or have an experienced body person look the car over. there's nothing wrong with salvaged cars except payout for future accidents will be more difficult to fight for.

 

they do not specify, as to the insurance and Mazda it doesn't matter. if the car is written off its written off.

you could infer by the date and location what it was, IE if it was totaled a couple weeks after a hurricane.

its better to look at the car though.

if the radio was stolen, IMO its much better than if the car was cut in half, and rebuilt with some other one.

if Mazda finds out its a salvage that voids ALL warranties, even on parts, and they take you off the list for recalls too.

so to sum up, since there are plenty of cheap clean title Rx8's running around to make a salvage basically not worth doing.

it would have to be some exceptional thing, like if my friend spilled his coffee and it got totaled and we could buy it back for $300 or something.

 

Agree - there are many cheap RX-8's that you would be better off getting one of those. Suppose you buy one, fix it up and then the engine goes? Then you are out a lot of $$$.

 

I think I might have to part my RX out. Runs great but can't title it in Louisiana. Due to flood damage. Had a few offers to sent it to other states and get a salvage /rebuilt title but everyone backs out.. Any new advise will be appreciated.

Funny I have a dodge truck that went under, about 1' inside cab. But I only had Liability Insurance. Drained fluids, dried carpet and changed battery. Been driving it over a year. The RX never got water inside and all computer diagnostics come up clear.