Repairable Salvage Cars and Project Cars

Salvage vehicles can be purchased and repaired or rebuilt for little money — great for low-cost project cars – here's how

Salvage and damaged vehicles are often easily and cheaply repaired for great daily-drivers and project cars. Learn how and where to find salvage cars.




Some salvage vehicles can be in relatively good condition or only lightly damaged. Others are junk. Some may only have water damage, others might be recovered theft vehicles with minor damages (removed equipment that can be easily replaced), and others might only have been part of a mass declaration of loss. For example, a dealer's new cars were all damaged in a hail storm and all declared total losses, regardless of actual damage.

Not all wrecked and damaged cars are salvages. Some are simply cars with repairable damages that the previous owner decided not to fix before selling.
Where to find repairable salvaged and damaged vehicles

Most unrepaired cars are found at salvage auctions or at salvage sales companies. Some states do not allow individuals to purchase salvage cars directly. However, in those states, you can purchase already-repaired cars for bargain prices.

Salvage vehicles can be found all over the country and Canada. Some are local companies such as Alpine Auto Gallery (www.alpinerebuildablecars.com) in Paterson, NJ who specialize in salvage rebuildable vehicles and have a web site on which you can view listings, vehicle descriptions, photos, and prices.

Others are large national (U.S. and Canada) companies with multiple locations around the country. One such company is Insurance Auto Auction (IAA) who specializes in auctions of repairable cars as well as theft-recovered vehicles, and parts cars. Their web site (www.iaai.com) show all branch locations, auctions schedules, registration requirements, and procedures. You can even search for specific vehicles by make, model, and year. Motorcycles too.




Manheim is also a large national auction company which holds auctions almost every day somewhere in the country. Each auction specializes in a certain type of sale, such as repossessed (repo) vehicles. Not all are salvage auctions and not all are open to the public. Check their web site for locations and auctions near you.

Salvage auctions can also be found in your area by looking in the telephone Yellow Pages or searching online.
What to expect

If you plan to participate in automobile salvage auctions, you should become familiar with the rules and procedures of each auction company. No two companies have exactly the same rules. Plan to attend at least a couple of actual auctions before you get serious about bidding. Some mechanical knowledge would also be helpful because you may be having to judge the value and repair costs for vehicles by simply inspecting them. If you don't have the necessary knowledge, take someone with you who does.
Know the law

State laws regarding salvage and repairable vehicles vary considerably from state to state. Some states have very strict laws about the definition of salvage and repairable, and have rigid regulations for getting a repaired car approved and titled. Other states laws and procedures are much more relaxed. You should become familiar with the laws in your state. Most states have government web sites which include salvage vehicle regulations. For example, if we Google "Nevada salvage vehicles" we get this Nevada state page.

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