Have gotten an offer to trade my old truck for a 03 lightning with a salvage title. Truck has 2500 miles on it. Supposedly it was rolled on its side. Guy bought it from insurance auction. He owns a body shop and has been picking away at fixing over past couple of years between paying jobs. Said he's 95% done. Needs a new wheel and a new cover that is cracked over top of radiator. He said he didn't send in for rebuilt title yet. Interior is mint. Parts were replaced with Ford parts. No damage to cab. I guess my concerns are if I want to sell down the road, I'm thinking everyone will turn their noses up to a rebuilt titled truck. What does that do to value? Would love opinions.
Thanks
James

 

That is a good question. I sold used cars for a couple years. I know we sure gave alot less money for them as a trade. You should get a heck of a price for it. But most likely not worth as much as a trade.
In you're shoes, I think I'd talk to my own bank/lender about that. When I was selling cars. We took a Toyota van in on trade. With a salvage/rebuilt title. Was damaged in a "sandstorm" and had been fixed. You couldn't tell anythinig was wrong with it. It showed on a carfax. Gave near nothing for it, and sent it to an auction.
Bob

 

In PA its They r cheaper but not much . In a 20 mile radius there r 8 shops doing nothing but rebuilds .They cut cars in half and put em back weekly. And they sell.

I look at it this way . I get ride I want. I'll keep it forever if not I paid less so if I get less out of it so what. Inspect it with a fine tooth comb . Ask for before pics.

 

If you can get it for half of book value (I'm guessing half would be well under $10k) it might be OK. The older it gets the less important the salvage title will be.

I find it VERY hard to believe that it was rolled on its side and did enough damage to total it without hurting the cab. You're talking about a truck that was 2 or 3 years old when it was wrecked. It would have had to have about $20k in damage to total it and that's not an easy number to get to without major destruction.

 

I agree wholeheartedly. Sometimes I just hate talking to someone explaining there vehicle. He does have before pics which will tell me alot. I'm skeptical at best. Anyways. I wasn't going to buy it. Honestly if I was buying I absolutely would buy one in tip-top shape. This guy wants to trade me for my old truck which I guess you would have to look in my gallery at what he would be getting...
Thanks
James

 

looks like you have alot of money and time invested in your project truck. if i were in your shoes i'd take a look at his truck and then weigh whether or not it's worth it to you. if he put the lightning back together right, it should be a like-new truck. if his truck is worth to you what you have invested in your truck (both time and money-wise, possibly emotional-wise too from the looks of it ) and a lightning is what you've wanted all along then i'd go for it. If the deal makes both you and him happy and satisfied then it's a good trade.

 

I worked at a salvage yard where we brought in and sold "totaled" automobiles for insurance companies. There are many different factors that determine if a car/truck gets totaled. I have seen newer cars hit very light totaled while older cars have been fixed. It all depends on the insurance company and the individual adjuster.

I have owned 5 R-title autos over the years. Most of my experiences were positive. Most of them were lower end (under $2000) so I didn't care about resale value.

One of the trucks I fixed cost me almost as much to fix as a similar used truck would have cost and I did 90% of the work myself. On the other hand, I fixed a Mercury Cougar for less than $100 and had a great car that I used for 3 years.

If your looking to save money and get a nice truck to drive, maybe R-title is the way to go. If your looking to buy a "collectors item", R-title is not the way to go.

 

i've come across vehicles at auctions that were totalled by insurance companies for theft recovery and they might have a couple body panels missing and some interior missing, but nothing major. Sometimes salvage title designation baffles me.

 

There is no way in hell I would trade the truck in your gallery for a wrecked 03 Lightning. You'd have to be nuts. It doesn't matter how good the work is, it will never be just like new. It might be close, but it won't get there.

Insurance law varies from state to state. Here they can't total it unless the damage exceeds X% of the vehicle's value; I think it's 80% but I'm not sure. That's what I based the $20k figure on earlier. It's very true that some vehicles get totaled for very little damage. Sometimes the insurance company just doesn't want to continue providing insurance on a car when they can make more selling you full coverage on your new one.

 

I had a friend mention that a guy he knew had a lightning with 2500 miles on it that he might want to trade me, I knew something was up. Friend didn't have many answers then the guy called me, the 1st thing I asked was did it have a salvage title, he said yes. I was so disgusted. I let him come look at the truck anyways. He has a 521 with a blower that he's been lookn for a truck to put in. Guess mine fit the bill. Anyways my thinking was that if I traded for a clean lightning that if I ever got in a pinch someday and had to sell, could make out alot better with a gen 2 lightning then I could trying to sell something that I had 3 years and $30,000 into that is almost impossible to put a realistic price on. Thanks for opinions. And no I'm not that nuts----guessing that was a compliment
James

 

"Sometimes salvage title designation baffles me."

Me too. I'd never pay retail for a salvage truck, but I'd happily build one for myself!

If I observed every step of a salvage rebuild, I'd be willing to buy one, but there are MANY corners that unscrupulous or incompetent builders often cut. An offer to SWAP one sends warning flags. Businessmen don't swap without money in mind...

 

There is some truth in that statement, but if you're like me the s**t would be so deep at that point that selling one or the other probably wouldn't solve the problem anyway. And who knows what kind of problems you'll have selling the L; it might be just as bad as selling your truck and the street value of the two is probably about equal right now.

You'd be surprised what you can get out of an old truck. My uncle had a 73 or 74 F-100 that he hadworked on for years. At the time he sold truck accesories and the truck had everyone of them on it. To be honest, it looked like a Mexican drove it, but it was a slick truck. It had 16" aluminum wheels on it when 15's were what every 1/2 ton had on it, two tone green, built 390, etc. There was a little old lady that bugged him for years and years to sell her that truck and he always said no. One day he got sick of it and told her $10k in front of several witnesses and she said OK. That was over 10 years ago. You never know what someone will give you for it.

 

I wouldnt do it. You dont really know the stint of the damage to the truck. I like what you did to your truck project and for you to trade it in for a salvage one: bad idea IMO. Have you thought of buying it instead of trading for it b/c it sounds like you really have this truck.

 

mclaughlin31, i totally hear you on wanting to trade your project that you've spent countless numbers of hours on and uber amount of money! Project vehicles almost always cost more to build than someone else is willing to buy it for! It's hard to find a buyer for a project that will buy it outright for anywhere close to what you paid for in cash and busted knuckles! Trading for a vehicle with some fiscal value makes all the sense in the world, I would just be careful of trading your arm and leg for a truck that could turn out to be a lemon. If you're serious about the truck, I would take it to a body shop that you trust and have them look it over, but don't tell them it's a rebuild until they're done, see if they can tell.

 

I just looked at the gallery pics, and I'd keep the truck you have. It's a NICE, UNIQUE ride, and will be tough and maintainable as long as you care to keep it. Pay a good friend to donkey punch you every time you think of selling it! Pretty obvious why the Lightning owner wants it.

Wanna Lightning? Grab a generic 150 with a dean engine and toss lookalike cosmetics on it. You already proved you can build a nice ride.