His & Hers - Identical except the vin. Both from auto auction.

Nice. Tell us more about the history. Why are they salvage?

 

nice shot! .... we have a similar shot from maybe 5 years ago. Pulled into our community clubhouse - turned around to remotely lock, only to notice this bizarre coincidence;




Never discovered who the other car belonged to to.
.

 

Is the rest of that thing as ugly as the front end???

 

Everything about it was ugly. Carpet wear, thin paint, battery capacity degradation, antiquated 2G connectivity, handling, cheap quality upholstery, seat comfort - just about everything actually, except efficiency. Ergo, after 8yr of ugly suffering - we unloaded it & never looked back.
.

 

Congrats on the great deals! Nothing wrong with salvage as long as it's repaired properly.....in my case I bought it already repaired. I've driven salvage/rebuilt titles for years. You can get fantastic deals that way!. I bought my 2015 18 months ago with 24k miles for $9000. I've driven it now 20k miles and done nothing but change oil and filters, and air and cabin filter. I plan to drain the CVT fluid at 50k (another 6k miles from now)...just because. I expect this car to run to at least 200k miles and I plan to drive it till then or till I can't get in and out of it any more!

 

Congratulations and I hope the vehicles are fine.

But I think any auction/salvage vehicle is a risk.

Unless I was a significant DIY'er or had the resources to deal with whatever might be discovered, I think I would steer far clear from salvaged vehicles at auctions.

I'm not saying "good" vehicles or deals can't be obtained. But auctions are all usually "Buyer Beware", and I've read my share of vehicle auction purchases that go bad.

For the OP...I hope the deals were good.
The vehicles certainly look good.

 

I agree it's a risk. That's why you shouldn't pay anywhere near book value for one. Generally, a repaired salvage/rebuilt vehicle goes for 50-70% of book value. And you need to understand cars or have someone who does take a look at it. They are generally for buying and driving, not for reselling...although twice I have bought them and driven them for 2 years and sold them for what I paid. Also, many people don't realize that once a title is salvaged, any eligible warranty is no longer valid, but recalls are still performed.

 

Plus insurance won’t cover a salvage title car, or only offer liability coverage.

 

Freedom I suppose.
If someone is going into buying a salvage title at an auction and knows all the risks with their eyes open?

But I have read a lot of posts over the years where it doesn't go so well.
I'm probably too paranoid to buy a salvaged title as my concern would always be safety. Overall structural integrity. Usually all these vehicles have by definition been in a impact accident. And if they end up at an auction? IMO it's akin to a horse doing laps around the glue factory, it's as close to NOT sellable as sellable can be.

Also, I'm not an expert, so I could be wrong, but it seems to me the whole auto auction industry, at the salvage level, doesn't have a lot of regulation oversight.
I've read posts where it seems these auctions will say anything about these vehicles...driveable...etc, etc, the buyer will purchase, then get it home and discover that the vehicle has a lot more issues than was represented.

But?
If you can afford repair and/or do repair yourself. OR....are good enough to really evaluate the condition, it IS the cheapest way to get into the seat of a newer used vehicle. That's the lure.
I can understand the attraction and temptation.

 

Nice! Are both cost under 10k includes delivery and repair needed to fix them? If so, what a bargain!

 

I walked into a body shop years ago and they were working on a car that was cut in half making one car out of two. This is the most extreme example I have ever seen.

 

VERY WRONG! I have full coverage! And have had full coverage on all the rebuilt titled vehicles I've owned in the past.

 

Quite often a car gets totaled by an insurance company when the damage isn't all that expensive to repair...They have to price it for what a body shop will charge knowing insurance is paying, adding in how much they will pay for your rental while it's being repaired. They only see dollars, not safety issues.
So if 2 identical cars might have similar damage but the repair on one is just below the cutoff line for total loss, and the other is just above it, one gets repaired and the owner keeps it. the other is deemed salvage for pretty much the same damage. Joe mechanic who can repair it at home, or there are shops that repair and sell salvage vehicles as a business, can repair them for a lot less than the insurance company would pay. Not much if any difference in the 2 cars, but everyone is afraid of the salvage one. That's why I say you need to be able to determine or have someone with knowledge determine if the repairs were done properly. I've never bought one unrepaired, only after they were ready for the road. Honestly, I've never seen a difference and have never had trouble with the ones I've owned. But yes, there are bad ones out there that were cheaply repaired that can give you trouble. I've seen one with a rewelded rear axle that had the rear wheel leaning out at the top, others with body putty cracking, missing parts under the hood, etc.
It also helps a lot to see pictures of the vehicle before it was repaired.

 

Buyer Beware!

The guy is good.