Salvaged Title on a '67 SS Clone
 

Hey guys, it's been a long time since I posted in here. I usually post in the V6 forum, but I'm looking to purchase a 1st gen and have some questions.

Last weekend I test drove a '67 SS Clone, wrapped on the body, put it up on a lift to check for rust, the whole nine yards. Thing seemed clean, drove real straight, and the price was real nice, so I dropped a deposit on it so I could work out a loan during the week. Well today, the sales guy calls me and tells me that I've got to sign one more additional paper because the car has a salvaged title. He claims it just has the salvaged title because the car was purchased about 3 owners back from a junkyard, and that's the only reason it ended up in the junkyard was due to the car having an etremely low value at the time. This guy has been really up front with me about everything else wrong with the car, i.e. paint blemishes, loose steering gearbox, but I'm a little aggrivated that he brought this to my attention at the last minute.

Here are some pictures of the car sent to me by the salesguy detailing even the flaws in the car:
http://www.vectorstar.net/~fconsoli/lcc_camaro/

I managed to talk the guy down to selling me the car for $12,900, but I just want to make sure that I'll be able to at least get my money back out of it if/when I do decide to sell this car in the future. Basically, my main question is how harmful is the salvage title and how common on old cars like this?

The first generation Camaros usuall hold their value depending how stock the car is and if it is a number matching car. You will just have to depend on what the person is looking for when or if you decide to sell it.

Great looking car! Since it is a salvage title car go over it with a fine tooth calm. The main concern (IMO) is to measure the fender heights to make sure the car is sitting even, (+ or - 1/2 inch) make sure the car drives well and straight.

Good luck and enjoy it if you get it!

Sean(Pig)

Seems like an awful lot of money for that car. Hard to see in the pics, but it looks like there have been a lot of repairs done under the car. (ie body repairs) You should be able to buy a real SS without a salvage title in that shape or better for that kind of money. If you buy it; buy it because it looks good and drives good and you enjoy rolling around in it. Don't get hung up on reselling it down the road. If you enjoy it it's worth every penny. :D Good luck.:D

Silver Pig: Thanks for the help. I test drove it last weekend, and it seemed to head down the road pretty straight. I had it up over 100mph and it didn't appear to want to sway anywhere. Granted, the steering box is considerably loose, so I could've just not noticed any swaying of the car. Maybe when I head up to pick it up this weekend, since I've already processed most of the loan papers before learning about the title, I'll bring a ruler with me. If nothing else, I might be able to shave some more money off the price due to the salvage title.

scooters97ss: I haven't been able to find a genuine SS under $20,000 anywhere around where I live, any nearby states, or in the collector car trader magazine. Plus, I'd hate to ruin a perfectly good original SS by dropping a 383 stroker into it. This is definitely the best money/quality combination car I've found, I'm just kinda bent out of shape about being told about the salvage title at the last minute. There is definitely a lot of body work, but it all appears to be done really well. The pictures don't do it much justice.

I know it's virtually impossible since the VIN on the car may not even be the original VIN, but do you think a carfax report would show anything on the car? If possible, could someone with a carfax account right now run a report on this VIN for me:

123377N207337

Thanks in advance for the help!

You can try but I don't think carfax has VIN numbers that date back that far.

nape: You're right. Carfax basically tells me to F-off when trying to submit that VIN to even their, "free," lookup. Damn.

I said it before; and I'll say it again...................


:D:D:D:D

You could post the tag number and vin on this site in the tag team section. They keep records of vin numbers and cars that have been salvaged that are in thier database. They don't have all cars, but might help.

http://www.camaros.net/cgi-bin/forum/Ultimate.cgi

I actually bought the car in question on Saturday, so if there are any problems past the salvaged title I'd rather not know about them now :) It drives straight and it's clean, that's all I need to know. I don't wanna ruin the idea of the car by finding out it caught on fire once or something.

Drive it and enjoy it. You know it's not a real SS or Z28 so have fun. If you can drive the car as your every day car and resell it for close to what you paid 2+ years from now, then you did good. The depreciation on a new car is probably $5-10K in just 2 years.

I totally agree, some people are too anal about their cars originallity. There is only one easy way to tell my car is not a true ss350 and one guy pointed it out to me. I just winked and said "shhhhhh". haha. Only thing I would be worried about on your car is if someone switched the tags from a crushed car to a stolen car. There are hidden vin numbers on the car if you are interested in matching them up, otherwise enjoy enjoy.

Heh, I wasn't really ever worried about the originaliy of the car. The 350 and the 10-bolt rear end were pretty much giveaways that the car wasn't a real SS. I was only worried about losing money on the deal due to the title. According to the appraisal papers I have, the car is worth $16,500, so I guess I made out pretty good.

As always, you guys were helpful. This board rocks!

Oh, and if anybody is interested in a laugh, you'll want to check out this:
http://www.honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=357271&page=1

Hey, thanks for the link to that basement motor problem, I was laughing my azz off at those dudes. Also it is a nice look Car you got there, hope you have as much fun as I do with mine.

That was so funny. Anyway, enjoy your car.:)

Has your bank gottne thei copy of the title yet? Before you get your heart set on the car, you need to realize many banks either will not loan on a salvage title or they will greatly reduce the loan value...