NA Miatas and Salvage Titles

"Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney" (braddelaparker) 02/11/2016 at 10:16 • Filed to: None

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Have my eye on an NA that appears to be pretty fairly presented, but it does have a salvage title, which leads me to two questions:

1. Does anyone have a feel for the impact of salvage titles on the NA Miata market? The price is below what I would expect for a clean titled car of the age and mileage of the car I’m looking it, but it’s not 50% or anything of the sort.

2. Here is his explanation of the damage, and not being well versed in the cars I’d like to see if his response checks out:

The car was in an accident two owners ago, in which the driver plowed under an SUV. The previous owner bought it to fix and sell it. Since he never registered it himself, the title did not say salvage on it, and though I knew it had been in an accident, I was unaware that it had been totaled. When I registered the car myself, I had to get it inspected and re-titled as a salvaged vehicle.

The hood, right headlight cover, and right fender were replaced, which you can tell by a slight paint mismatch on those parts. The damage didn’t extend down into the chassis; there’s no sign of damage on the sheet metal underneath the fender.

The airbag light is on. This means the computer needs replacement. The dude I bought it from claimed that the airbags didn’t deploy in the accident. The busted computer would account for that. (He said a lot of stuff that wasn’t true, so I’d take his word with a grain of salt.) Either way, if you’re a fan of airbags you’d need to replace the computer at minimum to have them functional. My strategy has been to wear my seat belt and not crash.

Car is an hour and a half from me, so I’m trying to run down a checklist before I take the drive to go check it out.

BeaterGT > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney 02/11/2016 at 10:19

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Is it even worth buying with the airbag problem? I’ve always heard that it’s a pain. And if you’re still willing, it’s definitely a bargaining tool.

FazeRacer > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney 02/11/2016 at 10:26

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Cars with salvage titles are worthless. Well, maybe not worthless, they are definitely worth their weight in scrap.

Aaron M - MasoFiST > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney 02/11/2016 at 10:28

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If it’s a play car I wouldn’t necessarily run away, but taking the claim of accident damage at face value is a mistake. Get a PPI before any money changes hands, and get it on an alignment rack as part of that. It’s not that hard to tell if there was frame damage (at least to a mechanic), and even a bit of bending can send the suspension completely and essentially permanently out of whack. You won’t necessarily notice during a test drive as there are tricks to force the car to hold an alignment after frame damage (most obvious one is the use of big camber bolts).

In terms of your test drive, check for hood flutter at highway speeds; panel alignment from accident damage can cause hood fit problems. Also hand test every light fixture around the areas that were replaced...the work needed if fitment is poor isn’t necessarily extreme, but it’s a good bargaining chip.

SteveLehto > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney 02/11/2016 at 10:43

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One problem with the “Salvage Title With Explanation” is that the SALVAGE TITLE part of it is carved in stone (or in paper, at least). The EXPLANATION is only as useful as you let it be. You’re happy with it? Hope it’s the truth. But when you go to sell the car, good luck getting someone else to be comfortable with it.

Also check to see if your insurer will insure such a vehicle, and if so, at what rate. That can be a surprise sometimes as well.

jariten1781 > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney 02/11/2016 at 10:52

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Rule of thumb with salvage cars: Trust nothing they say, get it inspected. Assume no residual value...do not expect any resale (if you are able to resell it; happy bonus, but don’t bank on it and don’t be annoyed if getting rid of it is a hassle or impossible other than scrapping).

If it inspects to your satisfaction and your budget can support the purchase/rehab with no expectation of return it's worth looking into if the price reflects both of those things. Otherwise stay away.

daender > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney 02/11/2016 at 11:21

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Sounds like a good autocross/trackday Miata. Up to you if you want to keep the airbags or not. If you decide not to, then find a way to shut the light off, mount up your favorite aftermarket steering wheel, install a roll bar with a harness bar, and buy yourself a safe set of belts and seats.

Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney > daender 02/11/2016 at 11:28

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That’s kind of my thought. The only reason I’m terribly concerned is resale value down the road; otherwise, I have access to a lift in the area where the car is and will give it a solid going-over if I go look at it.

And after checking out the process (dash pull) for the late-NA cars on replacing the airbag module, it wouldn’t be getting fixed, especially with my intent for the car.

daender > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney 02/11/2016 at 11:34

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I’ll be honest, this kind of car has two outcomes.

You drive the motherf**ker hard into the ground as a track day/fun car after putting in track-ready safety equipment.

You sell it to another SpecMiata/autocross/trackday enthusiast who then proceeds to drive the motherf**ker hard into the ground.

If you’re concerned about reselling the car, then don’t go for a salvage title Miata. If you give zero f**ks, then buy it and race it until the thing comes apart Blues Brothers style.

Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney > daender 02/11/2016 at 11:52

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Yeah, that’s the conclusion I’m eking towards as I look at it. I started out looking for something that would do double duty, but a car of this ilk probably needs to have a more singular focus.