I just listed my '86 951 for sale and have received a few bites. (Trying to free up some cash for a new business). Before I purchased the car, I had a thorough PPI and it passed with flying colors. My mechanic has since confirmed the great shape of the car. However, I did not run a Carfax - didn't see the need.

Well, the new prospective buyer did, and so did I. Here's what came up:

1988 - First lien reported in Montana. Title #K871734
1991 - Passed emissions. California
1993 - New title. Pennsylvania. Title #46131652.
1994 - Pennsylvania. First lien reported. Title #46131652
Dec, 1995 - Salvage auction
Jan, 1996 - Titled in Washington, #913614070896025
Apr, 1996 - Title change, #9610228026
1997 - Passed emissions
2000 - Passed emissions
2002 - Passed emissions
2002 - Registration issued

My big issue (as well as the prospective buyer's) is the "salvage auction." The weird thing is that the Carfax a "Clean Title History" with no salvage/junk titles, no rebuilt/reconstructed titles, no flood damage titles, no damage disclosure, no lemon buyback, no accident record, no failed emissions records, no fire damage, no crash test vehicle records, no grey market records, no lease registration, no rental registration, no government registration, no taxi registration, no fleet registration, no commercial registration, and no non-profit registration.

The only issue is the auction record. I printed out a glossary of terms and Carfax indicates this as "Vehicles classified as 'totaled' by insurance companies are often sold at auction to be reconstructed and put back on the road."

Given the fact that there are no accident or junk titles, all I can figure is that this was a repo based on the "lien" reports.

If any of you can shed some light on this, I would greatly appreciate it. A potential sale and quite a bit of money hangs in the balance.

Thank you
Jim

larkja@excite.com

 

If any of you want to run a Carfax, the VIN is WP0AA0951GN153760.

Thank you
Jim

 

This just means it was sold at a Salvage auction. This does not mean it was ever wrecked or ever had a salvage title. I bought a bunch of cars from salvage auctions that had clean title histories and were never wrecked. If this car ever had a Salvage title, you can bet it would show up on CarFax. Also, this is a sub $10,000 dollar car we are talking about here, not a $50,000-$100,000 car. I swear, if the buyer is getting **** about this, tell him to find another one or go find a Toyota or Nissan that he is probably more able to maintain and repair, financially.

 

Funny how the first lien was report in '94 and then it showed up in a salvage auction in '95. Probably a bank repo issue.

 

Thanks for the responses. A repo was my thought too. It's just a little concerning having this pop up on a report.

Jim

 

I buy cars with salvage titles all the time, and with these cars it doesn't take much to deem it a salvage.
The first ever ever experience was with a 944S car with a broken timing belt that bent some valves.
The appraiser listed a complete cylinder head amongst other parts, citing dealer list prices for repair (over $2500 for a bare head), which put the car in salvageable condition.
I'm pretty connected with some dealers as well, and for another instance, a Saturn dealer took in an otherwise "very clean" '87 951, that had what they called a "blown turbo" on trade for a new Saturn. They let the car go to an auction company for $3000 with a "mechanical damage exceeds value" salvage title.....

Go figure.....

Jim, your experience with this '86 and surprise to find later that the car had recently had been issued a salvage title hammers home the point I always make.
Don't be afraid of a car you are considering simply because it's been labled as "salvaged", there are some great cars out there to be had, for cheap....!

Cheers