All About Salvage Cars

Some states would brand a car as “salvage” when:

.. the vehicle was destroyed or received damage of 75% or more of the retail value of the vehicle at the time the damage occurred….

The rules for branding vehicles as salvage will differ from state to state, but this basic definition applies in most cases. Some states will declare salvage as low as 60% and others as high as 85%. Now that we know what a salvage car is, let’s talk about how a car comes to be branded this way. The most obvious reason for cars to be branded salvage are through collisions. Multi-car collisions are one of the most common causes of salvage branding. Cars can become salvage for a variety of other reasons, including:

• Fresh and salt-water floods
• Storm damage (hurricanes, hail, etc.)
• Vandalism
• Recovered thefts

In almost all of these cases, insurance companies pay off the original vehicle owners and take possession of the cars. Keep in mind that insurance companies are in the business of selling policies – not salvage cars. They are interested in recouping as much of the settlement as they can as quickly as possible. This is what leads to the fantastic prices you will find for vehicles in this category. That's where the insurance auctions come in to the picture.