Need info on salvage value of a total loss car?

Hey everybody,

My wife rear ended someone in her miata, nobody hurt, etc. but even though it's a pretty light hit, it might get totaled out based on the body shop estimate.

I am considering buying the car back and doing something with it - ITA miata, maybe 2010 challenge, not sure just what.

According to the shop it needs: hood, front bumper, both headlights, core support, rad and condenser. No unibody work, airbags didn't pop. Doors open fine, car started and drove out of the intersection to a parking lot with no obvious issues - other than the busted rad.

It is a '99 5spd with leather, Bose, Ltd slip, just turned 100k miles, in nice shape overall.

Anybody know what something like this will bring at a salvage auction? I called one place who said $300-500, but that sounds really low.

Insurance company collects 3 bids, and I can buy it for the average or something like that. I should have their number in a day or two.

AND I already have dibs if it does get totaled so stop salivating!

$500-1000 based on my experience (I'm a both a car dealer and a licensed appraiser) but it depends how nice the car was before the crash.

You're right about how they calculate the salvage value - they have to call three salvage yards and get 'bids' from them. They then average these 'bids' and try to get just a little bit more from you if you want to buy the car back. Hint: you can negotiate.

M030 wrote: Hint: you can negotiate.

Indeed. When my ACR got totalled (back when they were worth something) they were low on the value of the car so I was able to negotiate up to a low but fair price plus the car. So if their payout on the total is on the low end use retaining the car as a negotiation point.

You are probably in a pretty good situation as the scrap value if based by weight will be pretty low on a Miata, factor in the fact that towing it to the wrecker is a PITA most companies will opt to just sell it to someone at the body shop, or in this case you, because logistically it is easier to just collect a check and leave it where it is.

When I bought back my wife's totaled Miata, the deal was that I could buy it for 20% of the settlement price. In this case, they deducted $700 from the $3,500 settlement.

Considering that it had a supercharger, new catback, hi flow cat, a roll bar, Racing Beat springs, KYB AGX's and more, it was a helluva deal.

flountown wrote: You are probably in a pretty good situation as the scrap value if based by weight will be pretty low on a Miata

That's unfortunately not how it's done.

The salvage yards we deal with generally figure out what parts they sell the most of and how much they can get for those parts, then make a bid that allows them to buy the car with room left to make money on the major components.

Had a Miata totalled a couple years ago. I believe that it was a '92. Water damage. Insurance company made a single phone call to see what the same year Miata was getting at auction, and offered it to me for $700 back (or, a settlement that was $700 lower in this case). I turned around and sold it for $1600 to someone, with the understanding that it likely had a salvage title, and why. Win, win, win in my case.

Did you cut the brake line on your wife's car so you could race it? I think you're on to something here.

Easy solution...call 3 salvage yards and ask them what they'd pay. "Pretend" you work for whatever insurance company you want. Then you'll have the same info as the guy you're dealing with and can negotiate with actual knowledge.

Many companies, like the one I work for, rely on salvage auctions to give us values, since we never sell cars any other way but through them. We get one quote and that's it. Usually, they aren't tremendously high unless it's a high end car.

I can't tell you about a Miata, but I can tell you my experience buying my 87 944 Turbo back. It was in great shape until the wreck and had 90k miles. The wreck got both rear quarters and one door. They got quotes from three salvage yards and the average was a little over 500. I offered them 350, they took it, I went to the wrecker yard and put air in one tire, then drove it home. Who says getting spun into a concrete divider by a semi is all bad?

I have a friend who wrecked her 99 Spec Miata race car pretty good last fall. She bought a whole rear clip and a door from Planet Miata for the car for around $600. If you decide to fix it, 99 is a good year to have. Try some of the places that specialize in Spec Miatas. They buy and sell these things like crazy because of race damage.

Thanks, guys. I knew I would get good input here.

I plan to call a couple of salvage yards today.

I assume for resale purposes that the value of the car with a salvage title would be 50% of book value? Or is it even less?

Oddly enough my car does not report a salvage title. It's pretty obvious because of our crappy bodywork though. The only reason I can think it doesn't show salvage is because it was over 10 years old. In TN if it is over 10 years old they don't have to report it. I only know this because I bought a 99 Ford 3/4 ton in 08 as an insurance total and did have to get a branded title on it. I told them about the 944 and asked the difference and they said the truck was under the 10 year mark. It varies by state it seems.

Well, I had made a new year's resolution to spend less time on the daily drivers, so obviously I went ahead and bought back the car. It's crazy how little damage there is overall. They were firm on the buy back price, but I did get them to move up a little on the payout value.

I have most parts on order from JY sources except for the bumper cover. Based on my experience, Spec Miata and other club racing is really sucking up the used parts supply for hoods and front bumpers on NB Miata's. Wound up buying an aftermarket steel hood 'cause nobody would ship one from a JY, and new factory aluminum ones are $$$. Was hoping to get used parts with good matching paint, but oh, well.

Still need to straighten the rad core support - started on it with a floor jack and a slide hammer, I think it will turn out alright.

Plan is to fix it back up and give it back to my wife for DD duty - with a few (very few) mods to support track days. We might take the balance of the insurance payout and replace my DD. It's kind of like we got a reverse mortgage on the Miata - we got our equity out of it, we can still use it, but it will have no resale when we're done with it.

Also trying to work out whether or not it qualifies for the $2010 challenge - kind of feels like cheatin'.

I just bought a friend's '02 S2000 back from the insurance company for $1,500 if that helps any.

I have now disconnected the subframes and wiring and lifted the body off of it in anticipation of making a really cool, lightweight autocross and track car. It didn't come out in a pretty piece like the pics of the Miata and Vette in another thread cause without a PPF it's kinda floppy in the middle - the car, not me!