I just wanted to throw in my 2 bits on cars. I see people waste a lot of money on cars. I used to be one of them. Cars are guarenteed to lose value no matter what brand the car is. For the past few years I have only bought salvage title or branded title cars. I have a good mechanical knowledge because I worked in a mechanic shop for a few years, but anyone can do this if you get the car thoroughly checked out before you buy it.
Track record
1997 Dodge Neon highline bought in 2005. I paid $1900 out the door at a mazda dealer. I drove it for 1.5 years without anything going wrong. I never had to replace the tires, etc. Only oil changes. The car was totaled again after someone ran a red light and hit me in an intersection. The insurance company paid 75% of the market value. They cut me a check for $2400. I make $500 on a $1900 car.
I now have two 2005 Dodge Neon SXT's I like Neon's, but that is not why I have had so many. There are a lot of them around and parts are readily available. Mine had 6500 ACTUAL miles on it and was bought in Jan. 2007 to replace my '97 neon that was totaled again. I paid $6500 for it. At the time blue book was $12,000. I replaced the dash because the gas guage was bad, and did a SRT-4 spoiler (painted from eBay deal for $120) and altezza tail lights with LED's for $70 again from eBay. I have a custom car with a bluetooth car stereo for much less than a clean title and it has much less miles than a clean title of the same year.
My wife's was $5,000 and had 25,000 ACTUAL miles. It has been hit twice since we bought it in March 2007. I have done the work myself and bought the parts on eBay. I have been able topocket over $1000 by taking the insurance payout and doing the work myself.
My car now has close to 30,000 miles and has not had any problems, not has my wife's. Basically we got 2 Neon's for the price of 1! They outlast any clear title car. One other option is you can buy a much nicer car than you could normally afford without throwing your wallet away. As mentioned below salvage title cars should be 50% of the market value. So you should be able to get a rebuilt Infinity for half the price. If it is repaired correctly no one will know the car is rebuilt except for you but you will get the pride or whatever for having a luxury car.
You must be careful though.
1. Salvage title cars should be work 50% of the market value even though insurance pays out more. Avoid paying more.
2. Plan on keeping the car for a long time. Keeping any car for a long time makes the most sense, but especially salvage title cars. You will have a hard time selling a branded title car, hence the reason one can buy one for so cheap. People are scared when they hear "salvaged title".
3. Make sure the tires are not worn improperly and the car doesn't pull. This could be due to frame damage and will make your car destroy tires quickly.
4. Always have it inspected by a mechanic you trust and tell them it is a salvage title so they look very closely.
Feel free to ask questions.
I wanted to add that I always look for parts on eBay and at junk yards to save hundreds of dollars. Junk yards are great because they are good parts from cars that have been wrecked. IE you could get a painted hood for you vehicle for cheap from a junk yard car that was hit in the back. You can usually talk them down on their price as well. With eBay just be careful for crappy aftermarket products. Some are good some are bad. The feedback will be a great help in determining the quality.
