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How do you buy salvage cars from insurance companies?

I need a new car. My friend said that you can buy salvage cars from car insurance companies for cheap. How do you do that?

avatar
Emily Maracle · Updated on
Reviewed by Shannon Martin, Licensed Insurance Agent.
Your friend is correct! You can
buy salvage cars
for less than a regular used car.
Car insurance companies
sell salvage vehicles to make money back after having to pay out a claim for a totaled vehicle. Most often, you can purchase salvage vehicles at auction.
Auctions take place online and in person. If you go to an in-person auction, you should have a chance to look over the vehicle before bidding begins.
If you aren’t familiar with cars, bring a mechanic or someone else to look over the vehicles. You want to be sure you’re bidding on a car that you can repair. Otherwise, the low price isn’t worth the hassle. You could end up paying more for the salvaged car than a used car may cost!
Beyond repairing a salvage vehicle, look at the cost to insure it and what type of insurance you can get. Since salvage vehicles require a special title, some insurance companies won’t insure them. If your current company won’t insure a salvage vehicle, you can shop around to find a provider that does.
If you’d rather leave the hard work of gathering quotes to someone else, use
Jerry
. This free app can collect quotes from up to 50 top insurance companies in seconds!
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Jerry partners with more than 50 insurance companies, but our content is independently researched, written, and fact-checked by our team of editors and agents. We aren’t paid for reviews or other content.

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