The bottom line when restoring a car is the salvage/restored car should not give one hint(except the title) that it has been restored. Of course, you should and will disclose that it was a previously wrecked car, but what I am saying is the vehicle should look stock. It should be in as good or better condition than the car if it had never been crashed.

How do you do this? By striving for high quality, performing all checks, and restoring it to factory standards. This video shows a 2006 PT Cruiser in immaculate shape that will make a new car owner very happy.

06 Chrysler PT Cruiser Touring Edittion 66K miles

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What it comes down when deciding to repair or junk a wrecked vehicle, it comes down to two things: time and money.  If it costs more to fix it than the car is worth, than you'll want to scrap it.  If the car is old, and the best you can do is $300 at the recycling plant, than that's what you should do.

Let's review questions you should ask related to these two deciding factors:

Time

• Is the car worth the time to fix?
• How long will it take to fix the car? - If you have to spend every weekend for the next year to fix it, it's probably not worth it.
• Is my time worth it?
• Do I have enough time to fix it?

Money

• Will I repair it myself? - This will save money
• Will I have an auto mechanic fix it? - This will take money
• How much will it cost?
• Are the repair costs worth more than the car?
• Is there a chance to resell the car once it is fixed?
• What unforeseen issues may it have and how much will that cost?

As you can see there are many factors to consider when scrapping or fixing a car.  Answering the above questions should help in resolving this matter.

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Mercedes Benz SLK Class 230 Mercedes SLK 230 Repairable Minor Damaged Easy Fix Wrecked Salvage    US $2,588.00

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Chevrolet C K Pickup 1500 NO RESERVE K1500 4X4 34K MILES SALVAGE REBUILDABLE NO RESERVE SELLS TO HIGH BIDDER    US $4,050.00

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Here's how to do it. You have a couple of choices:

Locally, you can sell it to a junkyard, private party, dealer, or recycle it for scrap metal. Most of these will net you the least amount of cash, but it has the fastest turnaround time. If you have an older car, especially a larger one, chances are you can get more for it by recycling it for scrap metal than trying to sell it to another third party. The next choice is to sell it to the junkyard or reply to the ads in the paper that are something like "cash for your junker!" Usually these people are going to recycle the vehicle, part it out, or fix it. In all cases you will get even less.

Some dealers will buy or trade on a junk vehicle, but this is rare. So call around if it is worth it to you. This is a good venue if it is a newer or higher valued vehicle. Most dealers are connected to a large network of dealers, and can almost always find a buyer for your vehicle even in its current state.

Your next option is selling online. You will probably squeeze out significantly more money, but it takes more work, and you may have to coordinate transport to a buyer in another state or on the other side of the country. You also have to avoid scams. Avoid scams by not selling out of country, and never accept checks that look suspicious or are for more than your asking price. Avoid buyers who speak in broken english or have a suspicious story of why they want it.

Selling online your best options are online classifieds like Craigslist, Kijiji, or eBay Classifieds.

Your next option is selling on eBay Motors. You can sell it all at once, or part it out. Parting out takes the most work, but may get you the most amount of money. I recommend just selling it all at once unless you are mechanically inclined, and its worth it to you to part it out.  The other disadvantage of eBay motors is you have to pay a fee, which costs between $60 - 125.

If you are not sure you can hire a third party to inspect a vehicle and usually they will provide a 50 - 100 step inspection for a small fee. These are beneficial as experts can document a large checklist. However, some inspectors check minor obvious things on working vehicles. Some will not inspect damaged vehicles.

In that case, your best bet, especially if you want to succeed in this business is to create your own documentation and learn how to identify potential unprofitable damages, or when a vehicle is beyond repair and should only be bought for parts.

The best documentation tools are pen and paper, and video documentation. You should create your check list of the important items to check for. Some of them include: exterior(bumpers, fenders, body damage, frame damage), engine, fluids, airbags, interior, radio etc. For every mechanic, different points are important based upon your strong points in car repair, your resources, and tools available for repair. Before you even go out, create an excel spreadsheet, or word document with all your inspection points, a way to rate condition and any other notes you need.

Next, let's talk about video. The great thing about video documentation is you can refer back to it if you can't remember something about the vehicle, or just want to try and spot things you may have missed after the fact of the inspection. Verbally speak what you notice about the vehicles damage.

Below is a great example on how to do proper documentation(rest of article below the video, so read on!):

Example of using video documentation to inspect a wrecked Toyota Tacoma

Another indispensible tool is a check engine code scanner tools. These little babies hook up to a jack underneath the dash on newer vehicles and give you engine codes that you can later look up online to discover what ails the car.

So documentation is the first and most powerful step. Next is asking the seller pertinent questions like title information, background info on the car, # of owners, etc.

After you have documented the vehicles broken points, don't forget to document good aspects of the vehicle. These can later be selling points and can help you not get discouraged in the process.

Finally, research. Call junk yards, auto shops, and the like and get quotes on repairs or parts. Look online to save money, look up the codes, and make a sheet of estimated repair costs. You can then more closely see if the truck is worth repairing.

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Best purchased at auction or from a private seller, it is often possible to get a wrecked, damaged, or salvage-looking car whose title is still good.  This is possible because the car was not stolen, or no insurance claim was made by the owner.  Often, cars at auctions may not be working or wrecked, but for whatever reason the title is still good.

The benefit of the clean title is two-fold:  it's going to save you a lot of time, from paperwork to explaining to your customer why the car has a salvage title(hard selling point),  and it is going to give your car a higher value.  Of course you will still disclose that many repairs have been made to the vehicle to restore it, but sometimes "salvage" gives the car a taint, when most likely the car is in better shape than other "clean" cars out there.

Another benefit is you will probably get the same price as you would a car with a salvage title, but the value will be higher when you go to resell it.

When looking for cleaned titled wreck cars make sure you verify that the title is indeed clean.  Some sellers(especially private sellers) may be unsure, or do not have much knowledge in this area.  Ask to see the title before you purchase the vehicle.  Also, it is imperative that you ask about the circumstances surrounding the vehicle.

So in the end, don't ignore the salvage titled vehicles, but when you are on the hunt for them always be looking for the clean titled gems to maximize your bottom line.

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Ford Mustang 2dr Cpe GT D Repairable Salvage Damaged Project 05 Ford Mustang GT 50L CLEAN NO Reserve    US $4,105.00

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To use a check engine code reader you just connect it to your vehicles code information jack.  This is often under the dash, usually near the fuse box, but it can vary depending on maker, so check with your manufacturer, manual, or online for exact details.  When you plug it in, it will provide you information visually and with audio.  Some scanners provide basic troubleshooting information, but you will need to browse the internet for exact details.

The issues it will find are anything from a bad engine, a bad sensor, or just a dead battery.  Having this utility at your disposable, on sight when purchasing a vehicle is indespensible.  It can make the difference in obtaining an easy fix vehicle for thousands of dollars below retail.  These have been used by many people to get newer vehicles, especially trucks, for as much as $10,000 dollars below retail, with minimal repairs needed.

Even if you are just fixing a vehicle it can save you money by resetting sensors.  Often auto manufacturers don't want you to know how to reset sensors so you have to bring it to the service department, and they can charge you hundreds of dollars to do it, and try to upsell you on other fixes you may need.

The check engine code reader costs anywhere to a basic model for $50 up to several hundred to $500.  These items can be purchased at some Wal-marts, Harbor Freight, and online.  Shop around to find the best deal.

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