How I got a 2017 Salvage Chevrolet Cruze with under 3,000 miles for under $6k

Recently I was able to buy a 2017 salvage Chevrolet Cruze online for under $6,000. My goal is to repair and restore the vehicle to get it back on the road and turn it into my wife’s main car since her car stopped working unexpectedly.

I decided that I would write about the process of buying a restoring a salvage car from the purchase to getting the car, all the way to getting it back on the road. Read on to find out what happened next. 

How It All Started

Last week I got the dreaded phone call from my wife that her car suddenly stopped working. When I finally got to her I saw that she was right. We had to call a tow truck who came and took the car to the shop.

After looking over the vehicle it was clear that the transmission had gone. The car was a bit older and it would have cost a lot more to fix it than it was worth at that point.

Suddenly we saw ourselves in a pinch. I was trying to figure out the best course of action to take when I decided I would check the salvage auction and see if I could find a deal. 

Salvage cars for sale can be a great way to save money and get a car for cheap. On the flip side, buying a salvage car can also be a bit of a gamble. There is always a chance of the unknown when buying salvage.

However, an educated buyer can turn a salvage vehicle into a terrific investment. That was my goal heading into the auction.

Documenting The Process Of Buying and Restoring a Salvage Car

Since I wanted to get a car that would last, I decided I wanted to find something new. People often think salvage cars are old vehicles that are in terrible shape but that isn’t always the case. 

A vehicle can get a salvage title for a long list of reasons. If you can find a car that was owned by a rental company you may find yourself a new car that is in better shape than you’d think. Often times when a rental car suffers minor damage it is considered a total loss and subsequently ends up in an auction. My goal was to find a rental car that had been given a salvage title with minor problems and repairs that could be made cheap and easily.

I found a 2017 salvage Chevrolet Cruze with under 8k miles on it. The car looked just about perfect at first glance and had no visible issues on the exterior.

Looking Over The Car

Looking at this vehicle it’s hard to believe that it is a salvage title car. As I said, they are not always old vehicles with massive damage. Some just need a little love.

So as we can see, the body of the car looks pretty good. Let’s have a look at the inside. According to the vehicle information page I looked at before I bought the vehicle, the interior was in “great condition”.

Despite the exterior and the interior looking great, I knew that the damage was hidden somewhere. I read online that the problem was a ruptured oil gasket but you never know what else could be there. So after a thorough examination, it was time to get down there and have a closer look at the problem. 

Once I got under the car I could see the damage clearly. It looked as if someone who was driving the vehicle ran over something that caused the oil gasket to rupture.

This broken piece was the only major issue this vehicle had and it was enough for the insurance company to write it off as a “total loss“.

Now this being the major issue with the car could be a very good thing or a very bad thing. It all comes down to how difficult it is to repair, how much it will cost and how long it will take.

Repairing Our 2017 Salvage Chevrolet Cruze

This particular piece is made of steel and isn’t easy to break. When it comes to steel you are most likely going to need a welder so I had an idea. All I would need to do is hire a welder who could come in and simply weld the hole closed on the gasket and we are back in business.

The actual value of this car pre-damage is about $17k. The starting bid on this vehicle was about $2k. After some bidding occurred I was able to win the auction for under $6k. That is about $11,000.00 worth of savings.

Of course, there are taxes and I had to have the vehicle shipped to me which added a bit to the cost but even then I was still way ahead.

The main factor would come down to how much would it cost me to repair the vehicle.

I found a welder in my area and figured out how much it would cost. I was able to get the welder to come out to my business to look at the car, where I had it delivered. The total cost for him to come out was under $300.00.

When he arrived he propped up the car to get underneath and look to see if it was something he would be able to fix. He said that he would be able to weld it closed no problem.

Unexpected Problem

The thing is when he went underneath it to fix it we discovered an issue neither of us expected. The gasket that was damaged and had a leak worth totaling the cover over was still holding fluid. Despite a very slow leak, there was still enough fluid present to present an issue for the welder. Because the fluid was still present it was impossible to weld the hold closed. After speaking with the welder, we decided to wait a few days for the remainder of the liquid to leak before attempting to repair the vehicle.

Our Next Steps

We are currently awaiting the return of the welder to move forward.

What Happens If The Problem Can Not Be Fixed?

If by chance the vehicle is not able to be welded then we will have to consider the possibility of selling it back to the auction we bought it from.

Please come back to this post soon to see what happens with our salvage Chevrolet Cruze. Will we be able to repair it? Only time will tell.