Why SO MANY Salvage Titled 2016+ FS?

Ok, I live in SoCal, and often look at Craigslist in the big cities down here. There's a recurring thing for 3rd gen tacomas that I keep seeing. If I search for Tacoma, it's almost guaranteed to be 10+ Salvage title 2016+ on the first page; it has to be at least 1/4 to 1/3 of all Tacomas for sale at any time. There's usually a few pros on there too. Case in point this morning (this list took about 1 minute)-

https://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/cto/d/los-angeles-2016-toyota-tacoma-limited/6848797944.html

https://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/cto/d/el-cajon-2018-toyota-tacoma-trd-sport/6864242262.html

https://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/cto/d/san-diego-2017-toyota-tacoma-trd-4x4/6833383273.html

https://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/cto/d/el-cajon-2018-toyota-tacoma-trd-sport/6866247404.html

https://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/cto/d/san-diego-2018-toyota-tacoma/6862988278.html

https://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/cto/d/chula-vista-2018-toyota-tacoma-sport/6863089523.html

https://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/cto/d/la-jolla-2017-toyota-tacoma-trd/6863866826.html

https://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/cto/d/spring-valley-2016-toyota-tacoma-trd/6856000476.html

https://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/ctd/d/carson-2018-toyota-tacoma-double-cab-5/6853297513.html

Is it because they are super expensive to repair even with minor damages? So they get totaled out even though repair costs are low compared to the remaining value of the vehicle? Someone can explain this.

 

Because they sell a lot of them.

 

I dunno, I'm still trying to figure out how they get the caramel into the caramilk bar. I'll work on figuring this out next.

 

Stolen, or Flood damage from Houston.

 

This helps to explain why I can't find a single parts donor vehicle in a junkyard around here. Tacomas don't get junked, they get recycled as salvage. Interestingly, the salvage yards have plenty of Dodge trucks.

 

Ok, so I search for 2016+ F150s, and only a few salvage titles pop up (actually much fewer F150s pop up overall). By all accounts, the F150 outsells the 190-240k yr. tacomas (total F-series sales are 800-900k including F250/F350- I couldn't find F150 sales split out from that count).

Are F150 drivers safer or less likely to get into accidents? Unlikely. So I don't agree with the volume argument.

 

Thread has mentioned F150 in just under 20 minutes.

I think F150 drivers are just more mature, you don't see them on here asking about their mpg's.

 

here we come.

 

they dont get salvaged they just get parted. tacomas always have some value even as salvage. most other vehicles do not.

 

or draining their transmission oil during an oil change

 

Aren't you supposed to rotate your oil? Diff > transmission > crankcase. Or wait, on 4x4's it's crankcase > transmission > diff...

 

your supposed to rinse them out with water first

 

Ok, here's another viewpoint since I am still curious and I don't want people focusing on the F150.

The Camry outsells the Tacoma by a factor of 2. So, Tacoma sales are in the 190k-240k/yr, the Camry sits around 380k year.

On Craigslist, Salvage/Rebuilt titles account for about 5% of all used Camrys for sale (17 out of 286).

Salvage/Rebuilt titles account for 35% of all Tacomas for sales (113 out of 319).

There's something more specific about the Tacoma. It must be a combination of high resale and a low salvage purchase price or our market just doesn't care as much about a salvage title. Or, since most bank won't bankroll a salvage title, more people by Tacomas with cash.

 

I think it's just the ratio of sold cars to what gets salvaged i.e. shitload sold so quite a bit end up getting in accidents and salvaged and socal is the hotbed of notorious "dealers" trying to bubblegum vehicles together to flip and make a profit.

 

There is more to the story on these. Take this one for example. A salvage title due to tailgate and rear bumper. I am going to say there is most likely frame damage.

 

its high resale thats it. its all about money. its worth it to salvage a tacoma.

 

i mean im sure when you get there they will tell you an old lady drove it too.

 

I am sure a lot of these salvage titles are in worse shape than they look in pictures. As we all know, damage is often much more than cosmetic after accidents.

 

Probably because everyone will still buy them, Tacomas are so insanely popular, heck I am not really loving my Taco, but I don't care because I could sell it in heartbeat with barely any loss over what I paid for it.