Define totaled

I posted this on the r/ToyotaTacoma as well (just got these photos from the dealer today). This was my truck about a year and a half ago. I picked it up with a salvage title (15k miles on it) and have put about 13k on it since.

As far as “gremlins”, haven’t noticed any in the year that I’ve been driving it. The alignment is good (frame was replaced) and the only issue, which was a major one, was the rear end failing after about a month & a half of driving. The dealer that sold it to me replaced it for free so I was blessed by that.

Has anyone else purchased a Tacoma with a salvage title? What was your story like? Any tales of horror or woe?

 

This is my truck today:

 

Holee shit. Good on you, but no way in hell I would buy that truck. Let's see some after photos.

 

I've owned 2 in my life. Both had no issues except workmanship with paint quality.

The biggest secondary issue was resale, people treat them like they are trash, and even at 30% below market its still difficult to sell.

It's fine for many though. Really matters who does the work.

 

The after photos are just above your post.

 

So this was repaired ?

 

@HondaGM yes

 

This is considered totalled. Mostly due to it being close to 200k, pretty much everything in the front was destroyed and the front pieces of the frame were tweaked...

 

gremlins said hold my beer

 

I knew going into this that reselling it was not going to be an option - I wanted a truck that would go the distance. I love my truck so I’m not looking at getting rid of it. I think my son would prefer to buy it if it came to that anyway.

 

its beyond thats , its fucked

 

See post #2 for the “after” pics

 

There's a huge difference between this and the truck OP posted. A co-worker just had her Camry totaled and honest to God there was zero damage to the outside. Apparently one frame bracket vent so they totaled it out. I'd buy that Camry in a second but this truck is 4x totalled.

 

if gremlins dont eat it alive , hairline cracks will come out of the wood work

 

Honestly not trying to knock, any chance you can post some close-ups of that fender and side? I'd be curious what body shop fixed it too. They are miracle workers.

 

Some insurers won't write salvage.

50% of market is common around here for salvage.

As far as problems, it's like anything else. What happened and who fixed it are a big deal.

A good nose bump that deploys both air bags and breaks the windshield (broken by airbag) on an older Miata will be a 'total'. Yet it's easy to fix and has no reliability impact.

So the answer is, it depends. I'd buy/fix/drive salvage under the right circumstances.

@koditten might have some thoughts. IIRC he rolls 2.

 

I understand I was comparing apples to oranges but the thread title was "define totaled"

 

im aware it got bonded and painted , but yikes

 

The dealer that I purchased it from specializes in salvaging vehicles - I think like 60% of their inventory is a salvage title. My guess is the body panels were replaced.

 

We're all going to be driving repaired trucks if prices don't get back to normal.