best way to get your hands on a totaled truck??

['70_402]

i want to find a 99-up truck, tahoe, gm product with an ls motor... i know by the time they hit the salvage yard it's too late... anybody know where salvage yards buy thier trucks?? i'd like to find one for my new truck build.

[Ackattack]

I talked to my local salvage yard, and they said they buy them at an auction.

I don't know if you have to have some type of liscence to buy them there or not (dealer, salvage, etc)

[dwcsr]

In Texas you need a dealer or salvage license to buy at an auction. I had thought about getting a dealer license for that purpose but not much goes up for auction in pre 72 trucks here in houston so I didn't bother.

[tonypaul]

I would be checking Craigslist in Dallas for one. Being way up there in Pampa, I doubt you will be able to find one anytime soon. Sometimes someone will wreck theirs and not have full coverage insurance or something. It also might take a while, but you will save some money that way. By the time either the wreck trucks reach auction they have racked up all a bunch storage time, plus addition fees, and everyone is sticking their hand in the pot to get their money the price has gone up too much... Im a craiglist junky, if I see something I will forward it to you....

[Monte Carlo Man]

It sounds to me as if basically you figure that once a truck has been totaled that it is cheaper then buying a truck off the lot. You would like to buy this truck, but not get a dealers license. The purpose of the dealers license is to keep people off the street out of the auction. To keep people from walking in the door and buying up these vehicles without paying the proper taxes and to to keep the people off the streets from walking in - without the proper money to buy these vehicles, or that buys them and then finds out that it costs a normal person more money to repair these vehicles then what they are worth.

A car repair person has the proper tools and equipment and basically they exchange their time for money. They buy these vehicles and if they can pull, beat, bang and paint, they can sell them for a little more then what they have in them. Pay all the taxes and fee's and buy another one.

A normal person off the street, once they find that there is too much work involved, will try to bring the vehicle back and get their money back. You will hear every excuse from soup to nuts - why they felt that the vehicle was mis represented and why they shouldn't have to pay for what they bought.

A junkyard, buys the vehicle for the auction block price, be it from a auction or directly off the insurance company, where they might have a contract with say - State Farm where they have to buy all the local vehicles that are damaged. In the old days - you could get some pretty good deals.
With today's fraud and insurance prices skyrocketing, you can expect no vehicle to be totaled unless there is more then 80% of the replacement value in damage. They don't junk them just because there is a dent in the fender and the frame is a little bent.

I can attest to the fact that the junkyard that I worked for paid at times $4500+ for a 1999 and up pick up truck. It's all a risk. By the time you pay to have it hauled home, or haul it home yourself, then find out that the transfer case is broke or that someone wrecked it on purpose - because the engine and transmission was ready to blow up, you quickly find out which parts are the problem child, and which trucks you can't make a dime on.

The severely wrecked vehicles - aren't worth even bringing home, unless you can get $200 a car from the crusher company. With all the aluminum and computer parts in a new vehicle, once it is crashed, you are lucky to sell the gas cap.

1999 and up Chevy Truck, the rear end is usually sold before the truck gets home. The 4L60E transmission is right behind it. I have seen ones that barely made it off the tilt bed before they cut the transmission out of the truck. The engines aren't as bad, they usually hold up for a while. But if the people did not change the fluid in the transfer case and it had autotrac - you can bet that it is probably junk also.

Why you would want to take the risk of buying one of these vehicles with no warranty - is beyond me. It would be cheaper for you to go to Car-part.com and find the parts that you are looking for and find a junkyard that is willing to sell you what you wish to buy and not have to worry what is broke and what is about to break.

[big_al_71]

Here is exactly where you need to look. They have two huge lots about ten minutes south of me. I went there to pick up my sons plate when his supra was totalled. Acres and acres of vehicles, trucks, motorcycles,boats etc....


http://www.copart.com/c2/copart_home_page.html

[Hottrucks]

or talk to the biggest tow companies around alot of times they get Uninsured vech and the owners don't pay the so they keep them alot of time you can save the owner the BS and pay the tow bill on it and own it...

[acaruth]

Copart and iaai are the two biggest dealer insurance auctions. But like Monte Carlo Man said you have to have a dealer's license to even have a shot at anyone of their vehicles. The good thing about these auctions is that you could almost find whatever you want especially if you're looking for a vehicle that's less than 15 years old and they have an auction in just about every state. I have bought a few from iaai and as of right now my current dd was a salvage that came from iaai. If you know someone that is a dealer and a member of one of these sites and you're still interested then my advice to you is to look for something that looks like it was well taken care of. Look for something that has low mileage. And remember run/drive doesn't always mean it runs and drives, that just means they started it up. Trans could be slipping and there could be other issues with the motor, of course they wont tell you that. Overall it is a gamble so that's why sometimes it's better to go with craigsllist. A buddy of mine just bought an 08' gsxr from iaai that only had 1600 miles, a little bit of fairing damage. The listing said it ran but when he brought it home and tried to figure out why it wouldn't turn over, he then realized the motor was toast. Whoever the previous owner was rode it without ever changing the oil until the motor locked up. Now he's in the whole $4500 and still needs a motor. It's all a risk.

[Clyde65]

Find you a friend in the car business, auto repair or something like that with a dealers license. Then take them to an auction, buy them lunch and there ya go! a salvage title is not worth anything but if you use what you need a salvage yard should buy it from you, even if it is a few hundred bucks.

[cdowns]

google

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&s...AAAKoEBU_QaEn6

[VA72C10]

Google works well but a little much to sort through....

I think what the original poster is asking for input from the ones that I've seen on here. Guys w/out dealers' licenses that have scored wrecked trucks/vans for 1500-2500 with the LSX motor/tranny. Then they were able to sell off the rest of the parts to recoup that initial investment and basically end up with the LSX combo for free. There are auctions close to me that are public auctions and they sell nice cars and salvage vehicles. And some commercial auctions that are also open to the public that might have a van with an LSX in it...

I'd love to know any other tips also...not looking to rebuild a salvaged truck....planning on buying one, taking out the LSX and tranny and required wiring/pedals and then parting out the rest of the good parts off the truck/van.

['70_402]

yea, i'm not in any way looking to fix up the salvage truck at all.. i want to take what i need off it it and take it to a scrap yard and get whatever i can back out of it... i just know that i'm gonna want some new seats, ls motor, tranny, and whatever else it takes to make all that work, it'd be nice to only have one source for all that, then still recoup some money after i've gotten what i need.... i am no shiester and looking to screw anybody. i just want to get all my eggs from one chicken... thanks for all the input and i think i might have located one... gonna go look today!!!

[kevmic28]

Adessa Auto Auction is a good source. I have bought a car there before. No real issues with the car that I couldnt fix. Drove it for 3 years and sold it for more than what I paid for it.
http://www.adesa.com/home
also try
http://www.govdeals.com/index.cfm?fa...n=ld&mycat=94B

[caseymp2001]

I have found all my stuff off of www.craiglook.com its way faster then CL and you can search anywhere you want try it out let me know what you think.

[68 TT]

Originally Posted by 70'_402

yea, i'm not in any way looking to fix up the salvage truck at all.. i want to take what i need off it it and take it to a scrap yard and get whatever i can back out of it... i just know that i'm gonna want some new seats, ls motor, tranny, and whatever else it takes to make all that work, it'd be nice to only have one source for all that, then still recoup some money after i've gotten what i need.... i am no shiester and looking to screw anybody. i just want to get all my eggs from one chicken... thanks for all the input and i think i might have located one... gonna go look today!!!

I have seen a couple complete running & driving decent looking 99-2000 vintage LS powered trucks for sale locally for under $4k. One was for $3000 and the other for $3800.

I'm sure you could pull everything you wanted out of the trucks then part them out to make a bunch of your money back.

[MAK191]

Check this place https://www.ridesafely.com/ seem to have a large selection. I have no experience with them but they list a lot. They also work with a shipping company and the quotes listed were very reasonable. It also looks like they have one of their hubs in TX so you may get lucky if it's close.

[VA72C10]

Originally Posted by 70'_402

yea, i'm not in any way looking to fix up the salvage truck at all.. i want to take what i need off it it and take it to a scrap yard and get whatever i can back out of it... i just know that i'm gonna want some new seats, ls motor, tranny, and whatever else it takes to make all that work, it'd be nice to only have one source for all that, then still recoup some money after i've gotten what i need.... i am no shiester and looking to screw anybody. i just want to get all my eggs from one chicken... thanks for all the input and i think i might have located one... gonna go look today!!!

cool....let us know how it goes!

[leddzepp]

Look on your local CL....lots of dudes parting out wrecked trucks here.

[wHATANERD]

Do you want to go with a 5.3 or a 6.0? The Junk yards seem to be full of 5.3, however the 6.0 don't stick around very long.

[68 TT]

Originally Posted by wHATANERD

Do you want to go with a 5.3 or a 6.0? The Junk yards seem to be full of 5.3, however the 6.0 don't stick around very long.

And they sell for quite a bit more money.

They nearly give away the 4.8's but they can make decent power too. A friend with a hot rod shop builds them all the time with the right heads, a bigger cam, good exhaust and a tune that make 360 hp to the rear wheels. Not bad for a 4.8

[ChevLoRay]

I overheard one of the main guys at Street and Performance (in Mena, AR) say he buys them all day long for $500....engines, that is. Now, he may get a better price because he's in business, but it's gotta be a fair market price.

In Texas, vehicles at salvage yards fall into two categories....if I understood my ex-brother-in-law. His father-in-law had a yard at Cumbe. There was a "line" that marked the difference between the two. In front of "the line", and I believe it could be re-sold. Behind "the line", he had to send in the tags and registration to the State and it could only be scrapped or sold for parts.

My guess is that a vehicle that is totaled would go behind "the line" in a Texas wrecking yard and only be sold for parts....not as a whole vehicle. In Arkansas, vehicles can be sold that are totaled, but will only be licensed as a Salvage Title vehicle. There's some laundering done that creates a theoretically saleable vehicle with a "clean" title that had previously been a salvage title vehicle in Arkansas.

Used to be, back in the early 80's, there was a "business" called Car Locators. In theory, a person looking for a particular car would contact us and let us know what they wanted. A person wanting to sell a vehicle would pay us $20 to list their vehicle. Listings for either were submitted to the master vehicle locators. I got a call one day, when a party in a nearby city was looking for a specific year/model Cadillac. Didn't matter if it was burned, totaled, etc. So, I went to a friend who had a wrecker business and asked him about such a car. He informed me that it was probably someone with a stolen car that he was trying to make somewhat legitimate and that it could make me an accessory. So, I never did get back to the person who wanted the Caddy.

Good luck on your hunt.