Hi CCA, I own a 98 E36 328is and am the second owner. My ride is pure stock and my daily driver. I take pride in my car and keep it as nice as I can as far as looks and mechanicals go. It has 164k miles but runs like new. Sadly, my car was struck by a large limb that was blown off of a tree in a low grade tornado. The damage is obviously noticeable mainly on the hood, but not massive. No panels need replacement. My insurance company is telling me the car is a total and that Maryland law requires the title to be branded as salvage. My question now is, if I take the settlement (the value is still under negotiation), will I have any chance of selling my car? I can show all the mechanical maintenance and repair records; including detailing, which is maintenance on a Jet Black car, but I am concerned that even a buyer here in CCA (that would understand that I have done the maintenance) would not really want the car. Any thoughts or advise from the forum readers would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Scott Hefty
A salvage title can certainly be a hit to the value, because it always brings to any buyer's mind lots of questions and doubts about what really happened, how was it fixed (if it was really fixed right, etc), likelihood of future problems, etc. IF all it needs for a fix are affordable cosmetic repairs AND you like the car enough, is it worth just keeping it and having the repairs done paying for it yourself to keep it from salvage-title status? Given the age & book value, I'm not surprised an insurance company would total it based on $1k-$2k worth of damage repair needed - might be a very good idea to look into future maintenance/repair expenses, as it seems to me it would take owning it for quite awhile after such an expenditure to justify that kind of expense. Those types of decisions are not necessarily that simple or rational, however. Sounds like your desire is to puruse the repair route with the insurance company vs. just taking a check (at which point the disposition of the car becomes their issue), yes? If you have a car that's well maintained and well repaired, I'd think you'd stand a chance of finding a buyer, but, yes, w/ a salvage title, at a reduced valuation - lets put it this way, in the midst of thousands of craigslist and autotrader ads, a salvage title keeps it from the top of the desirability list, I'd think it would take a pretty friendly price to generate an actual buyer. Lots of BMW's from that era onward available out there, so I don't think you stand getting that much interest just because it's an E36 coupe or 328is. Could be used as a trade-in if you went the dealership route for something newer. Sorry to hear about the damage, that's unfortunate!
MGarrison, Thanks for your reply and insights. I am waiting for the insurance co to turn the file over to their "expert" to determine a value before making the final decision. I am considering whether to just fix it out of pocket and keep it a clean title. Although I would ideally want to have the car fixed and looking like it did prior to the damage. The way the ins is postured they do not want to fix the car. But it maybe best to take a settlement and move on especially with what you say about how difficult the sale would be with the salvage title. I think as BMW owners we tend to add our love for the car into the equation but in reality the market is just concerned with the numbers. And its not an M car so the long term prospect of it selling in 5 years at a higher price is slim to none. At least I see some other interesting 3ers or 5ers in the classifieds. I will let you know how it plays out. Scott
Ditto on what garrison said about the value holding on the car for resale. I vote for you to take a good settlement and just move on to something else as bad as the situation is sadly. Just my 2 cents on this.
I got word today that my insurance company cannot find comparable vehicles to make a settlement. I balked at the ones that they originally had in the valuation report. They had a 318, a 323, a 325, and a 328i - none of which is a 328is coupe - so they have agreed to fix my car per the supplemental estimate. So while I am happy that I will get my car back fixed with a clean title; I may still consider selling it, but I won't decide for sure yet. Here she is at the BMW CCA corral at VIR this past August. SH 98 BMW 328is