GMC's with salvage title?

[Carl Stouffer]

I would say yes. Check with your insurance company on the salvage title issue, but if that isn't a problem (and I don't see why it would be), and you
are going in with your eyes wide open, it sounds like a potential good deal.

Be prepared to spend a lot more time and money than you are anticipating though. Check things like frame rust, etc. The '77 might have a 455 in it,
they were still available for the first part of production, but a 403 seems to be more than adequate and even preferred by some of the people who have
them.
--
Carl Stouffer
'75 ex Palm Beach
Tucson, AZ.
Chuck Aulgur Reaction Arm Disc Brakes, Quadrabags, 3.70 LSD final drive, Lenzi knuckles/hubs, Dodge Truck 16" X 8" front wheels, Rear American Eagles,
Solar battery charging. GMCSJ and GMCMI member

 

[wrightjohn 2646]

So your hooked! "The Rule of Thumb" is your total cost to repair, upgrade and finish your coach will be in the $25K range, maybe a little higher
today with inflation. That means that if you paid $15K then you going to spend $10K to finish your project and if you spend $5K then it will be $20K
to finish! You also need to be somewhat mechanically inclined and be able to do much of the work yourself farming out bigger items that you do not
have the facilities in house. The first coach we did was a frame up restoration of a 77 Eleganza II. It had a $15K purchase price. The PO had done a
number of upgrades such as a new furnace and new frig. Spent cost to $10k on materials and paint work. I have included links to my albums.

http://www.gmcmhphotos.com/photos/g7221-gut-interior.html

http://www.gmcmhphotos.com/photos/g3022-interior-restoration.html

http://www.gmcmhphotos.com/photos/g5344-pergo-floor-install.html

http://www.gmcmhphotos.com/photos/g3675-topeka-gmc-paint-job.html

http://www.gmcmhphotos.com/photos/g5667-77-gmc-exterior.html

http://www.gmcmhphotos.com/photos/g3762-headliner.html

http://www.gmcmhphotos.com/photos/g3972-kitchen-vent-hood.html

http://www.gmcmhphotos.com/photos/g5665-1977-interior.html

http://www.gmcmhphotos.com/photos/g5666-1977-bath.html

Cost of materials and services aside we put almost 8 months and 800+ hrs to finish our project and it won awards at the 2002 GMCMI convention in
Nashvile TN.

You should have these coaches surveyed by a GMC owner in your area to get a second opinion on condition. Underlying issues could be a deal killer.

So if your not scared off yet, then go head with your eyes open.

If you need to or what to talk you can get me between 1 and 4 pm EST. nine89-eight59-zero7one5
--
J.R. Wright
GMC GreatLaker
GMC Eastern States
GMCMI
78 30' Buskirk Stretch
75 Avion Under Reconstruction
Michigan

 

[Ken B]

Your profile says Indiana but not where. The are quite a few GMcers around in Indiana but before they volunteer to help they, including me, would
like to know where we are volunteering for. About an hour I just got back from a trip just to just across the Ohio river in KY. It was 396 miles one
way. We would like to know where you are.

There are salvage and repaired titles in Indiana. Salvage titles say that some insurance company owned it for what ever reason. If it was a stolen
recovery with no damage and the company already paid he owner off, then it is a salvage title. That is no different than one that is badly smashed or
was in a fire.

A repaired title in Indiana says someone took a savage vehicle, repaired it back to roadworthy condition, and had it inspected by the titling state.
These inspections vary greatly from state to state. Once it has a repaired title by any state it can be then transferred or sold to an other state
and maintain the repaired title. It is branded for life as repaired.

In some states there is a separate category for flooded vehicles. And in some states flooded vehicles can not returned to a repaired title. All
people do in those cases is to apply for a title in a state that does allow them to be titled as repaired again.

I once worked a deal with a guy in southern California who could not get a repaired title so he was selling the vehicle cheap "for export only". I
had him take pictures of the damage and then the repaired vehicle. He also supplied receipts for the parts used. I then had someone authorized to
"inspect" the vehicle in a different state sign it off on it and we got him a repaired title. There really was not much damage. We sent him the
repaired title and California had to accept it. He kept the vehicle for his own use which which is the reason he bought it in the first place.

The only draw back of owning a repaired vehicle with a branded title is if you total it a second time, the insurance companies can and will reduce the
vehicle value somewhere between 15% and 35%. The way you get around that problem is to take out an Agreed Value policy where you you and the company
agree what that value is ahead of time. Many GMCers have agreed value polities because the values of our coaches vary widely for one to the next. To
do so you need to get an appraisal from a reputable dealer and summit it to your insurance company when you take out the insurance. Jim K. at Applied
GMC can, for a fee, give you a realistic appraisal that will meet your insurance company's requirements.
--
Ken Burton - N9KB
76 Palm Beach
Hebron, Indiana

 

[Matt Colie]

Chris,

Welcome to the group, family, cult, asylum......

By now I guess you know that you are not the first person to be bitten by this bug.

There is not much that I can not tell you about the salvage title in Indiana, in most states a salvage title is used by insurance companies so they
can hope someone won't drive a vehicle that has been declared unroadworthy on the roads again and then they have to cover it again. You will have to
inquire at the proper state offices to find out what it takes in Indiana to get a renewed title for said vehicle. I know that we have several owners
(including KenB) that had coaches declared a total loss and are still registered today.

The value you are starting at for those coaches is about right. A coach that CAN be driven at all is 2~3k$. But be sure to inspect the frame at that
price. If you have any at all for wood working skills, you can build an interior that will be at least as good as most of the GM/Gemini or GM-only
and just a little short of the best Coachman.

We have a line we use here all the time and it keeps getting proved true...
"A reliable and ready to travel GMC will cost about 30K$. All at once or as a kit."
Please notice that "as a kit" part. What it does not say and has also proved very true is that sweat gets billed in at FULL SHOP RATE. Even in
southern Indiana, that is at least 100$/hr. So, by the time you clean up either (or both) of these coaches and build an interior or re-install what
is there, I can pretty much guarantee that you will be there. When you look at the sweat to cash ratio, I would bet that you can have the better one
fully reliable for less than another 5K in cash and 200 hours work.

I also acquired our coach "advantageously". If I had known about and understood the above equation, it would not have change a thing, but I would
have felt better. And No, I did not beat the equation and we have a coach that we love.

Two things you should do:
First is go up to and then to . You will find a box to fill in a signature file. Fill that in with a
real name (we like to know who we are helping), and a good geographic reference. When you joined this group, you became part of a supportive and
helping community. We all want you to be a success. When you can, include what you can about your coach(es), but right now that is not essential.
Second is to try to hook up with the chapter of local owners. You will get an amazing amount of support when you do. You are at the southern edge of
Greatlakers and real close to Dixielanders. You will again find amazing support there.

This is a community of helping and supporting people that you probably do not know the like of. Most of us have benefited from that support at one
time or another. Some of us, like me, in very big ways.

Matt
--
Matt & Mary Colie - '73 Glacier 23 - Members GMCMI, GMCGL, GMCES
Electronically Controlled Quiet Engine Cooling Fan
OE Rear Drum Brakes with Applied Control Arms
SE Michigan - Twixt A2 and Detroit

 

[Melbo]

I did a complete restoration on a car with a salvage title and had it licensed and insured in New Mexico. When I went to sell it was the issue. Teh
car was fine BUT any buyers I talked to balked. I gave the car to a friend of mine and he has it titled and insured in another state. I don't know
if the salvage title was cleared or it still is a salvage title.

Just my experience yours may be different.

HTH

Melbo
--
Albuquerque NM Bus Conversion 1978 MCI 1973 GMC

 

[Ken B]

That is the problem. Various states handle salvage titles in various different ways. There was a time that salvage title cars around here got sent
south where they were re-titled with clean titles and sent back north again.

I have a friend with a once flooded Ford Explorer Sport Trac. He bought it, dried it out, and did noting else to it. He took it to Michigan and got
a repaired title because the Indiana inspector would not approve it without the branding of once flooded vehicle. So he re-titled in in Michigan
without the flood branding. There really was nothing wrong with it. He has been driving that vehicle for about 5 years now with an Indiana title and
no flood branding. Because the truck was originally salvaged in a 3rd state, Indiana has no idea it ever happened.

The insurance companies are a different story. They have access to a shared data base that shows it was once flooded.
--
Ken Burton - N9KB
76 Palm Beach
Hebron, Indiana

 

[Larry Davick]

getnewtitle.com

>
> That is the problem. Various states handle salvage titles in various different ways. There was a time that salvage title cars around here got sent
> south where they were re-titled with clean titles and sent back north again.
>
> I have a friend with a once flooded Ford Explorer Sport Trac. He bought it, dried it out, and did noting else to it. He took it to Michigan and got
> a repaired title because the Indiana inspector would not approve it without the branding of once flooded vehicle. So he re-titled in in Michigan
> without the flood branding. There really was nothing wrong with it. He has been driving that vehicle for about 5 years now with an Indiana title and
> no flood branding. Because the truck was originally salvaged in a 3rd state, Indiana has no idea it ever happened.
>
> The insurance companies are a different story. They have access to a shared data base that shows it was once flooded.
> --
> Ken Burton - N9KB
> 76 Palm Beach
> Hebron, Indiana
>
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> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
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[johnny]

Depending the age - GMCs qualify - you can title it in Georgia on a bill of sale. No idea what your inshoance company might say about value, I self
insure and only buy liability.

--johnny

--
Foolish Carriage, 76 26' Eleganza(?) with beaucoup mods and add - ons.
Braselton, Ga.
I forgive them all, save those who hurt the dogs. They must answer to me in hell

 

[Ken B]

Georgia and Mississippi years ago are where locals use to take cars and re-title them on a bill of sale before they were returned here to be titled
again with a clean local state title. I do not know if that is still done. In past decades a lot of stolen cars went south and returned with clean
new titles.

So what Johnny says sounds like a way to get it done.

If all you need is a duplicate title, then here the state will issue one to the on record owner for $5.00. If you are not the on record owner then it
still can be done but the process varies. If it is shown as an in state owner then the registered owner is sent a registered letter. If there is no
answer then the car is put up for auction. You also put up a claim (lien) against the vehicle for either work done or storage fees. Make the fees
high enough and no one else will bid so the state issues you a new title and a new VIN.

If the former owner is unknown and not in state data base, then an inquiry is sent to the 4 neighboring states to us. If a former owner is found then
they get a registered letter. If not found, the vehicle goes to immediate auction. We do that a lot here with old motorcycles. I have two in my
hangar that we need to do someday. It usually costs $150 to $200 to get it all done.

Unlike stolen vehicle reports, there is no central repository for title / registration information across state lines. The NCIC (federal) tracks
stolen reports only and not registrations/titles. I had a client once called NATB (National Auto Theft Bureau). It was funded by the insurance
companies and they tried to locate vehicles where the government could not. Almost all of their work was across state lines. They had some
interesting techniques including aerial surveillance and photographing of legal and non-licensed junk yards. They caught a lot of stuff going to
Mexico and to Russia by ship.
--
Ken Burton - N9KB
76 Palm Beach
Hebron, Indiana

 

[johnny]

That's why I said there's a limit on age... newer stuff you need an official title to transfer. You can get one on a rebuilt or a hmebuilt, but it's
a hassle like anywhere else now. I think I have the ratrod toad sols, and the buyer gets a signed GA title with it. I bought it on a bill of sale
for $10 and Other Valuable Considerations cos I traded an unrestored GMC for it. Took the bill of sale and proof of inshoance to the tag orifice,
they got an extra I think $5 and mailed me a GA title for it. I need to do this with the new used pickup.

--johnny

--
Foolish Carriage, 76 26' Eleganza(?) with beaucoup mods and add - ons.
Braselton, Ga.
I forgive them all, save those who hurt the dogs. They must answer to me in hell

 

[justin brady1]

In TN for a vehicle over 30 all you need is to sign an affidavit stating that you own the vehicle and they will give you a title.
I've done it on more vehicles and motorcycles than I can count.
--
Justin Brady
http://www.thegmcrv.com/
1976 Palm Beach 455