You don't have a location as to where you are so I'll answer this as if it were a California Salvage title and it won't take long.
A California Salvage Title means one thing, an insurance co. paid off on a claim to the insured, it doesn't matter why just that the insurance co. became the owner of the vehicle. Let's use a for instance that would work in you favor, someone steals your car the insurance co. pays you off and then it is found unharmed on some street somewhere and is auctioned off at a SALVAGE sale by the insurance co. You will get a salvage certificate and will have to do a vin and brake and light ispection before you can re-register it of the road. When you recieve your title it will state previous salvage on the title and some insurance co's will not insure it. So you may get a vehicle that was in perfect condition when the insurance co auctioned the vehicle and still it will be a SALVAGE. Now on the other foot, the vehicle was completly stripped and someone bought it at the auction then went out and stole another vehicle just like the one you are thinking about buying and put all the parts on it. Or it was bought just for the VIN # and then they steal another vehicle and put the stripped vehicles VIN on the good car and sell the stolen car as a completly different vehicle than it was on. Now these last 2 you have to be very careful of, if you get pulled over or some detective figures out what this guy did and knocks on your door and you are screwed. They will take the vehicle away from you and return it to the original owner. If they swapped out parts they will take those parts and then you'll get the stripped shell of a vehicle that it originally was. What it boils down to if you buy a salvage find out why it is one and what condition it was when sold at the auction. Double check the VIN's make sure it does not look messed with. Look at the public VIN in the windshield, and there should be one in the front left door Jam (left rear door on some vehicles) and make sure it is the same and does not look altered. On some vehicles (like Toyota's) there will be a VIN tag under the hood directly behind the engine (imports only) and on the frame behind the front right tire. Also look for welds or evidience of welds in this area of the frame since that would mean it may have been cut off and added in. Always be very thorough when dealing with a Salvage, they can be great buys for what we do with them but if it has stolen parts on it and they bust the guy you bought it from the police will be knocking on your door if they know he had sold you that truck/car.
So much for being short and sweet?
