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this post was submitted on 12 Nov 2023
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A hail damaged car that was totaled out by the previous owner's insurance, making it technically a salvage title vehicle.
Late model vehicles tend to be readily totaled out since body work is so expensive. Insurance companies don't want to dump >30% value of the car into repairing cosmetic damage, put it back on the road, and then risk having to throw more money at the same vehicle again if another incident happens. They'd rather cut their losses, replace the car totally for their client, and then get what they can out of the damaged car at auction.
In mid-summer, after thunderstorm season, you can even get totaled dealership cars with like 70 miles on them. Mechanically pristine, but cosmetically banged to hell.
Back in the day, you could get them at nearly half their sticker price. Nowadays, it's not that cheap, but they're still a great deal and I swear by them.