We wouldn’t have cars if we didn’t have companies that manufacture them. Let’s take a quick look at when, where, and who founded some of the largest car manufacturers in the world:

Ford
When: June 16, 1903
Where: Dearborn, Michigan
Who: Henry Ford
Interesting Fact: Ford is the largest family-controlled company in the world.

Toyota
When: 1933
Where: Japan
Who: Kiichiro Toyoda was the son of the founder of the Toyoda Loom Works company and made the decision for the company to branch into automobiles.
Interesting Fact: The first Toyota built outside of Japan was in 1963 in Melbourne, Australia.

Volkswagon
When: January 4, 1937
Where: Wolfsburg, Germany
Who: The German Labour Front
Interesting Fact: Volkswagen means ‘People’s Automobile’.

General Motors
When: 1908
Where: Flint, Michigan
Who: William C. Durant
Interesting Fact: Shortly after forming, General Motors purchased the Buick Motor Company and rapidly expanded by purchasing other companies including Cadillac, Catercar, Elmore, and more.

Hyundai
When: December 29, 1967
Where: Seoul, South Korea
Who: Hyundai Engineering and Construction Company
Interesting Fact: Hyundai first began selling cars in the United States in 1986.

Honda
When: 1948
Where: Japan
Who: Soichiro Honda
Interesting Fact: The world’s largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959.

Vehicle titles can have different designations or branding. These designations are designed to provide information about the history of the vehicle. What the terms are and when/how they are implemented varies across jurisdictions (states, territories) but one that many people are familiar with is a ‘Salvage Title’. Let’s take a look at what a ‘Salvage Title’ is.

What is a Salvage Title?

While the specific requirements vary, a vehicle will be considered totaled by an insurance company if it needs repairs that would cost more than some percentage of the value of the vehicle. This typically falls between 75% to 100% of the vehicle’s value. An example would be if a vehicle valued at $10,000 was in an accident and had enough damage that it would require $11,000 to be repaired. This vehicle would be considered totaled. Insurance companies then sell these ‘totaled’ vehicles to auctions, salvage yards, repair facilities, etc, and these companies can then make the necessary repairs and sell the vehicles. There are various designations of a Salvage Title that are used in different states. An example is in the state of Ohio where once the vehicle has been repaired it can then be inspected and if it passes and shows that it is roadworthy it will be issued a Rebuilt Salvage Title.

There are other reasons why a vehicle would get a Salvage title and here are some of them:

• Flood damage
• Hail damage
• Theft recovery
• Vandalism

Should Someone Buy a Vehicle with a Salvage Title?

There are people on both sides of the fence on this question and some of these people have very strong opinions.  There are a lot of cons of buying a vehicle with a salvage title and one major pro. The pro is that the vehicle will be cheaper and this has obvious appeal. Some of the cons are: (1) If the vehicle wasn’t repaired well (this is often the case) you’re more likely to have issues with it (2) Some insurance companies won’t insure them and the ones that do will most likely not see the car as having much value in the case of an accident (3) Many dealerships won’t take Salvage Titles on trade-ins so when you go to get a new car you may have to sell it to a private buyer (4) It is hard to get a good return when selling a vehicle with a Salvage Title. In other words, there is no right answer to this question, but if someone is considering buying a vehicle with a Salvage Title they better make sure they know what they are doing.

One of the options available in ‘Settings’ in the InspectARide app is ‘Auto Open Note’. This option is all about saving time. If this is checked, then anytime you select a rating for an item that is set to go to a summary then the program will automatically open the ‘Note’ section for that line. An example of this is with our Basic template which comes with the software by default. Any item you mark with the ‘Poor’ rating is set to go to the summary. This means anytime you mark an item as poor the ‘Note’ section will pop up.

The time savings come in from the fact that most of the time (if not all of the time) you assign a rating that is set to go to a summary, this particular item has an issue or something that needs to be talked about. Since this is the case, instead of having to tap on the ‘Note’ button to pull it up so you can talk about what the issue is, the program does it for you. You tap the rating, tap on one of your common notes and you’re ready to move on.

Now, this is something that many inspectors use but some prefer to have it turned off. That’s not a problem. To turn it off simply go into ‘Settings’ and uncheck the box and you’ll be all set.

Companies that do pre-purchase inspections on vehicles know the importance and value of what they do. However, many car buyers decide not to get an inspection and some don’t know it’s an option. Here are some of the top reasons why pre-purchase inspections should be done:

• Get True Condition of Vehicle – Having an automobile professional inspect the car will help determine the actual condition of the car. It takes an experienced eye to uncover certain issues and your average car buyer does not have the necessary experience. Some things are obvious like scratches, dents, torn fabric, etc, but often times sellers will take care of the obvious things to make the car look great while major problems could still be present.
• Learn More About its History – Major accidents, flood damage, etc can be covered up in a way that the common consumer won’t pick up on, but an experienced inspector/mechanic can. You don’t want to spend a lot of money on a car that had previous flood damage or was in a major accident without knowing it. These vehicles are worth substantially less and can oftentimes have hidden damage that can cause issues in both the short and long run.
• Get an Objective Opinion – The seller wants to sell the vehicle and the buyer can get ‘blinders’ on and overlook things that maybe they shouldn’t. Now, an inspector’s job isn’t to tell you whether or not to purchase the vehicle but getting their report on the condition of the vehicle can help buyers make a better decision. Seeing a vehicle’s issues in a professional report can be an eye-opener.
• Gain Negotiating Leverage – If you find a few things that need to be repaired, this puts you in a better position to negotiate the best price possible with the seller.
• Avoid Costly Mistakes – Cars are expensive. You don’t want to buy one that is going to be a money pit especially if you could have avoided it by getting an inspection done for a fraction of the cost of the vehicle itself.

When should someone get a Pre-Purchase Inspection?

Some would argue that it is always worth it to get a pre-purchase Inspection on a vehicle and there is some wisdom in this thinking. However, if we had to lay out the circumstances where it makes the most sense they would be:

1. The vehicle is being sold as is with no warranty.
2. The buyer is purchasing a vehicle that they don’t have the opportunity to see in person.
3. The buyer doesn’t know much about vehicles.
4. The deal seems too good to be true (there is almost always a reason for a ‘great’ deal – it’s better to find out what that reason is ahead of time)
5. You don’t know/trust the seller or you have reason to believe they may be hiding something.