What does "Salvage history reported" mean exactly? Is the car not worth buying?

It means do not buy it!

it means the car was deemed non repairable by the insurance company, but has been fixed and retitled for resale. if it was repaired correctly and you can get a good deal it would be worth buying. take it to a reputable shop and let them do a full inspection. its cheaper to pay an inspection fee than a bunch of unknown repair bills after the purchase of the vehicle

Ok so it's definitely been wrecked then. I heard it could also be from a police seize ? It's a good deal but I don't want to mess around and the car is out of state , to much hassle. Appreciate your feedback.

I Bought a Ford F-150 1977 when I was just in high school and it had a salvage title on it and I put another million miles on it with only a transmission and of course the norm-Brakes,Oh and for some odd reason the horn-Big deal-But like I said it was a 1977 todays cars and trucks are made to throw away

Oh by the way it was a four wheel drive and I drove it like I stole it all the time- 2 speeding tickets in one day on the same road

I bought a Saturn Astra with 26k on it, still have it with 55k , no problems at all. Not sure how you actually can find out the story behind a salvage title, but it could be a repo that was sitting in a garage eith no issues. If you pay for a Carfax will that give a background detail?

or it could be crap

A brand new car can be crap straight out the factory a salvaged vehicle if repaired properly will be in better condition especially if you have the bumper rebuild better than it was originally like I did

I have 2 teenage sons that are just getting their driving permits. Odds are they are going to crash or damage the car they drive because they are new drivers, so I’m actually going with a salvage rebuilt Volvo. I think rebuilt, lower priced salvage vehicles are the perfect car for new drivers. Insurance will only cover liability, but that’s OK because salvage vehicles are so much lower in price so if they crash it, it’s not a huge loss. Found a 2010 Volvo with 47,000 miles on it for $6k. It’s seriously like new and drives incredible!!

Insurance “totals” a car if the cost of repairing is more than 75% of current value. I just bought one from my mechanic who buys, rebuilds and sells these cars all the time. This was a 2016 Ford Fusion SE w/Nav and 37k miles. He replaced both rear quarter panels, the bumper, trunk and lights. Got it for $10k, NADA value is $19k

Given a choice, this is like getting married to the town tramp. Might as well make appointments with your doctor, psychologist, paternity tester and lawyer now.....in the case of a salvage car your mechanic. Don’t be silly, the only folks here that give you the line “it’s no big deal” are the ones that bought a salvage wreck! Lol

I have found searching the VIN number can be quite telling of how severe the damage was. I found plenty of pictures on line which had me discover the car I was considering was all body damage.