If You’re Shopping for a Discounted Car at a Dealer Lately, It Might Be Lightly… Totaled

Most shoppers fear a used car they’re looking at might have a history that’s more checkered than they’d like. Lightly damaged and relatively new vehicles—salvaged or branded titled, officially—are an inexpensive way to get a good deal, but reputable dealers tend to shy away from stocking them. That could be changing.

According to Automotive News, some dealerships could start buying lightly used cars that have been issued a salvage title from auctions and putting them on lots because of high demand and higher resale value for two and three-year-old vehicles. Many buyers have increasingly turned to used cars over the last few years, first because of supply chain issues, then inflation, and now, tariffs.

Salvage-titled vehicles that some mainstream dealers will stock won’t be ones that were involved in severe crashes or that needed significant structural repairs. Insurance companies can total vehicles for different reasons that have nothing to do with safety, just a repair that was deemed to exceed the value of the vehicle—assuming it was repaired with the correct new part and that the repair was performed by a factory-trained technician.

These include imperfect engines and transmissions, battery packs and electric drive motors on electric vehicles, or even weather-related damage received at the assembly plant, during delivery, or at the dealership. Some of these vehicles can have just a few thousand or a few hundred miles.

Still, it’s a slippery slope if mainline dealerships start practicing this. It may occur out of necessity soon, though, because while analysts expect an increase in vehicles reaching the end of a three-year-lease starting in the second quarter of the year and increasing throughout, many will be EVs, which could be a tough sell given the indefinite pause on incentives for those. Drivers could opt to keep their vehicle at the end of the lease if they still like their vehicle and a comparable 2026 model will have a significantly higher monthly payment.

In any case, the unpredictable economy and tariff situation is still likely to make it a tough time for people to buy or sell a car this year, and “creative†solutions are in style.