Carfax is nice, but nothing is better than an inspection by a qualified mechanic before you buy a car. Just too much information can slip through the cracks. Klayfish, what is your feeling on cars with salvage titles? It has always been my feeling that if an insurance company felt a car wasn't worth fixing, it isn't worth me buying after it is fixed. Yet I know some people, who work in the auto repair industry, who only buy used cars with salvage titles. They feel they are safe, and are a better value.
Salvage title cars are always a gamble, especially if you don't know for sure exactly why it was totaled. Yes, sometimes they're totaled because the insurance company doesn't feel it's worth fixing...i.e. the damage is more than the car is worth, but that's not always the case. Cars can be totaled for other reasons. A few...
High salvage value. I'll use the Prius as an example. They often bring a lot of money at salvage auction. So let's say it's worth $10,000. If it has $5000 in damage, plus rental during repairs, I could spend $5800 total in repair. However, it's not impossible the car sells for $5000 at salvage auction. So my net spend is $5000 if I total or $5800 if I repair. That doesn't happen often, but it can.
Recovered theft - if a car is stolen, the insurance company pays for it, then it is recovered, the insurance company now owns the car. Those cars are sold at auction, often with a salvage title (or altered in some way). Sometimes they are in 100% perfect condition. Sometimes they aren't.
Flood - Any car that goes in the water is a total loss. It may be a nightmare to fix, but it may just need the carpets removed and dried. Insurance companies don't want to take that gamble.
Customer service - sometimes it's just the right thing to do, so a car may be totaled even if the damage doesn't quite meet threshold. This happens sometimes with high end European cars where parts are very hard to get.
If you know what you're looking for/at, and
if you have a good shop you can really trust, then a salvage car is a good value. But just be aware that when you go to sell it you will have a hard time. You also may have a tough time getting comp/coll coverage for it.