Tips on Buying Cars: buying a salvage car, salvage title, alignment issues

Question
Me and my wife are buying a 1996 dodge neon from a friend of ours and it was in a accident and she lost the title to it and the ins company clamed it slavaged so how much sould we pay for it she is trying to get a 1000 do you think that is to high?

Answer
There are a lot of variables here, such as mileage, condition, the extent of the damage due to the accident and the quality of the repair.  An average '96 Neon in average condition with average miles is worth a little less than $1,000.  Add in the accident and the salvage title, and it's worth a lot less than that.  If it was a minor accident, then it wouldn't have a salvage title.  I would steer clear of ANY Neon that's been in a major accident- it's highly unlikely that the car was repaired to a condition that would make it worth anywhere near $1,000 today.  You can expect problems such as water leaks, alignment issues, not to mention structural integrity.  Also, in a major accident the air bags would have deployed- were they properly replaced?  I would not want to be driving this car and get into another accident with it.