well its like roulette. You never really have the whole story. It could be a simple theft recovery, wreck, or worse a flood damaged car. Unless you are buying it from the owner who had it before it became salvage titled, you just dont know. Insurance companies wont give out that sort of information. The value of the car is signifigantly less.....up to a point (typically after 10 years the difference is less). Newer cars sell for signifigantly less when salvage because there is no factory warrantee in effect, ever. On older cars it becomes a bit different of a story to determine value......you need to have a buyer, and most buyers are aware that the value is X% less on a salvage vehicle. Safety wise, unless you've got pictures of the damage, or repair bill, you just don't know if the safety is compromised......so the question to ask is, how much are you "saving" up front, vs how much risk are you willing to take.....on that 95 volvo you arent really saving that much in my opinion so barter on price or keep looking....BTW make sure that volvo had its timing belt done......they are prone to breakage around that milage