How does "salvage title" work anyway?

How does "salvage title" work anyway?

A neighbor got rear ended such that her five thousand dollar 2000 model year vehicle was "totaled" and yet still driveable such that she's keeping it.

The insurance company gave her two choices:

  1. They pay her five thousand and they keep the car
  2. They pay her four thousand and she keeps the car

The caveat is she has to switch her title to "salvage". What does that even mean in terms of practicality?

She called the DMV and they said she needs to get inspected by the CHP for brakes and lights and change the title within a few days of cashing the check so she asked me what she needs to do.

Heck if I know

Her own insurance company says it's not their problem. The insurance company which is paying tells her to talk to the DMV. The DMV says to talk to CHP.

Has anyone here experience with this salvage stuff so I can advise her?

Reply to
Arlen Holder
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A salvage title means that the car has been deemed a total loss by someone and was written off as scrap.

However in many states it doesn't mean that the vehicle couldn't be repaired, inspected and put back on the road, with a salvage title. There are states where a salvage title basically means the vehicle is shipped to a yard to be parted out and cannot be repaired, even if the physical damage wasn't that bad.

In this case I would verify that she can get insurance on it, some companies will not insure a salvage title. Others don't care as long as it passes the inspections needed. Then do repairs as needed and get the inspections required done. Then you can register it as long as it passes.

In most states they use a table to determine the value of a vehicle, and once it costs over a certain percentage of that amount to repair a vehicle for whatever reason, it is totaled out.

Reply to
Steve W.

Thanks for your advice as I realize this is a "California-only" question.

What I'm looking for is someone in Cali who has been through the process o Only they will know what it takes - since California is always wacky

It seems the insurance companies in California give two choices:

  1. They take the car (where they pay what they call "Market Value")
  2. Or, they let the owner keep the car (where they pay less than that)

It's the owners' choice (AFAIK). o But if the owner keeps it, they have to transfer the title to salvage

To get more information on that process, I tried calling the DMV yesterday, but they put me on hold for 4 hours, and, at 5PM sharp, they hung up. o 1-800-777-0133

I tried calling the CHP also, who said that in California you have to pay a shop to certify that the brakes & lights work before DMV will change the title to a salvage title. They said they'd get back to me on how that process works (due to covid people working at home I guess). o 1-800-TELL-CHP

I did call an insurance company who said that the only thing it means to them is if they pay a claim for vehicle damage, then, in the future, for any _new_ damage claim, if it has a salvage title, then they only need to pay half of what they would have paid (had it not had a salvage title).

It's Veteran's day so I'll try to contact DMV again tomorrow.

Reply to
Arlen Holder

Salvage titles work pretty much the same everywhere really. The vehicle VIN is reported to the DMV that it was written off as a total loss. That goes into the system and if someone were to buy it from the auction or insurance company and repair it for use it will have a salvage title issued. In this case the owner will be buying the car back directly which makes the paperwork a bit easier as they can skip a couple fees that someone else would need to do if they bought the car.

The process is almost the same as buying and registering any used car, the difference is the extra steps of the inspection and smog certification and the CHP fee which is basically to check the parts and pieces used in the repair to be sure they are not stolen. Those two can be reversed in process depending on the damage that happened to the vehicle. That is the question you need answered before the others. Here they require the police to run the numbers first, before you can have the inspection done. Cali, used to be that way, but they now have it based on the vehicle.

It will also need to be smogged again.

Reply to
Steve W.

Well, I lived in plenty of states, where nothing works like California. o I did find the California web site on "salvage" title but it's confusing.

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Notice there are two sections: o Revived Junk Vehicle? (top half of that web page) o Revived Salvage Vehicle (bottom half of that web page)

I think the bottom half applies, but it's confusing. o For example, they say without any links whatsoever the following: "Brake and light adjustment certificates"

OK. Fine. Where do you get them? o The web site doesn't say a single thing about that at that line.

When I call the DMV 800 number, I wait for hours, and then they hang up. o 1-800-777-0133

Yes. That's what, I think, the insurance company does. o That apparently starts a 10-day clock (which is the real problem).

Yes. If it were just that easy, it would be as simple as: a. Give me your old title b. Here is your new "salvage" title

But it's apparently not that easy based on the fact that NOBODY seems to know the process but the DMV (and they're not picking up the phone).

In California, EVERY sale requires smog unless the last smog was within 90 days, where the owner selling it is responsible for that smog check.

I'm not sure _who_ the owner is that is "selling" it, since it's the insurance company declaring it as salvage, but I suspect it has to be smogged again no matter what (since it was more than 90 days since the last smog).

The California DMV site intimates a brake & light check is needed o But literally, there's NO INFORMATION WHATSOEVER on how to do that!

I called the CHP today who told me they do NOT do the brake check. o Nor do they do the lights check.

The only thing they do is the VIN check (they said). o 1-800-TELL-CHP

The damage is cosmetic only. o It's totaled but only because the cosmetic damage exceeds the value.

I'm not sure what you mean by "run the numbers"? o The CHP told me they can only verify the VIN number.

But I have no clue yet how the brake & light inspection is to be done.

Yes. It appears that even though it is only cosmetic damage, the vehicle will need to be smogged (about fifty bucks) even though ownership didn't change hands.

BTW, here's what it says, verbatim, at the California DMV site:

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*What is a Revived Salvage Vehicle?* "A Revived Salvage Vehicle is a vehicle previously reported to DMV as a total loss by the owner or insurance company, but has been rebuilt and restored to operational condition. If your total loss/salvage vehicle has been revived, you must register the vehicle again."

*To register your Revived Salvage Vehicle, you will need:*
  1. A completed Application for Title or Registration (REG 343) form, signed by the current vehicle owner(s).
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  2. Proof of ownership, such as a Bill of Sale (REG 135) form or a Vehicle/vessel Transfer and Reassignment (REG 262) form from a licensed dismantler (make sure you include the dismantler's vehicle acquisition number).
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  3. A Verification of Vehicle (REG 31) form or CHP Certificate of Inspection (CHP 97C) form.
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  4. Brake and light adjustment certificates. WTF? There's nothing on _how_ to do that!!!!!! (That's why someone who has been through this can help.)
  5. Applicable fees.
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    The registration fee California Highway Patrol (CHP) fee Vehicle license fee Transportation improvement fee County/district fee
  6. You may need an Application for Salvage Certificate or Nonrepairable Vehicle Certificate (REG 488C).
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  7. You may need a Vehicle/Vessel Transfer and Reassignment (REG 262) form (request a form from DMV by calling 1-800-777-0133.
  8. You may need a Statement of Facts (REG 256) form.
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  9. You may need a Declaration of Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW)/Combined Gross Vehicle Weight (CGW) (REG 4008) form.
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  10. You may need a Permanent Trailer Identification (PTI) Application and Certification (REG 4017) form.
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  11. You may need to surrender existing license plates. (they don't even say why)
  12. You may need a smog certification.
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Reply to
Arlen Holder

On Fri, 13 Nov 2020 23:58:29 -0000 (UTC), Arlen Holder wrote:

For others to benefit from every action taken on Usenet, I just realized adding one more check at the BAR web site nets only "active" licensees...

  1. Call BAR 1-800-952-5210 who says to go to
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    2. Click "License Search"
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    3. Board or Bureau === Automotive Repair, Bureau of
  2. License Type === Brake Station (or Lamp Station)
  3. City === San Jose
  4. Counties === Santa Clara
  5. Primary Status === Active <== this nets only the active ones!
  6. [Search]
  7. Select a station & press [More Detail]
  8. Call them up to ask: a. Do you do Brake? Do you do Light? How much? b. What's the retest fee ('cuz you're gonna need it!) c. What do you test for? etc.

In summary, this "seems" to be the process (please correct where I err): a. Car is damaged by someone else whose insurance accepts fault b. Damages are greater than "market value" of the vehicle c. Insurance gives you two choices (they take it or you keep it) d. If you keep it, insurance gives you less than if they take it e. But if you keep it, insurance files form 481? with the DMV f. You call DMV 1-800-777-0133 (but nobody picks up for hours) g. You call CHP 1-800-TELL-CHP (but they're like, "talk to DMV") h. Your own insurance company tells you they only pay half of what they would otherwise pay for the _next_ accident's repairs; otherwise, it doesn't matter to them salvage title or not. i. You go to DMV web site which is rather complex & confusing:

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j. It seems you have 10 days to get a "Salvage Title" k. Then when you fix the car, you get a "Revived Salvage Title" l. That isn't so easy because it has a ton of forms to get filled out. m. One of those is a brake inspection; another is a light inspection. n. Those aren't so easy given it has to meet "new" specs (see above). o. You also have to surrender the old plates (and get new plates) p. Surprisingly, you do not need to get smogged (normal smog rules apply). q. For $50, the DMV (not the CHP) does the VIN verification... unless.... r. If the car meets a "secret formula", then the CHP verifies the VIN s. You can't make an appointment at the DMV anymore (Covid rules) t. But you can wait in line and do it all at the DMV when you do u. Bring the old title, B&L certifications (that's two of them), old plates, application for title, old registration, and money.

After all that, you have the same car, with a different title and different license plates, and a whole 'lotta less money.

Reply to
Arlen Holder

Forgot to add, your car is still a piece of crap

Reply to
Arlene.Holder

If you're going to be a cowardly childish troll, whomever you are that posted that infantile impersonation, at least learn basic skills on how to modify your NNTP headers to match those of mine.

Reply to
Arlen Holder

I think a lot of the California weirdness is intended to deal with people with million-dollar exotic vehicles. This is much less of an issue in the South.

In Virginia, once a vehicle is salvaged, repaired, then titled as rebuilt, you get a REBUILT on your title, and have no serious problems with insurance. However, getting titled as rebuilt requires an inspection to make sure no stolen parts were used, and once you have REBUILT on your title the DMV now can't do any of the paperwork for anything locally, so any minor title changes have to be sent to Richmond where they will take several weeks.

Once you have salvage or rebuilt on your car's title it is effectively not possible to get it removed in many states, whereas in some other states it can be done. So you will see people trading registration from state to state in an attempt to clean up titles on million-dollar exotics. This is apparently legal and not too difficult if you own additional residences in a number of states.

--scott

Reply to
Scott Dorsey

That's the great thing about cars. If you wait long enough and you take care of it, your old piece of crap turns into a valuable vintage motorcar. That obnoxious kid with the broken-down old Stutz Bearcat? Now he is a distinguished elderly gentleman with an elegant but worn Stutz Bearcat.

--scott

Reply to
Scott Dorsey

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