Turning a salvage title into a clean title
 

If I buy a car back from the insurance agency, and get a salvage title for it, is there a way to turn that into a clean title easily? Do I fix what is wrong, then get an inspection? Or do I have to do the old kentucky trick?

Salvage title stays a salvage title. If you sell that vehicle assuming you could clear the title and do not disclose the fact it was a salvage vehicle and the unsuspecting buyer found out you would be in a lot of trouble.

no

Yeah.... if you are really slimy.... you can title the car in Mississippi.... you don't even have to take the car there.... just transfer the title papers... wait for the new title and plates... BUT and that is a BUT as big as Jennifer Lopez's...... you CANNOT ever title that car in the state that issued the salvaged title...and with carfax and insurance companies getting on the bandwagon, if they run the VIN it is going to come up salvaged... I know it isn't always fair, because sometimes if the car was stripped... and only interior parts were taken... and structurally the car is good.... it's going to get a salvage title if the car was "totaled". Laws vary from state to state... and like FWK says... if you fail to disclose this upon sale... you are leaving yourself open for a lawsuit. Some insurance companies won't even insure a car that has a salvage title. Years ago a dealership was vandalized by someone spraying paint stripper on cars... Their insurance company "totalled" all the cars... even though they were new... never in an accident... they got salvage titles... tough deal.

Carfax and other online car-history services WILL ALWAYS show the title fraud. You can get a title that says clean, but the title history will show otherwise.

1) CAN you hop states and lose the salvage stamp? Sure. Not hard to do at all.

2) In most states, though, title fraud is prosecutable back to the individual level.

Ussually if it is your car the title will not change hands and will not show as a salvage.

Yeah, that's just what you need, more legal problems.

Don't be a scammer. Do the right thing---Remember, what goes around comes around!!

If you buy it cheap enough you can then donate it to whatever group and take the full retail price as deduction on your takes and the IRS is none the wiser. A car you buy back for $2000 and donate it for $15000 is a $5000 tax deduction in 30% bracket for a net gain of $3000.

Going from salvage to tagable title requires a lone documentation trail- photos before ond after, reciepts, inspections. It's not that easy unless you're a body shop.

i believe we discussed this once previously.

you can do it but its not legal

It is very legal and done all of the time except a title history will show previous history of the salvage. It must undergo inspection and you will then receive a clean title, however will show salvage history if one was to look further. The new title will ussually show no indication of this but must be disclosed at time of sale.
Read here about laws in georgia

http://www.gadmvs.com/motor/titles/needed/salvage.asp

Some states vary for example florida. By the way Carfax does not pick it up always. I have done a few that carfax did not have info on. Salvage vehicles can be just as good as a new vehicle, for example a salvage that was nothing but a theft recovery missing a few bolt on parts.

DITTO

All I've ever driven are salvage cars, from mustangs and corvettes to mercedes 500sl convertibles to my recent cadillac escalade. Back in the day you could wash titles, but like stated with carfax its pointless. A salvage title will become a "rebuilt" title after inspection. If you buy the car right, you can usually always sell it for a profit, even with a "bad" title, try doing that with a dealer bought car. These cars are'nt for everyone,but I've enjoyed some nice rides that i would never have bought at retail $. just my .02

if it is your car and you buy it back from the insurance company it will not be a salvage title.

yes it can if thats the ins. co. policy

repairable cars has been my biz and i hold salvage agent licences for almost every state in the u.s.

there is NO way to turn salvage into clean, even the old kentucky trick will not work anymore, there is always a paper trail

washing the title exposes you to major legal issues, don't bother:eek:

Every car I have ever owned has been a total. but my dad used to have a body shop and has a lot of friends in the business. There probably aren't many people my age with 3 vehicles that are owned outright with no payments. I did most of the work myself on my vehicles and have done some paintwork on others cars and boats. The thing about getting a salvage title is they are hard for individuals to sell. My dad builds a lot of wrecked cars, but not many with salvage titles. My latest project was a 99 camaro. It is finished and I have under 4k in it as far as labor and everything. It was a wedding/college graduation present for my wife. She never had a car through out college.

Ernie

before

during

after...

by the way if you don't know what you are doing these projects can take years..... A freind of mine saw how fast I was getting my cars completed and decided to start a restore on his car. That was 4 years ago, and he now has a 73 427 corvette that he still owes a bank money on in about 100000000 peices. If you don't have the equipment of the knowledge or the space to take on something like this..... don't.

Ernie

Correct, I just did this last week. After my truck was brought to the body shop my insurance company decided it was totalled. The guy at the shop was VERY interested in buying it back from ME. I got the money minus the salvage value from the insurance company. Then the body shop bought the truck from me. The transaction went as if it was a normal sale. The insurance companies have a formula to go by. It depends on the age, type of damage, and value of the vehicle whether they will let this happen.

This was totally legal but I am wondering how ethical this type of thing is. Now that I am looking for a vehicle, possibly a used one, I would like to know if it was extensively damaged.

Don't be a scammer. Do the right thing---Remember, what goes around comes around!!

SO DAMN TRUE

How much will the salvage title affect my resale? I paid 200, KBB is 4200.

If you document the car from trash to flash in a photo album, it will go a long way towards helping that unit retain a better portion of an undamaged unit.

On the other hand, if it is a basket case now then no amount of pix will make somebody feel okay about it.

How bad does it hurt it? Depends on what it is.

figure 30% off book, maybe a little more depending on how desirable of car it is

Good advice. The documentation is the key. If it is just a stripper or a sheet metal damage then you will not loose much value as long as you can show that the repairs were done correctly.

Jon