Can you get rid of a salvage title?

No......

Technically you can (and early 5 digit VINs make it easier possibly)....there are some States notorious for "losing' the Salvage notation.

But a modern 17 digit VIN...not worth the effort.

 

I think a buy back might skirt the process actually, it gets branded "Salvage" as it goes thru the insurance auction process, to my understanding.

 

It's state-by-state, but the buy back doesn't usually skirt the process, because you're buying it back for the salvage value from the insurance company.

It is actually illegal to wipe the title clean. There are two states that I know of that have been somewhat notorious in the past for loopholes that dealers use to clean titles.

 

its better to have the car inspected by the State after proper repairs and get a "rebuilt" title, as its less of a smear on resale. "washing" a title is illegal, and can bite ya in the butt later.

 

Mark
Glad to see that you're trying to put your car right again. For me, a salvage title would not be a deal killer if I were buying it in the future considering everything you've put into the car. I suggest that you carefully document the repairs to the engine. Its not like your car has been in a flood where its electrical future would always be in doubt. You had a massive mechanical failure - it happens. I know of at least one 2 valve owner who is currently shopping to get the sodium valves replaced. Not sure how that will go dollar wise but the suggestions that have been made to find a QV or 328 engine to stick in your car make some sense. So it won't be original and you lose a small segment of buyers but there's not that many truely "original" cars out there anyway. You're going to take a hit on resale value vs. the money you'll have spent no matter how you look at it. Bad things happen to good people. Your past threads have had a common sense of huge enthusiasm - it sounds like you still have that going for you. I hope that you will be rewarded with lots of joyful driving in the future with a car thats stronger and beautiful (wow..that paint job!) to behold. I know that Dave Helms will help you in any way he can - as he says "its all about passion"!

 

In NJ If you owned your car out-right before the accident - that is you held the title, and then you bought the salvaged car back again - you have the title so the insurance company can't mark it salvage. It could be done electronically with the state, but my insurance company said they wouldn't bother as most others wouldn't.

I dont know about other states. I was just checking on a car here in NJ & found this out.

 

Its a bad scenario.. Having a rebuilt car with a salvage title is not the worst thing ever.. My car has had a title wash twice (found out after I bought her).. There is more trouble for you if you did not disclose what happened with the car if you were going to sell it.. In NJ you must disclose.. if not the person that bought the car from you can take you to court and receive a minimum of three times the purchase price.. that is the minimum.. the only advantage of not submitting the title in would be that you would be responsible for branding the title with motor vehicle - which in most cases is never done because then you would need to have the car inspected by the state before you can re-register. Its a pain in the ass.. WHat your trying to do is against the law..

R

 

Your insurance covered a mechanical failure? i though they didn't do that.

Doug

 

Depends on the state. I (in OR) got into a year long fight with an insurance company (in CA) over a fender bender where they disputed the amount of damaged their client caused. They put a damaged title on my car as pressure on me to settle. DMV tells me I can do nothing, only the insurance company can reverse it. I'm sure this can't be true elsewhere.

 

Just curious... ethically... why you would want to do this? Obviously for resale
value. But how would you feel if you bought a car that had "salvage" on its title
expunged and you never knew it (but later learned this through some forum based
post on the S/N of the car)?

Just seems a lot like undoing the odometer sender to "keep the miles low"

Just my 2 cents and nothing personal....

Jedi

 

I had a car that was totaled in CA years ago. I purchased back, car never went out of my possession and I got a check in the mail. I still had my original title, but it was branded through the DMV so when I sold it years later the next owner got the salvage title. Again, state by state.

 

I have seen situations like this several times with different insurance companys and different kinds of special interest cars. Each time the ins co has negotiated a settlement amount, and then the ins co makes a pay out against the vin number. Because the titled owner of the car just received a payment on a claim, transfer of title never transpired hence- NO SALVAGE TITLE ever was created. This happened in my city to a 87 328 GTB in the early 90's. This pristine an near new car was hit by a over the road tractor trailer and dragged down the highway eight hundred feet. It was delivered to a local body shop who immediately kited up a very large bill. The ins co wanted to total. The owner knew the car could be fixed for less but he did not want to own it any more. He accepted a smaller ins pay out, and keep the car. The owner then sold the damaged car (with clear title) to different repair shop who- hung a used door on it -repaired the B pillar and left side of the car-installed a used rear wheel- 4 new tires (to replace the flat spotted originals) and painted the left side of the car. done fixed! the car was sold on down the road with a clean title. the only unhappy part was a couple of years later when, at a local club function a new guy showed up with his (just purchased) car (first ferrari). All the guys at the meeting knew and told him the history of his car. Must have been a big bubble burster for him. Moral of the story IN THIS CASE -do a "car fax" - and join the local club and ask questions.

 

Hopefully it will move over into the Exotic car arena... Obviously FCA judges haven't dropped their gaze enough to see this happening in other places but in many hot-rod shows now they have gotten to a point where cars are so "perfect" that they are awarding bonus points to cars that HAVE salvage titles. Which I think is cool way to settle a tie-breaker!!! Especially in the case of cars that are stolen and stripped and declared totaled when there was no damage done.

I'd much rather see these cars on the road with a salvage title than parted out... even if that is to our benefit.

Rick

 

I'm interested in hearing more about this part. How will USAA cover damage to the engine from a dropped valve?

 

The company ay decide to pay for what was a result of the failure.. not the valve itself.. If he recently had some work done on the car this may be a subrogatable claim. He has a shot.. A really good one..

R

 

Personally I find all these shenanigans pretty repugnant as they tend to drive up insurance costs and lend further credence to the widely held belief that anyone in the car business is a crook.

I have seen a Jag XJ12 get an engine completely rebuilt by the owners insurance company allegedly because sugar was poured into the fuel tank. Seemed pretty bogus at the time.

Another person hit a deer, sustained over $10K damage to his XK8. Insurance company totaled, owner (who had clear title) bought it back & had it repaired. His plan was to re-license the car in another state where he has a residence before the insurance company could "brand" the title. Not sure if that worked or not.

 

Based on all the flooding going on. Don't want to get stuck with a waterlog car someday.

 

Good luck Mark. I'd be interested in the details also in case confronted with something similar.

 

Ethically this is a fine line to walk. Its all about "disclosure". We all recommend, when buying a car, that you get the service records. What will those records show? Oil changes, belts done, etc. and probably that in the life of a 28 year old car, that something wore out or got broken AND was properly fixed or replaced. Should the fact that I'm having my brake booster and master cylinder replaced cloud the title? On the contrary, It will reassure a prospective buyer that the brakes are in as new condition. Would I slip that invoice out of the records to "hide" this repair? Of course not! This is all about dollars and sense and there are good guys and bad guys. The bad guys roll back odometers and sell flood damaged cars. The insurance companies make their settlements based on financial sense. The "ethics" depends on what Mark choses to disclose when he sells the car. He'll probably say "great paint job and fully rebuilt engine" with invoices from Dave Helms to prove it. A buyer would know more good things about the car and would be more reassured about its condition. In some ways, its better to know that you're buying a car that already HAS dropped a valve rather than one that's just about to.

I bought my one owner QV with 85K miles on it. Stupid, most would say, but it came with invoices that showed that the owner had gotten the engine fully rebuilt - liners, pistons, valves, etc. Had a PPI done by Bobileff with good results. I knew there would be age issues with some hoses and other bits but the price was fair and the car has been good to me.

It appears to me that Mark is just trying to get the best out of a bad situation created by insurance company's normal practices. At the end of the day, if he sells the car he will be honest and "ethical" - or not. Time will tell.

 

That's exactly my question. If it's your car, you don't care. If your going to sell it the next guy, he's going to care.

I'd buy a salvaged car if it was properly priced and repaired. But, I'd be pretty upset to find the title had been washed without my knowledge before purchasing.