All You Need to Know About Repaired Salvage Cars For Sale

Imagine you are exploring a respected used car inventory website when that sexy coupe or crossover of your dreams grabs your attention. The thing is, the vehicle you have your eye on is accompanied by a price that seems too good to be true – indeed, as you continue to scan the information about the vehicle, you come across two words printed in miniscule copy: “Salvage Title.”

Let’s get some details out of the way first regarding what this means: A salvage title indicates that a vehicle has suffered some type of significant damage in its history. Cars and trucks that carry them can indeed present inexpensive options for shoppers on a budget, provided they are aware of what they’re buying. As experts in offering repaired salvage cars for sale, you can be sure R&R Car Sales knows a thing or two about educating buyers about these types of vehicles.

Understanding How Vehicles Acquire “Salvaged” Status

When a vehicle has been involved in an accident and the total damage extends beyond a certain percentage of the value of the car or truck – often ranging from 75-percent to 90-percent – most insurance carriers will deem it “not economically feasible” for the vehicle to be repaired, ultimately declaring it a “total loss.” What occurs next is state-dependent, but in a general sense, the motor vehicle agency then issues a “salvage” or “junk” certificate for the vehicle, meaning that the car or truck cannot be sold, driven or registered in its current condition.

The insurance carrier/company normally sells the vehicle to either a parts dismantler or repair facility, with most states requiring – if the car or truck is repaired – that it passes a basic safety inspection prior to being issued a new title. When the state does issue the title, it is considered “branded” so that future owners know the vehicle has either been rebuilt or salvaged. The best course of action in these matters is to check your own state’s laws on repaired salvage cars for sale.

There is a myriad of issues that must be resolved before rescuing a salvaged “diamond-in-the-rough” vehicle from the junk pile and restoring it to street-working-order, and one of the most pressing is related to titling.

The Steps for “Removing” a Salvage Title

As this blog was meant to focus on how repaired salvage cars for sale can receive a clean title, the following are summarized steps usually taken to “remove” the reference “salvage” from a title:

• Vehicle Purchase – This may or may not be as simple as it sounds; there are select states that will only permit rebuilders who are licensed to buy or own a salvage title vehicle. We at R&R Car Sales ensure these vehicles are repaired and go through the inspection and re-branding process.
• Vehicle Repair – This is where the vehicle is fixed by a certified mechanic who is competent in such repairs – also, any and all paperwork related to the vehicle is kept and a plethora of pictures before and during the repair process are taken.
• Vehicle Inspection – Accredited and reliable businesses such as ours will gather and complete the required DMV forms so a salvaged vehicle can be inspected (this is where those photos and all of that paperwork we just mentioned come into play). Once the vehicle has passed inspection, the inspector will affix a decal to the vehicle identifying a passing grade.
• Paperwork Forms – This is where an application for the re-branded title is requested, which requires filling out additional forms and perhaps paying more fees; after this point, the title is secured and received with a statement branded on its face indicating it’s a rebuilt vehicle.

Here’s one more thing to keep in mind: If a vehicle receives its salvage title in a different state, it may have to be inspected and re-branded in that state before it can be registered in the buyer’s home state. All these factors and more can be explained in greater detail by getting in touch with one of our representatives.