Salvage title Bronco?

[rockriders]

I've never seen a rebuilt title here in California. Even a small fender bender can salvage a car out.

 

[DirtDonk]

Yeah, still not sure myself how that all works. But with an old vehicle with little value to the insurance company that totals it, then someone re-buys it or gets it from a salvage yard or auction as-is, then it could be a perfectly good vehicle with a salvage title.
It does not have to get rebuilt to get re-registered. Just registered to the new owners as "salvage" and that's it.

I'm sure there's a ton I don't know about it, because I've never researched it. But it takes very little for an insurance company to total a car. Especially an older one. And since we don't know how long it's been a salvage (do we rockriders?) then it could have been years ago before they were worth more than a couple of thousand dollars at the most in the insurance provider's eyes.

I'm guessing that the only thing needed to get it back on the road is a basic safety inspection. And that only once initially most likely. Not sure about the seller in my case, and won't know until I try to sell it on later.

Paul

 

[Whoaa]

A couple of other ways that cars can get a rebuilt/salvage title status is from a theft recovery & forfeiture.

If a car is stolen, and not recovered for a long time but eventually recovered. the ins company pays it off. Ultimately it gets sold at auction w/ a branded title. In this case its very possible the car was never damaged, but nonetheless now has a rebuilt title for the rest of its life.

In some felony DUI's and drug forfeiture cases the car sits in an impound lot for 1 1/2 years while the criminal case grinds through the system. Eventually the car is sold at auction w/ a court order and paper work that you take to DMV to get a title, likely the car has never been damaged...but once again its a branded title as rebuilt.

There is always some story and something going on with these branded title cars. Often times the new owner has no way of really knowing the back story of the car. IMO, the best course of action is to base your value on the merits of how the car appears today when buying/selling.