Insurance claim
Long time Californian with a salvage title 93 Chevy K-1500 Silverado here. In my experience a salvage title, at least in the Golden State, is no sweat. I've bought several cars and a truck from junkyards. My Silverado, very clean with 125k miles, had been donated to a charitable organization and from there it ended up at the local CoPart at auction and was bought by a local auto wrecker. I happened to walk in their yard looking for parts for my 88 Jeep Cherokee but also in the market for something newer. Took a look and saw that it was well taken care of it. Interior was clean with no wear and it had an expensive set of mildly worn Michelin tires. It ran well and they only wanted $1500. Under the seat I found some service records and the receipt for the tow from the owner's driveway on behalf of the charitable organization. I paid the man and got a small wad of documents to take with me to the DMV also a pretty nice, new to me truck with no license plates. The plates are destroyed and the original title and registration along with a junk slip is turned into the DMV. The vehicles past is wiped away. The only way to properly register the vehicle and get new plates is to file for a Salvage Title. To do this you have to meet a few very modest conditions. You need to get a lamp inspection, a brake inspection and it needs to pass a smog test. You may need to perform some repairs to achieve compliance. That's on you. Finally you must have the vehicle identification number verified. This can be done by a friendly, local California Highway Patrolman (only CHP is authorized) or by visiting your local Department of Motor Vehicles and ask for an inspector to perform the verification. If your acquisition was a simple purchase like mine was this is nothing to worry about. If you have managed to cobble together a vehicle from the parts of two or more the inspection can take a little time as the inspector determines if your assembly is on the level or if you are trying to pull a fast one by laundering stolen components into a legitimate title. It can get complicated at times. Once you collect all of your required certificates take them inside the DMV office. You're already there getting the VIN verified. Take a number and wait. When your number is called present yourself at the appointed window, smile and suppress your feelings of dread and push your sheaf of documents across the counter. Tell the clerk why you are there and what you want. Don't worry, they've seen it all before. You're not the first to submit paperwork stained orange by your finger tips covered in Cheeto-cheadle. Pay the new registration fee and receive a new temporary title and registration, new license plates and registration stickers. The official title will be mailed to you and it will clearly state that it is a salvage title. Someone before me claimed that the shameful Scarlet letter S can be removed by the simple correction of any issues that took the vehicle off the road. I do not believe this to be so. When the plates are destroyed and the junk slip filed the vehicle starts a second legal life. This new title and registration disconnects the vehicle from the encumbrance of previous owners. In reality you won't know who they are although Carfax still has the anonymous service information. In my case the service documents and tow receipt I found identified the original and only other owner to me. I got a one owner truck and the service records confirmed the mileage at 125K. Legally I wasn't supposed to see that information but **** happens. The Salvage Title is the way the state accounts for the fact that the vehicles plates and title had been turned in to the State for any reason whatsoever. Mine was used as a tax deduction. Whatever trouble the previous owner got into I assume no legal responsibility or liability and he has been alleviated of any concern over what I might do with the truck. There was no trouble. Truck was owned by an older adult couple who may have had a camper shell on it. The service has been routine and the truck has been reliable. The Chevy 350 delivers horrendous gas mileage, between 10 and 12mpg no matter how I drive it.It's the only thing I really dislike about it. Suggestions for improvement are welcome.
Happy story with a Happy ending. My other happy salvage title story involved a 1986 Plymouth Horizon, red with red velour interior, with 40K one owner miles from Missouri that had an unhappy ending when it and I became car number 6 in a 25 car pile up in the Caldecott tunnel one wet winter evening. My insurance company CSAA informed me that they determined I was 51% at fault and rejected my claim. Evidently most of the participants were found 51% at fault by their insurance companies.
So my experiences in the Land of the Lotus Eaters with the Salvage Title situation has been good and I say do not fear the experience. There are as many reasons for good vehicles to end up being retitled as there are types of vehicle owners, it takes all kinds. Hope this screed helped clarify Salvage Titles ala Californian while not being too long winded and self serving which I will agree that it was, somewhat. I'm not an expert or a lawyer. This is not legal advice. YMMV.
I don't care how they do it where you come from. It honestly sounds like a clusterfuck in some parts of the country. California has a massive state government with a massive bureaucracy run by millions of ambitious energetic state employees who have worked hard to improve how things get done here. Sometimes they succeed. It's not a total failure. Also let me know if I've left out anything important. I've been known to do that
Photos taken the day I found my truck in the junk yard and one week later
Long time Californian with a salvage title 93 Chevy K-1500 Silverado here. In my experience a salvage title, at least in the Golden State, is no sweat. I've bought several cars and a truck from junkyards. My Silverado, very clean with 125k miles, had been donated to a charitable organization and from there it ended up at the local CoPart at auction and was bought by a local auto wrecker. I happened to walk in their yard looking for parts for my 88 Jeep Cherokee but also in the market for something newer. Took a look and saw that it was well taken care of it. Interior was clean with no wear and it had an expensive set of mildly worn Michelin tires. It ran well and they only wanted $1500. Under the seat I found some service records and the receipt for the tow from the owner's driveway on behalf of the charitable organization. I paid the man and got a small wad of documents to take with me to the DMV also a pretty nice, new to me truck with no license plates. The plates are destroyed and the original title and registration along with a junk slip is turned into the DMV. The vehicles past is wiped away. The only way to properly register the vehicle and get new plates is to file for a Salvage Title. To do this you have to meet a few very modest conditions. You need to get a lamp inspection, a brake inspection and it needs to pass a smog test. You may need to perform some repairs to achieve compliance. That's on you. Finally you must have the vehicle identification number verified. This can be done by a friendly, local California Highway Patrolman (only CHP is authorized) or by visiting your local Department of Motor Vehicles and ask for an inspector to perform the verification. If your acquisition was a simple purchase like mine was this is nothing to worry about. If you have managed to cobble together a vehicle from the parts of two or more the inspection can take a little time as the inspector determines if your assembly is on the level or if you are trying to pull a fast one by laundering stolen components into a legitimate title. It can get complicated at times. Once you collect all of your required certificates take them inside the DMV office. You're already there getting the VIN verified. Take a number and wait. When your number is called present yourself at the appointed window, smile and suppress your feelings of dread and push your sheaf of documents across the counter. Tell the clerk why you are there and what you want. Don't worry, they've seen it all before. You're not the first to submit paperwork stained orange by your finger tips covered in Cheeto-cheadle. Pay the new registration fee and receive a new temporary title and registration, new license plates and registration stickers. The official title will be mailed to you and it will clearly state that it is a salvage title. Someone before me claimed that the shameful Scarlet letter S can be removed by the simple correction of any issues that took the vehicle off the road. I do not believe this to be so. When the plates are destroyed and the junk slip filed the vehicle starts a second legal life. This new title and registration disconnects the vehicle from the encumbrance of previous owners. In reality you won't know who they are although Carfax still has the anonymous service information. In my case the service documents and tow receipt I found identified the original and only other owner to me. I got a one owner truck and the service records confirmed the mileage at 125K. Legally I wasn't supposed to see that information but **** happens. The Salvage Title is the way the state accounts for the fact that the vehicles plates and title had been turned in to the State for any reason whatsoever. Mine was used as a tax deduction. Whatever trouble the previous owner got into I assume no legal responsibility or liability and he has been alleviated of any concern over what I might do with the truck. There was no trouble. Truck was owned by an older adult couple who may have had a camper shell on it. The service has been routine and the truck has been reliable. The Chevy 350 delivers horrendous gas mileage, between 10 and 12mpg no matter how I drive it.It's the only thing I really dislike about it. Suggestions for improvement are welcome.
Happy story with a Happy ending. My other happy salvage title story involved a 1986 Plymouth Horizon, red with red velour interior, with 40K one owner miles from Missouri that had an unhappy ending when it and I became car number 6 in a 25 car pile up in the Caldecott tunnel one wet winter evening. My insurance company CSAA informed me that they determined I was 51% at fault and rejected my claim. Evidently most of the participants were found 51% at fault by their insurance companies.
So my experiences in the Land of the Lotus Eaters with the Salvage Title situation has been good and I say do not fear the experience. There are as many reasons for good vehicles to end up being retitled as there are types of vehicle owners, it takes all kinds. Hope this screed helped clarify Salvage Titles ala Californian while not being too long winded and self serving which I will agree that it was, somewhat. I'm not an expert or a lawyer. This is not legal advice. YMMV.
I don't care how they do it where you come from. It honestly sounds like a clusterfuck in some parts of the country. California has a massive state government with a massive bureaucracy run by millions of ambitious energetic state employees who have worked hard to improve how things get done here. Sometimes they succeed. It's not a total failure. Also let me know if I've left out anything important. I've been known to do that
Photos taken the day I found my truck in the junk yard and one week later