What is a Salvage Title & How to Sell a Salvage Car

The Meaning of a Salvage Title on a Car

What does salvage title mean? A vehicle has a salvage title when an insurance company takes ownership of it at the end of an insurance claim when the damaged vehicle is declared a total loss, or it would cost more to repair the vehicle than it is worth. A vehicle can also be given a salvage title if it was stolen and recovered after the insurance claim was completed and the owner was paid by the insurance company. Vehicles with salvage titles are known as salvage cars. You can get a free quote for your salvage car, or read on to find out more about how vehicle title brands affect the price of your car.

How to Sell a Salvage Car

	Enter vehicle details By filling out our form with accurate information on DamagedCars.com, we can give you an instant offer on some vehicles or contact you with a guaranteed offer shortly after you click “Submit for Offer.”
	Accept your Offer Happy with the offer? Provide proof of ownership and we will schedule the pick-up of your car and deliver payment at the same time.
	Get paid! We will hand you a check during the car pick up.

What Is a Salvage Title and What's a Rebuilt Title Mean?

Salvage title cars can’t be driven on the road. In order to become road-legal again, salvage cars must be repaired and, then, inspected by the state. Once the state deems the vehicle road-worthy, the salvage title can be converted into a rebuilt title, also known as a title with salvage history. The car and title are then road-legal, but the title will always have a note, or a title brand, showing the vehicle was previously a salvage car. Selling a rebuilt title car is often more difficult than a vehicle with a clean title status, particularly to dealerships. 

Salvage Title Cars

Title brands are marks, stamps or notes on a title showing the title history of a vehicle. In the case of salvage titles and rebuilt titles, these title brands can be general or specifically denote the type of damage and reason for which the car received its salvage title. A title with no brands is said to be a clear title, clean title or normal title. Common title brands include:

• Salvage
• Junk
• Totaled
• Lemon (Warranty Return)
• Flood (Water Damage)
• Rebuilt
• Remanufactured
• Theft
• Fleet
• Non-USA
• Fire
• Abandoned

Can I Sell a Salvage Title Car?

You can sell a salvage title car, but you should be careful and thorough when you do. Selling a salvage title car has different requirements for each state. Trying to hide a salvage title is a misdemeanor in most states and you can be fined for doing so. You may have to provide written notice to the salvage car buyer of the salvage title branded status before you even attempt to sell. Once you've figured these details out, how to sell a salvage car is a bit easier.

Can You Trade-In a Car with a Salvage Title?

You should be able to trade-in a salvage title vehicle, but it will depend on the car dealer. Massive nationwide dealers like CarMax may be more eager to accept your salvage title car, but smaller privately owned dealerships probably aren't interested. It's more work for them, and harder for a used car dealer to resell. Plus, the value of your car may have depreciated between 10% and 50% of a vehicle's NADA or Kelley Blue Book Value of the same make, model and year.

What is my salvage car worth?

Calculating the value of your salvage car requires taking into account quite a large number of variables. Year, make, model, trim and mileage are just the start. As the car still has a salvage title, it isn’t drivable. This generally means the car is heavily damaged, so damaged that the insurance company declared it a total loss. Therefore, the extent of damage needs to be taken into account. This is best done using a repair estimate. You can also click the button below to see how much your salvage car is worth.

Selling a Salvage Car

Before an accident, a used car’s value is fairly readily available. In insurance circles, that value is known as its ACV or actual cash value. ACV is calculated by subtracting the dollar amount of depreciation from replacement cost of the car. By taking a vehicle’s ACV and subtracting the cost of repairs to be performed, you get the salvage value. The salvage value is a starting point of calculating what your salvage car is worth.

HOW MUCH IS YOUR SALVAGE CAR WORTH

What does "salvage title" mean?

Starting with the salvage value, you then make additions to or subtractions from that amount for things like damage type, vehicle rarity, location, vehicle demand and whether the damage is mechanical, cosmetic or both. The exact same car with the exact same repair estimate will be worth more if it has mechanical damage than if it has fire damage.

If the salvage car is a theft-recovery with no damage, it will be worth more than a damaged vehicle. If after a close inspection, you find that the theft-recovery car doesn’t need any repair, you can have it inspected and made road-legal faster and for less cost.

How to Sell a Car with a Salvage Title

Selling a car with a salvage title isn’t easy if you try to go through the usual channels of listing a car online, trading it in or selling it to a dealership. Most people don’t want to go through the hassle of buying a salvage car. 

You can fix the car and have it inspected. Then, you can sell the rebuilt car. After all of that expense, time and hassle, you’ll have a car that is salable, but you will still have to take up to 50-percent off of the car’s value with no damage history. The best process of how to sell a salvage car is doing it online. DamagedCars.com is a specialist of buying cars with salvage titles.

We Buy Salvage Title Cars at Fair Prices

The best bet is to sell your salvage car to a buyer who specializes in buying damaged and salvage vehicles. DamagedCars.com will give you a no-obligation, guaranteed offer for your car, no matter if it has a salvage title, clean title or rebuilt title. Just click the get an offer button and you can be paid for your car in as little as 24 to 48 hours. At DamagedCars.com, we buy cars in less-than-perfect condition, nationwide.

Click to Get an Offer

We Buy and Pick Up Damaged Cars, Nationwide!

Before thinking about where to find a junk yard near me, you can see this list of areas where we serve to buy your junk car. We provide instant cash offers and free pick up your damaged vehicle in as little as 24-48 hours.

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