Auto salvage titles in Texas

[texbaylea]

I have been looking for an old but serviceable pickup. Ran onto a good prospect in the local Graigs list but it has a salvage title. What has to be done to get a full title on a working vehicle?

I delayed doing anything beyond talking to the owner while I loaded AutoTap Diagnostic Scanner software on my new laptop. When I was ready to go look at the truck the ad had disappeared

Thought I had better check out the matter of salvage titles while I look for another truck.

If you need good software for checking out your OBDII vehicle go to

AutoTap - OBDII Diagnostic Scanner

Lots of good information on that site.

Vernon

 

[WTA]

I don't think you can convert it to a regular title again here. I haven't tried it though in this state. That's just what I've been told. I have junked a lot of them but never tried to go that way. I'm trying to get a salvage title on an old truck now. I tried to help a kid in the Army out almost 3 years ago now and it's still sitting in my back yard. He's out of time now.

 

[gordon21]

In some states, a salvage title means that the vehicle was totaled and then rebuilt. The title is a warning that you are getting a vehicle that has had major work done. Buyer beware. Think floods and really bad accidents with bent frames. It can be re-registered as along as it passes the inspection process in place in your state.

In other states, salvage means that it will not be able to be run on the roads again. You could use it for parts, farm use only, etc. Any set of circumstances where it will not be registered. If you had a big farm, that might be an excellent deal assuming it was not a flood victim. All those wiring harnesses up under the dash don't like water. even if they are dried out, the process of slow corrosion has begun. It is only a matter of time before all the electrical things quit working one by one.

 

[Bird]

Vernon, try reading a bit on this state site about salvage titles.

It's pretty much like the first sentence Gordon's reply. One of my brothers used to drive a one ton crew cab dually Ford that had a salvage title. A woman had owned it to pull her horse trailer and a big tree fell across the bed in a windstorm. The damage was extensive enough that her insurance company totalled it. But then it was rebuilt, sold, and put back on the road.

 

[Inspector507]

Here, in the city that I work in, they sell off police impounded vehicles and city retired vehicles at auction. Every one of them is sold with a salvage title. You can't license it until it passes an inspection by the Ohio Highway Patrol. You have to tow it to them for the inspection. Impounded vehicles will probably come with no keys, so you have to deal with that, but the inspection is not a big deal if it's road worthy.

So salvage titles will vary by state.

 

[BruceR]

I don't think you can convert it to a regular title again here. I haven't tried it though in this state. That's just what I've been told. I have junked a lot of them but never tried to go that way. I'm trying to get a salvage title on an old truck now. I tried to help a kid in the Army out almost 3 years ago now and it's still sitting in my back yard. He's out of time now.

I worked my way through college in a body shop in E. Texas. At that time ( late 70's early 80's ) you could take a vehicle with a salvage title to LA and get a good title. Then you could drive back to TX and re-register it here and have a good title. Texas caught on to this and started keeping a data base on Salvage vehicle VIN's so that now they will show as salvage even if re-registered in another state and then returned here.

Bruce

 

[BruceR]

I don't think you can convert it to a regular title again here. I haven't tried it though in this state. That's just what I've been told. I have junked a lot of them but never tried to go that way. I'm trying to get a salvage title on an old truck now. I tried to help a kid in the Army out almost 3 years ago now and it's still sitting in my back yard. He's out of time now.

I worked my way through college in a body shop in E. Texas. At that time ( late 70's early 80's ) you could take a vehicle with a salvage title to LA and get a good title. Then you could drive back to TX and re-register it here and have a good title. We had a local judge that was fond of buying totals, having us fix them and then re-selling them this way. Texas caught on to this and started keeping a data base on Salvage vehicle VIN's so that now they will show as salvage even if re-registered in another state and then returned here.

It's still a marketable title, just put's everyone on notice. Do not mean vehicle was totaled, there are other reasons as well.
Bruce

 

[Rch]

I've rehabbed 3 cars with salvage titles in WI over last 2 years ( See "Rehab a late model repairable" this forum posted yesterday) I bought the cars from henrysrepairables.com and starautosales.com in MN & SD respectively. I got a title from MN or SD with "salvaged vehicle" with my name on it.

To get the vehicles licensed they had to be inspected by an authorized inspector (Here it's a side job for the state cops - cost about $90 ) You can legally drive to the inspection place with no plates. This was Saturn dealer and he gets ~ $20 for use of the stall. You'll have to pay the sales tax so keep track of any parts you bought and if you paid sales tax or not. The cop/inspector wants photos of the car when you bought it and receipts for all parts. He wants to make sure the vehicle is not stolen or repaired with stolen parts so don't cover-up serial numbers of repaired parts and replacement parts, be they new or used, have to have receipts with their serial numbers. Also the inspector considers the "crumplebility "or energy dissipation of the repair so a rail can't have kink in it or be welded up over-strong.

Then back to the state DOT office for a Wi title and plates. Sales tax is paid when you get a WI title is this case. This a sum of purchase price of car and replacement part if not already paid.

The WI title has "salvage vehicle" on it. One of my salvage vehicle, a 2005 Honda Civic was flipped and totaled by my daughter( no one injured thanks to luck and seat belts). The insurance company checks all titles on the internet and reduced the reimbursement from 16K to 11k because of this. I can tell you you can't fight it because of the expense involved. It will reinforce the perception that insurance companies are snakes and spend plenty to get out of paying. So you got to drive these vehicle to get your money out of them.

In Wi a car can be given to your kids and titled in their name without paying sales tax, just the title and license transfer fees. So this influences how you buy a car.

Here are some pics, before and after of the Honda;