California salvage title - lessons learned fixing all the lights, electronics, and brakes

[Mayayana]

California salvage title - lessons learned (it took 3 tries to pass!)

1. If your car is old (like mine) then it's easy to "total" it
2. Their insurance company pay almost nothing for it (at over 300K miles)
3. Their insurance will pay you even less than that to let you keep it
4. Then their insurance will report it to the DMV as a "salvage" vehicle
5. After that you can stay on your registration only until it expires
6. When your registration expires, you can NOT ever renew it ever again
7. You must get a _new_ title & plates from the DMV as a salvage vehicle

The requirements for a new title for a California vehicle apparently are: a. You must pass a specific STAR smog inspection for non-standard vehicles b. You must pass all brake requirements for new vehicles sold in California c. That means they will drive the vehicle to test the brakes (including ABS) d. And they remove all four wheels to check pad, shoe, rotor & drum specs e. They will check the calipers, boots & brake lines for evidence of wear f. You must pass all light requirements for new vehicles sold in California g. All exterior lights must work & all dash light indicators must also work h. That means even the blue highbeam indicator on the panel must be working i. And all turn signal lights must work and the emergency brake light too j. No light is allowed to be cracked, broken, crooked, or fogged in any way k. That means even the license plate lights must work (ask me how I know) l. Headlights do not need to be aimed properly but they must be adjustable m. All dash indicators for lights must be working properly such as signals

The smog check can be done at any STAR certified smog station but the brake and light checks can only be done by California certified independent shops.

When you finally get to the California DMV office A. They will physically check the VIN in about a dozen places on the vehicle B. They told me they're looking for stolen parts and stolen vehicles C. You will surrender to the DMV your old title (they give you a new one) D. You will surrender to the DMV your old plates (they give you new ones) E. You must give them the two certificates (one for brake & one for lights) F. They didn't ask me for the smog certificate (must be on file already) G. They need a claim number & price insurance paid (ask me how I know this) H. They didn't ask for proof of insurance (probably it too is on file) I. A few hundred dollars (California charges tax on all cars yearly)

If you miss any one of those (e.g., sheet metal screws in the side marker lights), they will not issue the salvage title & you can't register it.

The hardest part for me was my license plate light bulbs weren't working which turned out to be a need to solder & splice fatigued often bent wires.

[Anonymous]

The process in CT sounds even worse

includes things like before and after photos of repairs, receipts for all part used, car has to be *towed* to and from the inspection site, etc etc

My 2008 Ford Fusion with *only* 43,000 miles was totaled re $5000 repair estimate. I could have done it myself for about $1500, all cosmetic, nothing mechanical,  right front end scrape.

I saw where ins. co sold it at auction for $1200 to a body shop/used car lot who will probably either repair and sell it, or use as a part out. Rest of car was showroom clean.

[John Robertson]

Do they not have a Classic Car licence for vehicles over X years? Or does that have too many restrictions?

John :-#)#

[AMuzi]

"We're from the government. We're here to help you."

Not.

[Mayayana]

[Scott Dorsey]

It means you can't get a salvage title on a car and then build a car from random parts and use the salvage title on it.

In general, getting a car totalled is not worth it for a car that is of low value. You get a couple hundred dollars from the insurance company, then you go through all sorts of craziness in order to get it back on the road.

That craziness exists to prevent people from getting hundreds of thousands in insurance on a Ferrari and then getting a salvage title and driving it around while paying minimal taxes on it.

It is assumed that unless you're going to be getting a lot of money from your insurance company that you'll just withdraw the claim. Which is what the original poster should have done.

--scott

[trader_4]

Yes, I'm sure all that bureaucracy, all the massive inconvenience to legitimate people like the poster, is worth it to avoid some rare, exceptional situation like your example. I have a hard time believing you can collect hundreds of thousands on a totaled Ferrari and then restore it and wind up ahead. I also don't see how it affects taxes. If the car is taxed on it's value, then when you fix up the totaled Ferrari, why wouldn't it simply be taxed as a 2015 Ferrari, with blue book value, $X? I guess that simple solution is too much for the whacko libs that love the massive big govt approach.

On the other hand, I agree that in most cases it doesn't make sense to try to fix a totaled car. Just buy a similar used one, it's typically less risky, the cost is fixed, etc. But the govt should not be screwing people who choose to do it.