how to switch salvage title to clear title?

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edikcali

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I live in the state of CA and in CA i heard that you cannot switch a salvage title to a new clean/clear title. I heard that there are some ways on how to re-register your car to another person and switch it back and it will become a clean title.. i want to know if anyone knows that it is true and where i can do that to change my car to a clean title...can anyone please help me ? :):read2:
 
I am pretty sure once its on record of being a salvage car.....it stays one......rather it be transfered to someone else name or not it will still be salvage.

only ways I can think of that would get you a clear title would be.....

swap vin and title from another car- which is illegal not to mention highly frowned upon by us enthusiasts.

go through a title company.....which basically you pay like $500 or so and give them the vin number and they make a new registration for that vehicle in a different state under there title company and they then send that title to you which you then in turn transfer to your name and it would come back as a fresh title.

the only other way i know of which is a hush hush way that I had to do alot of digging on before I found a local mopar loving sheriff here in MI and that is.....first go to the local police station, have them run the numbers just to make sure it is not stolen.

if all is good....you can move to the next step.

go to your local dmv/secretary of state

I had to ask for (i think) a form TR-205 (probably varies from state to state on what the form number is)which is basically an application of ownership (not a lost title application and not an abandoned vehicle application......very different things).

on this form you have to fill out your name and current address,date, make and model of the vehicle,vin number and so on.

they then run the vin number through the system and if it does not come back as stolen than they will issue it into your name clean and clear right then and there and I think the cost is about $15.00

how do I know this?......when I picked my duster up originally....the deal was,the kid didnt know where the title was and had to file for a lost title.

I was suppose to buy the car for $800.00

I said, ok, Ill give you $500 now and $300 when you give me the title...and I take the car now.

wekk goes by,still no title....just keep getting excuses, 2 weeks go by and still nothing,week 3 no one is returning phone calls and so on, week 4 same thing.

I finally got tired of being jacked around and found the legal way to go about it and thats what I did.
 
edikcali said:
I live in the state of CA and in CA i heard that you cannot switch a salvage title to a new clean/clear title. I heard that there are some ways on how to re-register your car to another person and switch it back and it will become a clean title.. i want to know if anyone knows that it is true and where i can do that to change my car to a clean title...can anyone please help me ? :):read2:
Click to expand...


oh i'm sure there are ways to do it but they aren't too legal...
 
No legal way to do it, especially in CA.

The "salvage" branding is to aid/warn future owners, to let them know that at some point the vehicle was damaged badly enough to be salvaged/totaled by an insurance company, or owned by a wrecking yard. Since you can't undo history, you can't undo the salvage title. This is a bit of a drag since undamaged cars get donated to salvage yards and the way Kelly Blue Book works sometimes "totals" older cars (with low values) with non-structural damage. But regardless, it stays on the title as a warning to future owners.

Now, what I want to know is why every person that wants to switch a salvage title also doesn't know how to use the "search" function...This topic shows up at least every couple of months.
 
you can not register a salvaged vehicle, you can un-salvage a title but you must prove that the vehicle is repaired and safe to operate, the title will always show that the vehicle was salvaged at one time in its life, to inform future owners
 
Do you like prison food?

In California it's called title washing and it's a BIG no-no.

Every state is different. There are THOUSANDS of cars registered in CA driven every day with salvage titles.
 
There are ways.....some of them completely legal! First of all, there are different rules and procedures determined by the individual states so this may not apply to areas outside California. The easiest (though maybe not the most desireable) is to let the registration lapse for 10 years and the VIN is purged from the DMV database. Then file a lien on the car and get it retitled that way. Clean title as far as the DMV is concerned but if you run a CarFax or similar, it may still come back as previous salvage which might be a drag for insurance or auto loan purposes. The other way is to register the car in a state that doesn't have salvage titles. That list is getting smaller but I think there a few left. There again, it will probably show up as salvage on a CarFax. Other than resale value, why bother? You know what you have....
 
The previous owner of my Barracuda said he bought it from a salvage yard, but somehow got it with a clean title. Not sure how. I have a '64 Karmann Ghia with a salvage title. I don't think it was wrecked, just a project that someone gave up on.
 
DusterDude72 said:
the only other way i know of which is a hush hush way that I had to do alot of digging on before I found a local mopar loving sheriff here in MI and that is.....first go to the local police station, have them run the numbers just to make sure it is not stolen.

if all is good....you can move to the next step.

go to your local dmv/secretary of state

I had to ask for (i think) a form TR-205 (probably varies from state to state on what the form number is)which is basically an application of ownership (not a lost title application and not an abandoned vehicle application......very different things).

on this form you have to fill out your name and current address,date, make and model of the vehicle,vin number and so on.

they then run the vin number through the system and if it does not come back as stolen than they will issue it into your name clean and clear right then and there and I think the cost is about $15.00
Click to expand...

Thats what I had to do although in N.Y. you only need a registration.
 
Two ways of doing it but both are illegal and one takes years in order to bump it out of the DMV's system. Besides the fact that the amount of money you think you would gain from a "clean" title would only be worth it if the car was worth alot of money to begin with. And by that I mean new Mercedes kind of money. Not worth it unless you like the bunk beds at Elmwood.
 
it is called a rebuilt salvage and it is legal all it really reqires is an inspection by the highway patrol (verify vin) make sure all lights work, emissions are up to state regulations, some states sre stricter than others on body work but for the most part emissions vin and lights are gonna be what they look at call highway patrol and ask about it
 
To what end is the gain in washing the title? I've seen cars with "good" titles that were brought back from deplorable condition to the point that there's a cloud over how much of the original car remains. We're not talking about 5 year old Caravan's (are we?). Just my opinion, but if you're looking to wash the title, you're trying to hide something.
 
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