Salvage Title RV

Chum lee wrote:

theoldwizard1 wrote:
It will be nearly impossible to sell any vehicle with a salvage title.

In some states, you can NOT "repair" a flood damaged vehicle.

Not to be argumentative, just informative.

In California, in 1996, I personally bought (for pennies) a used 1986 Acura with a salvage title. The vehicle was salvaged because the PO's insurance company claimed the body damage exceeded 80% of the current Kelly Blue book market value and paid off the PO at the current book value. I repaired the car. To satisfy the DMV and my insurance company, I had to have the car inspected/certified by an authorized brake/headlight inspection/repair station and have it inspected and pass a current emissions test at a Cal. State Smog referee station. (not a regular smog test) It passed, I registered it and obtained a legal title. I drove it for a few months then sold it in California. I don't know if the next owner had any issues registering it, but, I never heard from him again. What I did was a real pain, and, I wouldn't do it again unless it was a much more expensive car. Where there is a will, there is a way.

That said, in California, there are some gross polluter regulations. Once your VIN# gets that classification, (it won't pass smog and the grace period expires) when/if the state has fund money, it may buy the car from you at a set price. If that happens, your car is going to the crusher. If the fund is depleted, your car will scrapped and it won't legally set foot on a California roadway again. These rules can and do change over time.

Chum lee

I owned what was considered a gross polluter,a 1986 K -5 Blazer, yes, the one with the 1K dollar computerized carburetor. It failed smog as a gross polluter so I had the carb rebuilt and it passed. I was required to have it smogged every year after that VS every other year.

My 1972 Nova SS timed out and didn't require smog any longer. That brought out a bigger engine and more HP, of course it only was on the street on the weekends.

The buy back program was voluntary. Many sweet muscle cars went to their grave because people saw the cash, which was maxed out at 600 per car, not very much for a nice 70's Camaro or Malibu.

Keep in mind, the money came from refineries . They financed the program because the state mandated that they curb emissions by a certain amount. Instead of updating their refineries they removed X numbers of non compliant vehicles to equal that amount.