Am I Getting Ready to Buy A Lemon?

wnytaxman wrote:

The reason I bring this up is that most of the issues mentioned in It was mentioned that the rig may have been totaled out in an accident. Here in NY we have a title law that requires any unit that has been totaled to have a salvage title which is noted right on the title. A quick look at the title itself would answer that question. If the sales people at Colton refuse to show you the title then you may have the answer to that question very quickly.
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You're dreaming if you think that this "law" protects all innocent buyers from ending up with salvage vehicles. First, the insurer has to voluntarily declare the vehicle to be totaled. So, if it never enters the system as a total loss, it can, and does get repaired and sent back into play. Second, there is a whole illegal, yet active industry of washing titles. Send the vehicle through a series of interstate ownership changes, and magically the title is clean again. The concept of a branded title is certainly NOT something that is unique to NY, and much like relying on a Carfax, it is a limited tool, and cannot be seen as a guarantee that the vehicle isn't a salvaged wreck.

About five years ago, I was wrapping up the paperwork, while buying a nearly new SUV. I noticed some odd, yet very slight damage where all four doors appeared to have shifted forward, and chipped paint off of the forward jambs. After further investigation, it became obvious that the car was built of two wrecks, welded together. The car had been rear ended, totaled, and the rear half was replaced with a color matching clip from another vehicle. The Carfax and the NEW YORK STATE title were both clean. The dealer BTW, was a multiple franchise, multiple location chain with stores all over the southern tier. So much for "looking at the title, for the required salvage designation", eh?