body shops & salvage title

[mspiegle]

If you were in an accident and your car SHOULD be totaled, but you didn't go through insurance and no police report was made, does the body shop have any ability/responsibility to notify the DMV that your car is a salvage?

[Rigmaster]

Hmmm.

I'd say it probably varies by state. I know in NC there is a box on the title that you have to check off when selling a car that says something like "This car has been damaged to the extent that the damage exceeds 25% of the cars value". There's also one that says "This car has been a flood vehicle" and "This car has been reconstructed or a salvage vehicle". By law, the owner has to answer YES or NO to each of those questions when selling.

So, look on the back of a CA title and see if there's something similar.


I think it's sort of a moral question as well, you're probably better off at least mentioning the repair to the new owner when you do sell it.


Bret.

[mspiegle]

Hmmm.

I'd say it probably varies by state. I know in NC there is a box on the title that you have to check off when selling a car that says something like "This car has been damaged to the extent that the damage exceeds 25% of the cars value". There's also one that says "This car has been a flood vehicle" and "This car has been reconstructed or a salvage vehicle". By law, the owner has to answer YES or NO to each of those questions when selling.

So, look on the back of a CA title and see if there's something similar.


I think it's sort of a moral question as well, you're probably better off at least mentioning the repair to the new owner when you do sell it.


Bret.

Thanks for the info. I have a few CA titles here and none of them seem to make mention of anything like that. I agree with you on the moral side, I just didn't want the car to get slapped with a salvage title because that would significantly hurt the resale value.

[golde30]

on old cars it doesnt take much for it to be a total loss in the eyes of an insurance company, like 3k of damage and its toast, salvage.

whereas with a newer car, the damage can be like in the 6-8K range and they will still repair it and say its good to go... i dont think that makes any sense, the $ value of the damage to total out a car should be universal.

[Rigmaster]

on old cars it doesnt take much for it to be a total loss in the eyes of an insurance company, like 3k of damage and its toast, salvage.

whereas with a newer car, the damage can be like in the 6-8K range and they will still repair it and say its good to go... i dont think that makes any sense, the $ value of the damage to total out a car should be universal.

It makes plenty of sense.

"Totalling" a car generally means that it will cost more to repair the damage than the value of the car. So, if you have an average E30, it doesn't take much more than a fender-bender to total it. Whereas if you have a NICE E36 M3 or something newer, it would take quite a bit more to total it.


I mean, if you have a $1000 car, almost ANY damage will effectively total it. A $20k car could sustain quite a hit and still get fixed.

Bret.

[325Projectz]

I don't think the body shops will tell the DMV that it is salvaged, but you never know.

My boat just got back from the body shop $16,000 later, it still has a clean title.

[der affe]

i work at a body shop here in tempe and we don't have any responsabilty to notify the dmv if it is a total, but.... from what i understand one of the things carfax gets it's info from is ins, so if there was a claim made it will show up on a carfax. as far as the totaling thing, it's just a chance you take driving an older car, there is more of a chance that the ins company will screw you if you are in an accident, it makes you pay alittle more attention when you are driving and watch out for the other guys stupidity.

[325Projectz]

Which body shop do you work for?