My wife's Nissan was totaled in early 2020 for fender damage. I got a safety inspection on it and my insurance still covered the car and she's been driving it ever since. I never got a salvage title for it in the mail and I though insurance was supposed to report all that stuff and take care of it. There's nothing in Carfax either.

We're getting ready to trade it in. Do I need to have the title salvaged or just turn in the car as-is with the original title? The damage is to the left rear Q-panel and is cosmetic only. It was a parking lot collision. There's no way to hide the damage, so we wouldn't be hiding anything that anyone couldn't see already.

Tony.

If your wife is driving a totaled car, it probably doesn't really meet the definition of "totaled."

Insurance deemed it a total loss. Unibody, you know...

quote:

Originally posted by LS1 GTO:
If your wife is driving a totaled car, it probably doesn't really meet the definition of "totaled."

I did for a few years. Estimated cost of repairs exceeded the blue book value of the car, so it was "totaled." Took it to a body shop and had the front quarter panel fixed for $500 and pocketed the difference.

If a dealer is willing to accept your car as a trade in and you already told them it was totaled, why would you need to do anything else? They will probably just send it off to auction anyway.

I’m no expert but I’ve read that in some states the salvaged status is removed after safety inspection. Is that possibly your situation?

You are trading a car in with obvious damage to a car dealer. You are not making any attempt hide anything. I do not see a problem.

If you have the title don't worry about it, trade it and move on

You will likely have to disclose the damage when you sign the title over to the dealer when you trade it in. Look on your current title and see what questions you are asked about damage. Then, if the damage meets your state requirements for salvage, the state will issue a "salvage" title to the next owner.

At least that is how it works here

quote:

Originally posted by frayedends:
I’m no expert but I’ve read that in some states the salvaged status is removed after safety inspection.

Yep. Then it becomes with "rebuilt" status. That's my current Civic, bought it from a place in Alabama that specializes in Honda and Toyota rebuilds.

My car was totaled because previous owner left the sunroof open, it rained and got the interior wet. My dealer bought the car at auction, replaced the interior and I paid $14,900 for a Civic EXT with 24k miles on it when new they were $22k and used at dealerships were $18k. I have put nearly 30k trouble free miles on it.

Okay. Thanks guys. I'll just trade it in with the title I have on-hand.

Tony.

quote:

Originally posted by benny6:
Insurance deemed it a total loss. Unibody, you know...

It's not that uncommon on new cars to be totaled with little damage, simply because the parts aren't really available.

I'm sure the dealer has their own account, but I'd probably pay for a Carfax just to see how it looks. Lots of insurance stuff doesn't show up there correctly. I had an accident showing when I sold a car I was driving that a pedestrian wrongly claimed I tapped her in. My insurance paid for her ride to the hospital, since she was pregnant. But no lawyer would take the case and the cops said she was in the wrong and I was cleared. Still showed as an accident when I went to sell.

You may want to read all the fine print in the contract you will be signing when you trade it in. There is likely something in there concerning representation by both sides. Knowingly trading a salvage title vehicle as a clean title could be considered as fraud.

If this is an older and/or high mileage vehicle with little value anyway, they may not care.

I wouldn't count on what the salesman (who just wants the deal to happen for the commission$$$) or anyone else there tells you, just what's written in the contract.

Later another employee or official of the dealership may care. If it's unclear to you, handwrite on the contract, both copies, that it's a salvage title and each side initial each copy and be sure to keep your copy.

Most likely they didn't "total" the car, the just deemed the loss high enough to exceed the value of the car and paid the claim as a total loss.

If they didn't take the car from you, it's not legally totaled and required on the title as such.

They just paid you off to go on and away..

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
Most likely they didn't "total" the car, the just deemed the loss high enough to exceed the value of the car and paid the claim as a total loss.

If they didn't take the car from you, it's not legally totaled and required on the title as such.

They just paid you off to go on and away..

That sounds reasonable. When my brother-in-law's car was totaled, he wanted to keep it so he had to pay the salvage value or else it was going to get picked up.

Personally, I'd hand the car and title over to the dealer when I got ready to trade it and let them deal with it. I'd share nothing about the car being totaled since it apparently never received a salvage title. If the dealership is any good, they'll ID the damaged rear corner and you can describe the extent of the damage for them. Just don't go overboard volunteering information.

OK, I may have posted our experience before with a Cargo Van.
2001 GMC Savana 3500 owned by our business. I've lost track, but maybe? 6 or 7 years ago a very drunk 19-20 year old kid threw rocks and broke every (every) window & the windshield, along with both side mirrors. Someone called it in, and since our our business is on the edge of Vanderbilt University's campus, they were first on the scene ( As an aside, Vanderbilt's Police department is Awesome. They've always looked out for us). The officer witnessed the kid throwing the rocks at our cargo van, arrested him, & charged him for felonious vandalism over $1000K, among other things.
Since our van wasn't worth the damage to replace all the OEM glass along with sheet metal damage, our insurance wrote it off as totaled. We bought the van back from the Ins. company, which only lowered our payoff by about $500. Found a body shop who used aftermarket & junkyard glass & mirrors, which cost us around $1600. Came out around $5000 ahead, and still using the cargo van today. Oh, since we use it mainly around town, it just turned over 71 K miles a few weeks ago.
The Insurance claim adjuster told me that in TN, if a person or company buys their vehicle back that has been been totaled, then the Ins. company does not have to change the title at all.
So our 2001 cargo van still has a clean title.
With 71K+ miles. And a few dents.

If the insurance company didn't brand the title unrebuildable or rebuildable and the origional title is still valid. Don't do anything the car is worth more with a clean title. Definitions of rebuilt or how a title is branded vary from state to state and it might not legally need to be branded anything.

If you have a valid, current title that does not have any subtitles (salvage, reconstructed, recovered, etc. varies a bit by State) then you have a clean title. You may have an obligation if asked or by contract to disclose the damage but its not a salvage title per se.