Salvage title: what it means and what triggers it, state by state

At a glance

Salvage title rules by state

The table covers 33 states and the District of Columbia, and 20 of the 34 use a fixed percentage. That is 75% in 12, 80% in Florida (of replacement cost), Minnesota, Missouri and Oregon, 70% in Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin, and 65% in Nevada. Illinois also applies a 50% line to repossessed cars, cars in a fleet of more than 5 commercial vehicles, and flood cars. Five compare repair cost with the car's worth without a set percentage: Colorado, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Washington. Eight rest on an insurer's or owner's decision that the car is a total loss or uneconomical to repair, with no number in the cited text. Georgia alone uses a parts count: a car is salvage when restoring it would require replacing two or more component parts, from the Revenue Department's list of major parts. In 23 of the 34, an insurer's total-loss decision, payment or acquisition is enough on its own, and in 15 the rule is limited by the car's age, value or type.

Each row cites the state's statute, motor vehicle agency page or agency form, and the downloadable file (salvage_rules_by_state.csv) adds the exact wording, the link and the driving, registration and sale rules we found. The other 17 states are not in the table; How we built the table lists them. If your car is titled in one of them, check with that state's motor vehicle agency.

The federal definition

The federal rule for the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS), 28 CFR 25.52, defines a salvage automobile as one "damaged by collision, fire, flood, accident, trespass, or other event" to a set extent. The car is salvage when "its fair salvage value plus the cost of repairing the automobile for legal operation on public streets, roads, and highways" tops its fair market value just before the damage.

It adds that cars determined to be a total loss under state law, or designated a total loss by an insurer, are salvage automobiles whether or not the insurer takes ownership. A junk automobile is one that cannot run on public roads and has no value except as a source of parts or scrap.

The rule's total-loss test counts more than the repair bill: repair cost plus projected supplements, lost resale value and rental reimbursement is set against the car's pre-accident value minus what it would fetch as salvage. So a car can be a total loss under this definition even when the repair bill alone is below its value.

Each month, insurers must send NMVTIS an inventory (28 CFR 25.55). It covers the cars of the current model year and the four prior model years that they have obtained and decided are junk or salvage. Insurers must include the cars they have determined or designated a total loss.

The federal rule does not replace state law. Each state keeps its own laws, standards and terms, so one state may brand a damaged car salvage while another does not, because the damage does not reach its threshold.

Why the same car can be salvage in one state and not another

Fixed shares differ. Nevada counts a car as a total loss vehicle when repairs cost 65% or more of its value, not counting painting, manufacturer-specified electronic components or towing. North Carolina's line is repairs above 75%; Minnesota's is above 80%. A repair estimate of 70% of a car's value is past Nevada's line and short of the other two.

Cost-versus-value states set no percentage. Texas makes a car salvage when repairs exceed its actual cash value just before the damage. Pennsylvania compares the repair cost with what the car would be worth once repaired.

Decision states have no number in the cited text. Arizona asks whether the owner, leasing company, lender or insurer considers the car uneconomical to repair; New Jersey asks whether the insurer does; Ohio's rule turns on an insurer declaring it economically impractical to repair. Where an insurer's write-off is enough on its own, the size of the damage may not matter. Georgia counts any car on which an insurer paid a total-loss claim and that has not been repaired, regardless of the extent of damage.

Age limits matter most for older cars. Washington's definition leaves out cars whose model year is at least six years before the damage. It keeps them only if they were worth at least the market value threshold amount in force at the time and are 20 model years old or newer. Wisconsin's covers only cars less than 7 years old. Wyoming's section does not apply to cars with more than eight years of service. Minnesota gives older, lower-value cars a "prior salvage" brand instead of "salvage". So a clean title on an older car proves less than it seems.

Moving a car can also lose a brand. This is brand washing: it can happen when a car is retitled in a state that does not check with the states that titled it before. An NMVTIS search, in the steps below, is the check against it.

Steps

1. Read the title or ownership document before you pay. Look for salvage, salvage certificate, total loss, prior salvage or the state's own wording in the table above.
2. Ask the seller to state in writing whether the car has ever had a salvage brand. Arizona makes a seller who knows of a salvage title disclose it in writing or electronically before the sale. In New York, an owner who fails to disclose damage can be fined up to $2,000.
3. Search the VIN in NMVTIS through one of the approved data providers listed on the Justice Department's site, vehiclehistory.bja.ojp.gov.
4. Do not treat a clean result as proof. The Justice Department says about 87 percent of U.S. vehicles are in NMVTIS and more than half of the states report to it. Insurers' monthly NMVTIS inventory covers cars of the current and four prior model years (28 CFR 25.55). So a search may give a false negative such as "no junk or salvage history."
5. Ask the titling state for its record. In Colorado, only the owner listed on the title can request a Vehicle Record Search through myDMV, unless the requester has power of attorney. So ask the seller to run it and show you the result.
6. For an older car, check the age limit in the table. In New York, for example, titles for cars older than 8 model years are generally not branded, so past damage may not show on the title.
7. Have the car inspected before you buy. For a salvaged car, North Carolina's DMV advises an inspection by the State Highway Patrol Investigative Services Unit first.
8. Our free check at automotor.news/vin-check/ lists the recalls for the car's make, model and year; whether one is still open on that VIN comes from NHTSA's lookup at nhtsa.gov/recalls or the automaker's VIN lookup.