How do you get a salvage title for your vehicle

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Hey everyone so I'm in an interesting situation. The ex wife's or cruiser was totalled. Pretty minor damage but since it's not worth much it was totaled. We both own the car as she had a loan on it. So we paid the loan off when it happened and the insurance wrote the check to us for the amount the car was worth minus $208 to keep the car . So now the car is ours but how do we get a salvage title. I was going to keep it fix it and sell it . But I'm not very familiar with the titling process and I'm not exactly very trusting of my ex wife. Does the insurance issue a salvage title or do I need to go to the DMV?
 
Titles are issued by DMV, so that's who you need to contact. A new title has to be issued now anyway since the lien has been paid off.
 
What year is the PT Cruiser? Also, why was it totaled? The insurance company should have explained what you need to do.
 
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Obviously every state is different, so take all advice with a grain of salt. Did the insurance company even make you send them the title in? Sometimes when you keep the car, the title isn't affected
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Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
A new title has to be issued now anyway since the lien has been paid off.


Maybe in your state. Some states you just need to keep hold of the letter from the bank saying that it's paid off, or have a branch manager sign off on the title. That's why it's reeeeal hard to give advice across state lines.
 
Originally Posted By: Ethan1
Did the insurance company even make you send them the title in?
Sometimes when you keep the car, the title isn't affected


^^This has been my experience.... ^^

If the title hasn't been modified, it won't be a "salvage" title.
 
If you paid the loan off you already have the title. If your state is an e-title state go check with your DMV. Sounds like you may have a clean title and not know it!

What does your current wife think of this situation? When you write "we will fix" it sounds like you will fix, and the ex-wife will profit.

You could look her in the eye and say, "Learn to drive better" and walk away, but I guess that's outside the scope of this question.

Step 1 is to get a paper title of some sort and tell us what it says. E-title states can print off a paper one.
Step 2 is to get working on fixing this car. Don't do it until step 1 is complete.
 
Originally Posted By: eljefino
If you paid the loan off you already have the title. If your state is an e-title state go check with your DMV. Sounds like you may have a clean title and not know it!

What does your current wife think of this situation? When you write "we will fix" it sounds like you will fix, and the ex-wife will profit.

You could look her in the eye and say, "Learn to drive better" and walk away, but I guess that's outside the scope of this question.

Step 1 is to get a paper title of some sort and tell us what it says. E-title states can print off a paper one.
Step 2 is to get working on fixing this car. Don't do it until step 1 is complete.


Well it wasn't her fault she was parked and backed into. Broke the headlight and fender and dented the hood and kinked the bumper. She got to keep the insurance check to buy a new car and I get the cruiser to do with what I want.
 
Originally Posted By: Linctex
Originally Posted By: Ethan1
Did the insurance company even make you send them the title in?
Sometimes when you keep the car, the title isn't affected


^^This has been my experience.... ^^

If the title hasn't been modified, it won't be a "salvage" title.


They didn't take the title so I assume it's not been modified how does that work?
 
Originally Posted By: DuckRyder
A quick google search will turn up the MO salvage laws...

Hint, my question about what year the PT Cruiser is - is key.

It's a 2003
 
Originally Posted By: ram_man
Originally Posted By: DuckRyder
A quick google search will turn up the MO salvage laws...

Hint, my question about what year the PT Cruiser is - is key.

It’s a 2003


Then according to what I find it doesn’t need a salvage title... Indeed doesn’t qualify for one

https://www.dmv.org/mo-missouri/salvaged-vehicles.php

(Note this isn’t an actual .gov site so I’d suggest that you do a bit more in depth research to confirm it)
 
Here in AZ when my Camry was totaled, after the insurance company deemed it as a complete loss the requirement was that I went to a DMV location (I went to a 3rd party one) and had to tell them to brand the title as "salvage". Once I did that and I took the title back to the insurance company's office and showed them, they wrote me a check for the car's value minus the buyback. Then at that point the car was not legally able to be driven on the road without temporary registration. I drove it anyways.. I had to take it to an inspection station to get it inspected to make sure it was safe for the road. After it was inspected and it passed, I took the title back to that DMV location with the inspection report and they changed the title to "Restored Salvage" and i was as then able to re-register the car for the road.
 
Originally Posted By: andyd
This is what junk yards are for. Go hunt yourself up a few good parts and make the car legal but ugly.


PT cruisers are so cheap the OP could buy a whole another one and pick parts for his first one.

OP should see what they're selling for before he gets dirty. Particularly if he's going to have a branded title.
 
Meh, If the Chrysler does't have 4 headlights and fins, I don't have much interest. I try to beat out the wrecked parts best as I need to get the lights going. The Grape got a silver nose and a different silver rear apron. Soldiered on for 5 yrs and 75 K miles on junk parts and darn few of those. But man was it ugly. MA cars over 10 yrs old don't qualify for salvage titles.
 
FWIW my 2000 Mustang was wrecked and the owner kept it. The title was not affected in any way. Basically I bought the car wrecked/totalled and have a clean title; even the Carfox doesn't know about it.
 
Originally Posted By: Silverado12
FWIW my 2000 Mustang was wrecked and the owner kept it. The title was not affected in any way. Basically I bought the car wrecked/totalled and have a clean title; even the Carfox doesn't know about it.


Why not just buy a non wrecked car with clean title ?
 
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