question for mitsubishi dealer mechanics

[bmoha2]

A while back i had an underhood electrical fire that got my talon totaled by the insurance company. It toasted the underside of the main underhood fuse box and the first foot and a half of the main wiring harness. I bought it back from the insurance company for $250 and rebuilt the wiring harness by hand. Thing is I now have a title that says the car has been totaled out. Salvage title. The bank values the car at just about zero. I am going to be replacing the entire wiring harness and main under hood fusebox and then going to the DSM Mitsubishi dealer to have it inspected to get a regular title again. thing is; are they going to want to just look at the part the car was totaled for i.e the wiring harness or are the going to want to see the car in a stock state? I have eliminated the egr system, have an atmospheric dump O2 sensor housing, battery in the trunk etc. Are they going to want to see all the emissions stuff back in the car?

 

[bluetlr2001]

I dont know about what they will check but i dont believe you will get the title to be a regular clear title again by just repairing the car. You will most likely be stuck with it as having a salvage title.

 

[the_mork]

You can get a "salvaged rebuilt" title which will make it so you can register the car, I don't know how it is where you live but in Wisconsin this inspection is done by the state patrol and the criteria is that the car meets all legal safety and emissions specifications required the year it was built. All they did for my '51 was to check if the all the safety lights worked and hear it run. Most likely you are talking about a fairly easy inspection if its done by the state patrol they care about the car being safe and aren't going to waste their time doing a tailpipe test so I'd put your egr back on make sure you don't have any CELs and not worry about your battery or your bolt ons.

I just looked and you are in Wisconsin so I can give you more detailed advice, the two types of title you are dealing with are "salvage" and "salvaged" you are trying to get to "salvaged" there is no salvaged rebuilt in Wisconsin but thats okay, as long as you keep the car in Wisconsin you can never get rid of that salvaged exception on the title but you can register it and drive it like any other car and I highly doubt that they will be doing any sort of emissions testing as most places here our state patrol doesn't even have the equipment just make sure you HAVE a catalytic converter and your exhaust should pass, put the egr back on even if it isn't functional and be really nice, it is even possible that they won't inspect the vehicle, that happened to me once with a VIN change. As for getting the salvaged off of your title there are a few tricks that shouldn't be morally condoned but do exist, you will have to do your own research but there are some states (Illinois and Alabama maybe) that don't put information on their titles that don't come from the state, so you could title the vehicle there then re-title it wherever you like and only have a "previously titled in xxxxxxx" exception.

Edit: BTW if your title says JUNK on it you might as well turn it into a race car because you'll never get it onto a street in the US again (unless you buy another similar car thats completely trashed but has a clear title and change the VINs but that would be illegal and doubly immoral because no one would ever know)

 

[bmoha2]

But I can't get full coverage insurance on it because of the salvage title WTF Part of the reason I would try to get it retitled is because fo it now being negligible on my net worth. If it didn't have a salvage title it would be worth a few thousand dollars but with the salvage title it's worth diddly.

 

[the_mork]

If your title says salvaged then that is the best you can go without some questionable legal tactics such as the re-titling in other states or buying a clean title, thats just how it is and your going to have to live with it. There is a man that sells titles at Iola every year that has a large selection of "historical document" titles that are meant to be framed I think his site is near gate 6 but buying a title from him with the intent of using it fraudulently is immoral and illegal so your going to have to settle for no comp insurance, the insurance company already gave you the value of the car once they aren't willing to do it again.

 

[92awddsm]

No offense but it is your own fault for ending up with a salvage title. Why would you ever claim a fried wiring harness on your insurance considering that you could fix it on your own? You got paid what the car was worth, minus the deductible and the $500 buy back. Trying to retitle it and selling it for retail is like a scammer selling a car twice.

In short, as long as carfax and other similar companies are in business, you will never get retail value for the car again without changing the vin. Regardless of what the title says, carfax will show the truth. And for the car being worth a few k $, you might want to recheck that. It would only be worth that to a dsm guy(or gal) as long as it has a clean title and vehicle history report.

One more thing to consider is the fact that you still have to deal with an insurance company. Do you really think they would ever give you full coverage on a vehicle with a vin that they have already paid for? No insurance company ever would regardless of what the title says. They dont even look at titles, they look at the vehicle history report that comes up for a particular vin. Carfax an the like have been around for many years for insurace companies. It has just recently become available to the public.

 

[KazooGS-T]

Car insurance companies will issue full coverage to vehicles that have been previously totalled. So don't go spreading bad information.

 

[92awddsm]

Car insurance companies will issue full coverage to vehicles that have been previously totalled. So don't go spreading bad information.

Ive tried and never found one. Im sure if I dig around in some of my old paperwork, I can prove it. What I posted was not bad info, its what I have found trying to do the same thing. Have you ever gotten full coverage on a previously totalled vehicle?

 

[Defiant]

You might try Grundy or other collector car insurers for an "agreed value" policy. You tell them how much you want to insure it for, and they quote you a price. I don't know if a salvage title matters to them for that kind of coverage.

 

[bmoha2]

My insurance company gave me no other option than to total it. Retail value is meaningless as I have no plans to sell it but I drive it every day and would rather have something better than collision insurance on it. I am not interested in trying to re title it in shady means in some other state. Again resale value or retail value is of no interest to me I have no plans to sell the car.

 

[1gDSM4g63]

I don't think you can get the car out of ts salvage title. However you can rebuilt and get it back into working condition but the salvage title will always be there.

 

[bmoha2]

No biggie I guess. The car has been up and running for a couple years now and it titled and registered.