Driving a car with a salvage certificate of title is like rescuing a car. It takes a lot of work to re-register.
First: what is a salvage title car?
There are different types of salvage vehicles defined by the California DMV:
The official definitions are slightly different, the process for re-registering and titling a scrapped car is similar to titling and re-registering a salvaged car. The differences will be explained below.
Once a total loss settlement has been agreed, the insurance company (or its Salvage Pool representative) or the car owner must request the Certificate of Recovery within 10 days.
A completed Application for Certificate of Rescue or Certificate of Non-Repairable Vehicle (Reg Form 488C).
Obtaining your salvage certificate vehicle inspection is a mandatory part of reactivating your vehicle for use in California.
While you’re there, be sure to bring:
You will also need to obtain an Official Brake and Light Inspection Certificate from a state-authorized repair shop. Specific vehicles, such as motorcycles and large commercial vehicles, may require a certificate from a specialized workshop. Contact us for more information. This is all a lot of work and very confusing, we know, that’s why you can take what you need from this blog post or you can come to us, we will do it for you.