ok, i was recently involved in an accident, and the car was deemed to be salvage, but since i had a lot of aftermarket parts on it, i bought it back from the insurance company, but i was told i had to go through the process of having it salvaged myself. i went down to the DMV (i live in cali just for reference) and one of the ladys there told me that i had to drive the car to a chp station, and have them inspect the car. i'm like, lady...the car is inoperable. it cannot be driven, and it doesn't even have a motor in it. and she insisted that i still had to take the car down there which doesn't really make sense to me. anyways, is there anyone out there that knows what exactly i need to do?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SimbaDogg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">ok, i was recently involved in an accident, and the car was deemed to be salvage, but since i had a lot of aftermarket parts on it, i bought it back from the insurance company, but i was told i had to go through the process of having it salvaged myself. i went down to the DMV (i live in cali just for reference) and one of the ladys there told me that i had to drive the car to a chp station, and have them inspect the car. i'm like, lady...the car is inoperable. it cannot be driven, and it doesn't even have a motor in it. and she insisted that i still had to take the car down there which doesn't really make sense to me. anyways, is there anyone out there that knows what exactly i need to do?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Can the car be towed or placed on a flatbed? or maybe a CHP officer can meet you at the salvage yard where it is at? try calling your local CHP office and see how they can help you out.

 

It does have to be drivable to be salvage title otherwise it gets an inoperable title which is even more low than salvage.

 

i just today got my tags on a new car i bought recently that was an insurance write off that was bought back by the previous owner so she could sell it herself (she just cared about the car that much). the car is actually fine, just some hood and front end damage over the headlight, thats it. drives wonderful in fact, totally stock, AC and extremely well maintained engine at the dealer every time, very smooth.

what i ended up doing was going to the DMV (california) and initiated the title and registration transfer. i didnt get the smog done so i had to go and get that done and come back. when i came back, the system finally noticed the car was flagged as salvage, so they made me pay another $67 in verification and salvage fees. the verifcation process is what the "CHP" appointment is for, but you can get it done at the DMV and i even tried calling the numbers listed on the DMV website and they said they dont even do that. the verification is just for checking the VIN number. pretty lame to have waited over 45 minutes to have someone look at the door and engine bay. anyway, i still had to go to a certified shop and get the brake and taillight inspection done. this is NOT part of the $50 verification and costed my $75. but once i got all the paper work done and paid my money, i went back to the DMV today and got my new tags and title is in the mail.

since the car was totally fine, i just ended up putting my old CRX plates on the car in order to drive it around. the previous owner took the old ones that said "gr8 cpa".

if the car is not even driveable, then you dont even salvage the car. theres no reason to. you can file for PNO, but theres no point in that either quite frankly. once you actually want to get the car reregistered, then apply for a salvage title and get the smog and brake and light inspection done and you should be good.

 

wow, i just realized i paid $305 in title and registration fees ($118), smog test ($45), brake/lamp inspection ($75), and salvage title and verification ($67). and i only paid $1350 for the clean, unrusted, 200k mile, 1988 y-49. plus $65 for a NEW certafit hood. i guess i still feel like i got a decent deal.