What is "Salvage"?
Salvage is a term used in the insurance industry to denote a "total loss". A total loss is when a vehicle is paid out in full. For example, when a car is totaled, the owner is then paid out in full so that he or she may purchase a new vehicle. Also, when a car is stolen and missing, the insurance company must also pay off the owner so they can replace their car. In this instance the vehicle will become a salvage title by default, however in some cases, the car may not be damaged at all. When the car is recovered it is then returned to the insurance company since they are now the legal owners. At this point the insurance company will sell the vehicle to their preferred buyers, or may sell the car at an insurance auction.

How Will Salvage Show up on a Title?
The actual title for a salvage vehicle will vary by state. Each state has a term to denote salvage, however, these terms vary greatly from state to state. For example, in California, a car is branded as "salvage". If that car is then sold to a buyer in Nevada, the title will then be branded "Total Loss". It means the same thing, but each state has their own verbiage for salvage. In Utah, the salvage becomes "Rebuilt/Restored" once it has passed a vehicle safety and emissions inspection. Other states may brand salvage titles in various terms such as: Junk, Rebuilt, Totaled, Total Loss, Non-rebuildable, Non-repairable, Flood loss, Flood restored, branded, grey market, etc. It is important to check with your local DMV to see what the laws are regarding a salvage title in your state.

Can I Finance a Salvage Title?
It is also a good idea to check with your local credit unions and see what they will loan on salvage cars. A lot of credit unions have started to loan on salvage title cars lately, and you can usually get a good interest rate (usually better than the banks). Banks, however, are not very aggressive and will not loan on salvage cars most of the time, but it wouldn't hurt to check with your local banker.

What about Insurance? Can I Insure a Savage Car?
Yes. Almost all insurance companies will insure a salvage car, and most of the time they don't even ask if your car is salvage or not.