Selling a car with a rebuilt or reconstructed title

What "rebuilt" means on a title

A rebuilt title starts as a salvage title. The car was written off, usually by an insurer after a crash, flood or fire, then repaired and inspected before the state let it back on the road. The word printed afterwards depends on the state:

• Vermont prints the legend "rebuilt" on the new title (23 V.S.A. 2093).
• Arizona issues a "restored salvage certificate of title" (A.R.S. 28-2095).
• Florida stamps the title to say the car is rebuilt and may have been declared a total loss before (FLHSMV TL-37).
• Alaska, Oregon and Delaware use "reconstructed" (see the table below).
• California has no rebuilt word at all. Its title brand list includes Salvaged and Remanufactured, but nothing called rebuilt (California DMV manual).

Ohio asks for a new title application when a salvage car is fixed up for road use, along with a State Highway Patrol inspection and proof of ownership (R.C. 4505.11). So if your car has a rebuilt title, someone already went through that process. Your job now is selling it honestly.

Telling the buyer is the law in several states

The brand is on the title, but the law in some states asks for more than handing it over.

Vermont is the strictest we've read. Anyone selling a salvaged, salvaged-and-rebuilt or totaled vehicle must disclose that history. It has to be said out loud and put in writing before the sale, trade or transfer, and the written disclosure also goes on the bill of sale or any other sale agreement (23 V.S.A. 2093).

Arizona requires a seller who knows a restored salvage title was issued to disclose it in writing or electronically before the sale is complete (A.R.S. 28-2095).

California's DMV says sellers, dealerships included, are legally required to disclose a salvage title and history. It also admits the rule is hard to enforce when the car came from another state (California DMV).

Delaware lists "reconstructed" among the brands dealers must disclose (21 Del. C. ch. 63).

We haven't found an official list covering every state's disclosure rule. The safe habit is the same everywhere: write "rebuilt title" (or your state's word) on the bill of sale, and have the buyer sign beside it.

The rebuild papers buyers ask to see

A buyer looking at a rebuilt car wants to know who fixed it and with what. The states that inspect rebuilt cars leave a paper trail you can hand over.

Texas. The Rebuilt Vehicle Statement, Form VTR-61, is required when a car is repaired, rebuilt, reconstructed or assembled to get a Texas title. The rebuilder explains the work done, notes where each replaced component part is located, and certifies that he or she did the job. A newly assembled vehicle that was never titled as a complete car also needs an inspection by an ASE Certified Master Technician (TxDMV VTR-61).

Arizona. The state runs a level two or level three inspection when a restored salvage title is applied for. Proof for parts can include invoices, notarized bills of sale or other proof of ownership. And the car can't change hands at all until the restored salvage title has been issued (A.R.S. 28-2095).

Florida. No one may sell or exchange a rebuilt vehicle until the department has stamped the title rebuilt. The rebuilt inspection costs $40, each extra inspection after a failure costs $20, and the rebuilt decal goes on only after the car passes. Applications go to a Bureau of Dealer Services regional office or a Private Rebuilt Vehicle Inspection Program facility (FLHSMV TL-37).

Before you list the car, put these in one folder:

• the inspection record or rebuilt decal paperwork
• the rebuilder's statement, where your state uses one
• parts invoices and bills of sale
• photos of the damage and the repair, if you have them

A seller who can answer "what happened and who fixed it" in one minute has a much easier conversation.

What a rebuilt car is worth

There's no official discount table. The price is set by the buyer in front of you, and a branded title gives that buyer a reason to ask questions. Clean papers and a car that runs well answer most of them.

One state has written rules on how insurers treat the brand. New York's Department of Financial Services says an auto insurer may not pay a reduced amount on a damage claim just because the title is branded Rebuilt Salvage. Settlements must use fair market value whatever the title says, and insurers may not treat a branded car as worth substantially less across the board (NY DFS). We haven't read a matching rule from any other state's regulator, so don't assume it travels.

Price the car against similar cars in the same condition, then be ready to explain the gap.

Moving it won't wash the brand

Taking the car across a state line doesn't clean the history. Texas carries out-of-state notations such as rebuilt and reconstructed onto its own titles (Tex. Transp. Code ch. 501). Idaho carries brands from other states and from NMVTIS (Idaho Code 49-525). Under New York's rule, a title brand never comes off, and that covers an out-of-state "rebuilt" too (15 NYCRR 20.20).

How each state brands a repaired total loss

Taken from each state's salvage rules. Where a state's rows don't name a rebuilt brand, the cell gives what they do say about when a car turns salvage.

When the rebuilt car breaks again: fix or sell?

If you sell it yourself, disclose the brand in writing.

It's a different picture when the car has a new fault. A big repair bill on a car whose title already makes buyers cautious means paying for work on a car you may not get the money back from. Before you book the shop, get the repair estimate and set it beside what the car would bring fixed. If the repair eats most of that, see our guide to repair bills bigger than the car's value.

Selling it broken is the other route. We buy whole non-running and junk cars. Mention the rebuilt brand and the fault in your request, then sell the whole car as it sits. Pickup is free anywhere in the US.

Questions about your title first? Call (877) 421-6008.

Last job after pickup: deal with the plates as your state requires and file its notice of sale. After you sell has each state's rule.