Home car salvage: "Totalled" old car, liability only insurance.
November 11, 2014 11:23 PM   Subscribe

I was in an accident in a common mid-90s sports car. Summary: Body work, broken front axle. Because of the age and damage, the insurance will likely declare the car "totaled". My insurance will likely have to pay for repairs to the other car involved. I have liability only insurance, so they're not going to pay me anything regardless. No one was injured. Does my insurance need to care about my car, if it is liability only insurance, besides assessing for "fault"? One of my family members would like to repair the car. Assuming (he has done this kind of thing before, parts are plentiful, and time is not an issue) that he can make it safely drivable again, what do I need to do to make it legally drivable again? Is there anything I can do now to make it easier to get the car on the road in the future? I'm in northern Virginia.
posted by anonymous to Travel & Transportation (8 answers total)
 
I'm by no means an expert, but a surface reading of the DMV page on salvage titles, the car cannot be driven again if it is declared non-repairable, and your plan is only possible if it is uninsured or self-insured.
posted by rhizome at 11:59 PM on November 11, 2014 [2 favorites]


This is the actual Virginia DMV website. There's a distinction between a 'salvage' vehicle and a 'non-repairable' vehicle. (I don't know enough about car insurance to know whether having liability-only insurance means the insurance company could declare it non-repairable, in which case you're out of luck. The DMV website also tends to talk about late-model cars, which probably isn't defined to include your car.)
posted by hoyland at 4:55 AM on November 12, 2014


You aren't claiming on the actual vehicle, it's out of the picture. Your insurance doesn't have to total your vehicle, they don't care about it, they're not paying you anything on it, they won't even come look at it.

If you want to drive that car again in Virginia, it's going to have to pass inspection. You can give the car to your relative and it's all on him/her to repair it to standards.

Were I you, before putting dollar one into it, I'd call my insurance to confirm with them their total disinterest in your vehicle.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 5:59 AM on November 12, 2014 [1 favorite]


Make sure the insurance company is going to declare your vehicle as totaled before you do any repair work. Since you have liability only, they will pay you nothing, as you already know. The other driver's insurance may pay you the Blue Book value of the car if the other driver is declared to be at fault and s/he has collision insurance. You can use this money toward repairing your car or towards buying another car.

Repairs to the other driver's car will be covered under their collision policy, but only if s/he has "uninsured/underinsured motorist property damage" coverage. Your insurance company will not pay them anything.

In any case, if you have your car repaired, you'll have to have it re-titled with a salvage title. This will make it much more difficult to sell later on, as buyers tend to stay away from cars with salvage titles. I believe it will also require a more thorough safety inspection than the standard VA yellow windshield sticker safety inspection to get a salvage title. Check with DMV. Although I have lived and had vehicles registered in VA, I've never gotten a salvage title for a vehicle anywhere I've lived.
posted by tckma at 6:45 AM on November 12, 2014


Wait, wait, this all depends on who was judged at fault, no? If it's the other driver, you'll get the price the car would have cost at the dealer the instant before the accident. This would be the other driver's insurance paying, IF (big if) they have it. See "Who Pays?" by the respected folks at Nolo. Then you could choose to buy the wrecked car back from the insurance company for the amount the junkyard would have paid them, which is likely to be a few hundred bucks.

If you were judged at fault, then yes, you get nothing from anyone's insurance.
posted by wnissen at 8:14 AM on November 12, 2014


I've purchased a "totaled" car before. The title is VOIDed when they call it "totaled". I had to take the car to the Highway Patrol office and have it inspected. They placed a new placard in the door frame and the licensing department issued a new title.

This was my experience in Washington State.
posted by humboldt32 at 8:39 AM on November 12, 2014


Same here in Idaho. Son had a salvage title on a vehicle he owned and drove for 200k (accident-free) miles after it was wrecked. (truck had nearly 200k prior) That dang thing didn't owe anybody a cent and was buried with full honors eventually sold for parts.

BUT!
The frame wasn't bent, and the mechanic that worked on it was someone who really knew his onions and could pronounce it safe at any speed.
posted by BlueHorse at 2:02 PM on November 12, 2014


The Virginia DMV page on salvaged/repaired/rebuilt vehicles can answer your questions even more clearly about what you need to do to get it back on the road.
posted by klangklangston at 6:59 PM on November 13, 2014


« Older Staring at the fridge shouldn't be my hobby...   |   Recommend some good wedding heels? Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.