California, Michigan, and Iowa consumer protection laws are very tough and prescribe when a vehicle’s title must be branded as salvage or nonrepairable. Other states are less protective. A lot of consumers are uninformed about the law and unscrupulous dealers and individuals take advantage of this lack of information. They often move wrecked vehicles to states having low or no standards in vehicle retitling. They simply wipe out the vehicle’s damage history by moving they to other states.
Nationally, both Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Senator Trent Lott (R-Miss.) have sponsored bills supporting a uniform national standard for dealing with wrecked and salvaged vehicles. Lott’s bill would classify as “salvage” a vehicle that sustains damage exceeding 75% of its pre-accident value, but would permit states to enact lower percentages. The law will also require warning labels on rebuilt salvage vehicles. Feinstein’s bill goes further. It requires the word “salvage” to be stamped on the title of any vehicle with damage exceeding 65% of its pre-accident value. It also would require owners to disclose any damage exceeding $3,000, unless the damage was entirely cosmetic.
