Free Salvage Title Check by VIN

When an insurer pays out a claim because repairing a car would cost more than the car is worth — or close to it — the car is declared a total loss. In most US states it then receives a salvage title (or a salvage certificate), and it usually goes to a salvage auction, where repairers, dismantlers and exporters buy it.

A salvage title is not a verdict on whether the car can be fixed. Some salvage cars have light hail or theft damage; others have a bent frame or have been under water. What it does mean is that, at one point, an insurer decided the car was not worth repairing at market prices — and that is something every buyer deserves to know.

• Salvage — the car was declared a total loss and may not be driven on public roads until it is repaired and inspected.
• Rebuilt (also "reconstructed" or "prior salvage") — a salvage car that was repaired and passed the state inspection. It can be registered and driven, but the brand stays on the title for good in most states.
• Non-repairable / certificate of destruction / junk — the car may only be sold for parts or scrap and can never be titled for the road again.
• Clean — no brand on the document at the time of sale. Insurance auctions also sell clean-title cars: thefts that were recovered, lease returns and fleet cars.

The exact names vary from state to state. Our check shows the document category recorded at each auction sale of the VIN.

Salvage cars are bought, repaired and resold every day, often in another state or another country. Along the way the brand can drop off the paperwork: some states issue a new title without carrying the old brand over, and once a car is registered abroad, a US title brand normally does not follow it onto the new documents at all. A car that left a salvage auction two years ago can be offered today with a fresh, clean-looking registration.

That is why the auction record matters. It was created at the moment of the sale, with the photos, the damage description and the title document of that day, and it does not change when the car changes owners.

It shows every sale of the VIN in our auction records: the date, the title document category and the primary damage recorded at the sale.

It does not show sales we have no record of, accidents that never reached an auction, the title history kept by state motor-vehicle agencies or the quality of any repair. "Nothing found" means only that the VIN is not in our auction records — it is not proof that the car is clean. For the full picture — title brands from state records, reported accidents, odometer readings and owners — get the full history report.

1. Check that the VIN you entered matches the car in at least three places: the dashboard plate, the driver's door jamb and the documents.
2. If the check finds a salvage or non-repairable sale, ask the seller for the repair invoices and photos, and have the car inspected by an independent shop — frame measurement, airbags and the electrical system first.
3. Compare the damage recorded at the auction with what you see. A front-end hit that left no trace at all is worth a second look.
4. Price the car as what it is. A rebuilt car is usually worth noticeably less than the same car with a clean history, and some lenders and insurers treat it differently.