Right, so the title is not an issue in that case. I think that's a good example of what Dave is referring to.
If the state doesn't say it's a total, there's room for negotiation and possibly keeping a vehicle on a clean title if the owner retains it. If the state says total, the title is going to run through whatever the state requires. Lots of states have title branding requirements. There is no legal way around those.
For example, I was just reviewing a claim we have in Minnesota. MN requires that a title be branded as rebuilt if the damages exceed 80% of the ACV. MN doesn't specify that you can or can't fix it, just that the title be branded as rebuilt if fixed under those circumstances. That's another example of what Dave's first example referred to, at least to a point. Regardless of the original estimate, or the insurance company's original plan to total a vehicle, if an agreement can be reached that the repairs are $x, and $x does not require anything be done with the title, then the title stays clean.
That sounds so simple. BUT!
WHO decides what ACV is? And what evaluation resources are acceptable?
80% of a 2 or 3 year old vehicle is one thing. But 80% of a nice low mileage 10 or 12 year old vehicle is another thing altogether. The customer can often not be made whole by those standards. And the average age of vehicles on the road today is over 12 years old so this is a very real and common issue. And one that we exploit every chance we get.
Another important part of this is shop rates. We are very rural, but the body shops here are at $150 an hour. That puts a lot of otherwise viable repairs out of reach. In some cities, the rate is even higher. That is why we go to the metro St. Louis area to buy cars.
This is a very complicated issue that so many want to make simple and use universal standards. But there are many, many seams and cracks and gray areas in the system. One size fits all simply doesn't work much of the time. So knowing the ins and outs of any given business is the difference between success and failure.
Insurance pool cars are the last, best values in the car business today. The buy here/pay here places, NAFTA rules on exports, repair rates, shortage of replacement parts, and lack of bank financing have convulsed the used car business the last few years.
And it is all going to only get worse. Buckle up.
