VIN number trouble/title trouble

cowboycowboy91 · May 17, 2016

I found a really slick 2001 ford ranger edge 4.0L auto 4wd with a 3 inch body lift that has a good engine, trans, and bed fenders etc. However, it was rolled over and the cab had considerable damage. How it was only the cab and nothing else...I don't know. Anyways, the seller is asking $400 for it. Now the crappy part, the insurance company declared it totaled and the title is gone/voided...not sure which. The cab needs replaced for sure and I found a donor truck with a bad engine for $600. This puts me at $1000 for a nice truck plus the painting. I can do everything myself which helps with cost. However, I would imagine there has to be frame damage to total it...right? So, I cannot do that but have a friend who owns a shop that can. Anyways, everything was lining up for me to snag a good truck cheap....UNTIL the dreaded issue of the title arouse. The VIN on the old cab has to be transfered to match frame numbers...right? Also, there is the issue of the title being in the wind. Even if I can trace back the insurance declaration of it being totaled, how would I get back a good title? Also, it has been through 2 owners since being declared totaled. How can I get it back to a clear title without illegally using the clean title VIN off the donor truck?...NOT going to do that if it is illegal!...it is illegal..right?

adsm08 · May 17, 2016

Frame damage is not a given for totaling a vehicle. The formula for totaling, and this is from my insurance adjuster sister-in-law is if the repair estimate hits 75% or more of the pre-accident KBB value the vehicle gets totaled.

RonD · May 18, 2016

The insurance company in essences is buying the truck with the pay out to the owner, so they own the truck, and they have legal title.
Owner often has the option of keeping the vehicle and insurer will deduct "salvage value" from payout.
Insurer must report the VIN as totaled to the state whether they sell vehicle to wrecking yard or owner buys it back.

Whoever you are buying it from would have bought it from insurance company with a damaged title, so there is a title out there it isn't gone or void, just changed to damaged title.
Go to DMV with VIN and apply for the title, it will also show legal owner, could be a Finance company involved
And $400 for a "stolen" vehicle may not be a good deal, lol.

cowboycowboy91 · May 18, 2016

Thanks

Thanks for all the info guys. So, what restrictions would I have on the truck if I did get a damaged title? If I made it roadworthy again, would I need to get another title before I could get it taged? Also, I have been hearing conflicting stories on the whole cab swap VIN issue on other forums. Some people are claiming it depends on states and that if you have both titles to the trucks, then you can use the donor trucks VIN and clean title. Other people are telling me that the old cab VIN needs cut out and welded in. Which one is it? Without a title at all, I am pretty much screwed though aren't I?

cowboycowboy91 · May 18, 2016

Other option...

Also, if I could find a bad engine truck that is 4.0 instead of 3.0, then I could do a engine swap, body lift, and put tires and other parts needed on that truck and scrap yard the remainder....but, the donor truck I found is a 3.0. Not easy to swap in a 4.0 from what I hear. Body, cab, and bed etc all looks identical between the 2 trucks though. Anyways, just throwing that option out here and asking if that would be a better solution....Of course, the best solution would probably be to stop buying cheap junk and fixing it. Lol. I just hate seeing slick rangers being scraped...especially if I think I can fix them.

gw33gp · May 18, 2016

I think you need to go to DMV and get the straight answer.

RonD · May 18, 2016

+1 ^^^^

Just info I found

In North America, a salvage title is a form of vehicle title branding, which notes that the vehicle has been damaged and/or deemed a total loss by an insurance company that paid a claim on it. The criteria for determining when a salvage title is issued differ considerably by each state.

In the US, motorcycles and cars which carry a salvage title may not be registered and driven on public roads in most states.
If the vehicle is rebuilt to a road worthy condition and has passed State inspection, it will have "rebuild" or "rebuild salvage" annotation in the title and can be registered and operated just like a any car.
Some states have relatively lax inspection criteria to remove the salvage brand.

Title washing refers to transferring a vehicle's registration for the express purpose of removing a title brand, doing this is legal, and practiced by the insurance companies themselves.
Title brands such as "salvage," "junk," and "rebuilt" are not standardized, and a vehicle which has such a designation may receive a clean title when registered in a different jurisdiction.

cowboycowboy91 · May 20, 2016

Thanks

Thank you guys for the responses. I may simply purchase this truck for parts only. I would like to get it going again, but the legality issues with the truck would make it a nightmare from what I have gathered and understand. So, again, thanks guys.

85_Ranger4x4 · May 20, 2016

adsm08 said:
Frame damage is not a given for totaling a vehicle. The formula for totaling, and this is from my insurance adjuster sister-in-law is if the repair estimate hits 75% or more of the pre-accident KBB value the vehicle gets totaled.

It kind of is. It has to be a pretty brand new (and probably loaded) vehicle to pay enough to have someone disassemble the vehicle and reassemble it on a different/straightened frame (and also repair any other damage that also ruined the frame) They are big projects that add up fast and usually people that damage their vehicle so want to move on. One of my customers was rear ended by a semi in construction on a highway (he was sitting for the pilot car) in his new F-150, ins wanted to reframe it, change the box and redo the back of the cab... he wanted a new truck.

Go down to the DMV in person and get their answer. Be prepared for grumpy people and be patient with them.

enjr44 · May 22, 2016

Don't take much to total a 01. Needing a complete paint job, if done right, would just about do it. It is only worth about 4K to start with. With shop labor at about $150 an hour now, replacing everything that gets busted/bent/wrinkled, etc. in a rollover would certainly total it. Twenty hours of labor, without parts, would kill it.

My wife's Pilot got hit in the pass side rear door and a small dent in the quarter. It needed a door, body work around the door and quarter and a new tire. It cost the insurance co over 7K to fix it.

What you have to do to put a salvage title back on the road varies a lot from state to state. Here in WA we have clear, salvage and rebuild titles. IIRC, you can get a salvaged title upgraded to rebuild by inspection.

JoshT · May 22, 2016

Assuming that the frame is good, were you planning to do a body swap from a truck with a clear title onto that frame?

If that's the case just use the clear title already attached to the cab to register the truck. Only issue I could see would be if the engine did not match the cab and you had some sort of emission/inspection requirements that looked at that. On most vehicles built now the title is attached to the cab not the chassis, so you'd basically be re-framing the donor truck.

VIN number trouble/title trouble

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