Get Salvage Certificate

If your auto is already in safe operating condition, you can receive a Pennsylvania salvage title in about three to four weeks. Contact the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) to receive an Application for Non-repairable or Salvage Certificate. Download the form online at the PennDOT website.

Vehicles with salvage titles typically have no Blue Book value, so demonstrating to your lender the worth of the vehicle is more difficult than it is on a normal car. ... Most car dealers will not accept a salvage titled car as a trade-in, so you'll be on your own when it comes to selling the car.

A vehicle receives a salvage title when it's damaged so severely that the insurance company declares it a total loss. ... Even after being rebuilt, the car will retain its salvage title, which substantially lowers its market value by 20% to 40%, according to Kelley Blue Book.

Yes, an insurance company that ultimately takes possession of a vehicle that is deemed as a total loss salvage or a nonrepairable vehicle is required to report this and must get either a Salvage Certificate or Nonrepairable Vehicle Certificate within 10 days from the date of the settlement.

In the United States, a salvage title is a form of vehicle title branding, which notes that the vehicle has been severely damaged and/or deemed a total loss by an insurance company that paid a claim on it.

You'll want to get rid of the Salvage Certificate which you received after the vehicle was declared a total loss. ... You'll turn in your old salvage certificate for a new California title. The new title will be identical to a non-salvage vehicle title except it will indicate the vehicle has been revived from salvage.

A salvage title is bad news on a vehicle, especially if you're thinking about buying it. ... Just as often, unscrupulous auto sellers and dealers resell cars, trucks and SUVs that have been recorded as salvage vehicles, but don't report the vehicles as salvage-titled vehicles.

Both salvage title and salvage certificate are in essence the same thing in terms of identifying a vehicle's branding. The difference is, when a vehicle is issued a Salvage Certificate it may not be operated on public roadways, while, when a vehicle is issued a Salvage Title, it can.

What is 'salvage'? The California Department of Motor Vehicles considers a vehicle salvage once it has been wrecked, destroyed, or damaged to the extent that the insurance company considers it uneconomical to repair.