Car Title Washing Facts

[chims]

There are many used car buyers who fall victims to title washing scams. Title washing works by concealing a vehicle's history of accident or flooding by moving the vehicle and title through several states: as each state issues a new title, this title may no longer reflect the fact that the vehicle has been salvaged. When it is, the vehicle's history will have been "washed" clean.

Other things title washing might hide:

• Theft history
• Odometer readings
• Number of previous owners

How do you protect yourself from buying a car with a washed title?

• Get a vehicle history report
• Vehicle inspection by an independent mechanic

Know more about title washing here: Title Washing in America

 

[Trav]

Washing "salvage" titles has been going on for years, its easier to do than you would think.

 

[KrisZ]

It cannot be, it is illigal and there are penalties for such fraud. ... It's like another poster was arguing with me recently that odometer tempering is not really a problem anymore because DMV can "easily" catch it and that legar ramifications make it "not worth it"🤣

Thanks for sharing this, people need to hear these different ways of fraud because it seems a lot still believe these things are a thing of the past with everything being on a computer database.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

I fell into a trap in the 1996 and bought a Flooded Lincoln Mark Viii. I thought the chassis looked awfully clean.

Easy trap. Now I know to look under the seats and a the dashboard support brackets.


Actually the only thing that failed was the rear air ride sensoring I think there was a body computer under the seat that gottsoggy.

Recall the lincoln has air bags on the 4 corners - no coils.


That pre OBDii Intech V8 was a hot motor,. Would be good in a Mustang. Made all the advertised HP and then some.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

LexisNexis has the ability to conduct a VIN search. If the results show an insurance company taking possession of the vehicle then the would-be-buyer could decide to pass. Some states may not provide the information but it's worth a shot.

 

[thescreensavers]

My friend had purchased a car from a seller in GA, carfax/Autocheck showed the car had a clean title. He went to see what carmax would give him (couple years after he purchased) and they gave him the bad news that it had been salvaged in another state. The salvage information was not published in a database that either Carmax or Autocheck look at.

Apparently title washing in GA is very popular.

 

[philipp10]

Originally Posted by ARCOgraphite
I fell into a trap in the 1996 and bought a Flooded Lincoln Mark Viii. I thought the chassis looked awfully clean.

Easy trap. Now I know to look under the seats and a the dashboard support brackets.


Actually the only thing that failed was the rear air ride sensoring I think there was a body computer under the seat that gottsoggy.

Recall the lincoln has air bags on the 4 corners - no coils.


That pre OBDii Intech V8 was a hot motor,. Would be good in a Mustang. Made all the advertised HP and then some.


Then it wasn't much of a trap. was it? People worry WAY too much about flood cars. I have owned one...it was rock solid for many years.

 

[NO2]

Fine if you know it is a salvage or flood car, and the price reflects it

 

[PimTac]

It has been buyer beware since the beginning. The first time I recall wholesale trickery is when tens of thousands of ash damaged vehicles from the Mount St Helens eruption were shipped to every other region in the country and likely abroad as well. Unsuspecting buyers never knew.

 

[JTK]

I suppose there's a benefit to buying from big name dealerships. There's no way they'd assume the legal risk of selling such a vehicle and even if one slipped through the cracks, they'd have to make it right.

 

[OilUzer]

.

 

[chims]

Originally Posted by Trav
Washing "salvage" titles has been going on for years, its easier to do than you would think.

The scam appears to happen on a large scale.

 

[quint]

Originally Posted by Trav
Washing "salvage" titles has been going on for years, its easier to do than you would think.


Pretty much.

Back when I was a repo coordinator for a nationwide car finance company, I would end up with a salvage car and depending in which state I was selling it at auction, in order to sell it I had to provide a title in our name, instead of just the title in the owners name with an attached repo certificate from my company, which most auctions accepted.

Since part of my pay was based on quick turnaround, I processed as many as I could through Indiana, because their dmv was the quickest. I would send them a salvage title and a repo certificate, and many times they would STILL send me back a clean, unbranded Indiana title in our name. If I knew the car would end up in a junkyard because of its condition, like catastrophic collision damage or fire damage or whatever, I let it slide. But we would occasionally pick up a decent looking, low mileage rebuilt salvage car and I knew some of these mom and pop dealers who would bid on our cars would sell it as a clean car with an unbranded title, so I would have to send the title back and practically beg the Indiana dmv to brand it as salvage because I wasnt out to screw unsuspecting buyers. Occasionally that buyer would be us, because we would sometimes see the same vehicle have a request for financing 3-4 months after I repo'd it and sold it at auction, and I knew it was a salvage vehicle. Yet here it was several months later slithering through our credit department with a squeaky clean title.

This was back in the late 90's, things are probably better now, but I wouldnt doubt anyone who wants to wash a title and knows the system, can probably do it pretty easily.

 

[Trav]

Yes, its a big business.

 

[PimTac]

This is a big reason I don't buy used vehicles. I buy new and run them till the wheels fall off or circumstances change. Unless you are a buyer who knows exactly what to look for, the used car market is full of bear traps.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Originally Posted by philipp10
Originally Posted by ARCOgraphite
I fell into a trap in the 1996 and bought a Flooded Lincoln Mark Viii. I thought the chassis looked awfully clean.

Easy trap. Now I know to look under the seats and a the dashboard support brackets.


Actually the only thing that failed was the rear air ride sensoring I think there was a body computer under the seat that gottsoggy.

Recall the lincoln has air bags on the 4 corners - no coils.


That pre OBDii Intech V8 was a hot motor,. Would be good in a Mustang. Made all the advertised HP and then some.


Then it wasn't much of a trap. was it? People worry WAY too much about flood cars. I have owned one...it was rock solid for many years.
The problem for me was the car was still under warranty and the Ford/Lincoln dealer refused to service it as they said it was a flood car in their estimation. It was a $1700- repair. I just had to eat it. Paid $18000- for a Black Mark Viii with only 20K on the ODO.

 

[KrisZ]

Originally Posted by JTK
I suppose there's a benefit to buying from big name dealerships. There's no way they'd assume the legal risk of selling such a vehicle and even if one slipped through the cracks, they'd have to make it right.


I'm surprised you would assume that. Big name, small name, it doesn't matter, people that own and/or run the business matter. Dealerships change owners and management and they decide how it is run, not the name of the building or how long it has been in business. There are many great old names that have been sucked dry and discarded by greedy management.

The best rule of thumb when buying used is to always assume the worst. Assume the car was in an accident, flooded, salvaged etc. and look for signs to either prove you wrong or right. It doesn't matter who's selling.

For me, I avoid buying used from dealerships. I know it is harder to do if looking for a 2-3 year old vehicle vs something that is 5 years or older. but if you stick to one or two owner vehicles, the title issues are greatly reduced.

 

[MarkM66]

So many car jackings in the news. What are they doing with these vehicles? They're somehow getting a new title? But what about the VIN, it's going to be shown as stolen right?

 

[PimTac]

Originally Posted by MarkM66
So many car jackings in the news. What are they doing with these vehicles? They're somehow getting a new title? But what about the VIN, it's going to be shown as stolen right?




I don't know about stl but in major port cities like the one I live near (Tacoma), cars that are in demand are stolen and driven right into containers for shipping overseas. It might sound like a movie plot but dozens are stolen every day in this area.

 

[atikovi]

Salvage cars now get automatically entered in the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System https://www.vehiclehistory.gov/nmvtis_vehiclehistory.html so it's nearly impossible to wash the title these days. Most DMV's will run the VIN on 10 year old and newer cars before issuing a title. The only way to get a totalled car with a clean title is if the owner had no insurance and fixed it themselves. That's most likely on lower priced cars so not really significant.