You can buy it back once you pay loan in full - payout from insurance . Guessing you are in the negative , not sure.
Leinholder knows car is totaled and does not have any thing of value if decide not to fix and not to pay. It is clean cut.
How does buy back process work on a totaled vehicle
- Thread starter Orangepeel
- Start date
Leinholder knows car is totaled and does not have any thing of value if decide not to fix and not to pay. It is clean cut.
The best way to do a buyback is if you own the vehicle and have title in hand. The insurance company pays you $$$ money for the vehicle and they would get the titles. Then you can offer the insurance company money of lesser value than they paid and you can buy it back sometimes. My buddy did that with a 55 Chevy. It had light damage and was totaled due to the flame job on the vehicle was very difficult to match. The insurance paid him for the vehicle and he bought it back for a quite a lot less money and the insurance company was happy and so was he.
I think OP is failing to look at this in two separate transactions - which it is.
Car is wrecked. Bank owns car. Now insurance company will buy car from bank. That is what insurance does - make whomever owns the property whole in an accident. If there is more money than owed you will get that portion. Now insurance company owns car.
If you don't like the amount insurance company is paying for the car you can contest that. The bank doesn't care as long as there is enough for them, and insurance companies are known to under-pay. No one will advocate for you on that part - your on your own.
If you want to buy the car - you may do so from the insurance company, at a price they set or you negotiate. If you don't like there price, don't buy it.
At least 2 transactions, maybe 3. Consider them separately and it might make more sense.
Car is wrecked. Bank owns car. Now insurance company will buy car from bank. That is what insurance does - make whomever owns the property whole in an accident. If there is more money than owed you will get that portion. Now insurance company owns car.
If you don't like the amount insurance company is paying for the car you can contest that. The bank doesn't care as long as there is enough for them, and insurance companies are known to under-pay. No one will advocate for you on that part - your on your own.
If you want to buy the car - you may do so from the insurance company, at a price they set or you negotiate. If you don't like there price, don't buy it.
At least 2 transactions, maybe 3. Consider them separately and it might make more sense.
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The insurance company must get the title, in exchange for the check.
When any title has a lien on it, that lien must be satisfied, before the title can be transferred.
Otherwise a scammer could take the check, and screw the bank.
When any title has a lien on it, that lien must be satisfied, before the title can be transferred.
Otherwise a scammer could take the check, and screw the bank.
Maybe I didn't put enough smilies in the post. But sorry for "pissing in your Cheerios"
I genuinely don't get what part you are missing you don't own the vehicle until you have the full title in your possession with no liens...It's the way it is..
The loan contract always has a clause where the loan must be paid off in full if the car gets totaled. It is a secured loan-- should the collateral no longer exist for them to have the option to repo and sell, the payment plan is no longer valid. It also requires the car to have insurance that is payable to the bank.
Back during 'Rona when all the dealers were adding bumps to vehicles, anyone taking out a loan was upside down as they drove off the lot. Then you get the people trying to trade those in on a new car and still have negative equity worth more than the vehicle they are trying to buy. Fun times.
See that's why the adjuster said you could keep it - he didn't know it had a lien on it, you failed to inform the company, but when they ran the title for ownership your lien showed up.
Your insurance policy does may even say its the companies choice to let you buy it back or not (and buy it back is a misstatement)
What you want to do is retain the salvage vehicle.
State laws and the insurance contract lay out the terms of owner retention and it often depends on things like year model/type of damage/and yes if there is a loan on it.
All of that said, if there is no law against it and its not unsafe to drive, i do not see why they would not let you if the leinholder advises them in writing that they accept the terms and will negotiate the title in the required manner.
IMO, it should be illegal to finance things that don't add value to the product.
We bought a replacement camper last year. I briefly considered the "extended warranty" (service plan) and financing. The saleman made the service plan sound like a no-brainer. Of course it was. It was a 3 year product financed out 15 years. He kept saying it over and over again, "but you'll be fine, because the warranty is only $XX a month!"
$500 nitrogen fill? Fine, but that's not bank approved. Wheel and tire coverage? Fine, not financeable. Dealer added window tinting? Fine, not financeable. $700 paperwork fee? Also not financeable. If the junk wasn't financed the customer would push back on all the senseless dealer products and the dealers wouldn't do it anymore. Don't reward bad behavior.
Personally I purchased a car from a dealer in 2010 and then again in 2024. I've done what I can to not reward dealer price antics. I was around during the 'rona. We needed a bigger car. I refused to play the game. Sorry toyota, you can keep your $500 nitrogen.
The dealers get kickbacks from the lenders and hence the dealer sends the lender the business.
Lots of back mutual back scratching to the detriment of the buyer.
Op - I hope you get it straightened out. One of the posters here described it best as multiple transactions. But keep in mind, once the insurance company pays the bank, your debt obligation is now complete. So its not a loss for you at this point. You're free!!!
Now consider buying that car as a separate purchase. It may change your mind, or it may be a great deal.
The only way this really sucks for you, would be if the insurance pay-off is less than what you owe to the bank. In that case, work with the insurance company to get at least the pay-off. I can't imagine a worse situation than owing on a loan that is no longer tied to a car that you can drive, and cannot get back without dumping even more money into the process.
Now consider buying that car as a separate purchase. It may change your mind, or it may be a great deal.
The only way this really sucks for you, would be if the insurance pay-off is less than what you owe to the bank. In that case, work with the insurance company to get at least the pay-off. I can't imagine a worse situation than owing on a loan that is no longer tied to a car that you can drive, and cannot get back without dumping even more money into the process.
Actually, and people are not going to like this, the bank does not own the car, the state does. When you "buy" a vehicle it is titled to the state and you have a license to use it. The bank has a lien on your license to use the car. Go ahead and tell me I am wrong.
Huh?
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That sounds like some Sovereign Citizen theory.
You cannot buy it until that loan is paid off. Your loan is not paid off until the insurance company pay off the loan first. Once the loan is paid off by insurance totaling it the insurance company own the car. You then buy it from the insurance company.
If you want to bypass that you need to pay off the loan before the insurance send the check, then you get the car, insurance pay either you or the bank, then get the car from either you or the bank, then you can buy it back from the insurance company again.
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Your salvage value of $3k means the insurance will probably pay $7k right? or the salvage value is just $2500 if insurance pay $6500 and let you keep the car.
When you get the policy they will ask you if you have a loan on it or not, same as home owner insurance. Any policy change they will notify the lien holder because if you drop the policy and total it that becomes a bad loan.
I intentionally skip gap insurance myself. I have the money to buy any car I bought in full, I just got a loan to have a good deal back when the car loan I got was 1.5% and my mortgage was 4%. They warn me about upside down if I total it but I don't care, it would be the same if I pay cash to buy the car anyways, and I just treat it as a HELOC that is cheaper than mortgage.
Define value please? Vacation and entertainment are value. A lot of those auto stuff is "value" in show business. I think the problem I have is not that you can finance those (it is no different than borrowing money for a vacation or a show you watch), the problem I have is the price they list is beyond what someone would finance you for.
Most new products will have a value suddenly drop on the delivery day, and the borrower will be up side down for a while. If the lender don't want to deal with it they should limit borrowing to protect themselves. That's what mortgage does: 80% on primary. Whether a car is sold as $50k + bogus add on or $70k regardless, it doesn't matter.
