Title questin regarding CA Salvaged

Hey guys,

I just purchased an 83 Plymouth Sapporo Technica from a guy in CA. I have yet to take delivery on it as I just paid for it yesterday. I am not sure how I will be getting it to the East Coast yet,but I am working on it.

My question is regarding the title condition. Here is the story on the car. The seller bout the car in January of 2010 at a salvage yard. The car wasn't there due to collision or any normal reason. It was just turned in to the yard because it had a few issues,and the person who turned it in didn't want to deal with it anymore. It was in remarkably clean condition but had issues like some dings,and a non-running condition. The seller took a chance on it,and bought it cheap. He fixed the issues,and cleaned the car up real good. He then had the car inspected by some agency in CA that looked over the brakes,lights,etc. It was given a clean bill of health,and allowed to be roadworthy. He then had it smog checked,and the car is a registered/insured/driving car in the state of CA now.

The title is however branded as "Salvaged"(not salvage). No big deal I thought as it should be able to be registered in MA no problem. I looked into the rules for Salvage titles in MA,and the website says the car has to be inspected by a state police officer at a facility before being allowed to operate on MA roads. Again I though no big deal. Well when I called about it I spoke with a woman who told me that I would need some sort of insurance paperwork from when the claim was filed regarding the accident or reason why it was salvaged. Now this car doesn't have that because it wasn't ever in an accident,and not considered a total loss. She referred me to a state police officer at a facility

I think she was assuming it's a MA title branded as salvage. Bringing it in from out of state with a clean out of state title, even branded salvage, should not cause you to have to produce papers you would not have.

Sounds like a cool buy! I don't know anything about MA registration law, but when did you wanna do our little rotary fest? I'm still excited to check out an old RX7 and I don't think i've ever seen a REPU in person...

Come on down just about any weekend is fine with me. I will be having a cookout this next Sat(14th),but other than that I will be around most weekends.

Chris

Here is the car by the way:

http://japanesenostalgiccar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=8173

I love the salvage yard writing still being present on the rear quarter panel. I may just eave it there until I get up the cash to get it painted.

Chris

sounds good, I'm going to an autox on the 14th anyway. come to think of it, the weekend after that i'm heading to wisconsin to get married, so it might have to be after I get back or on a sunday if that's cool with you

For your info those are abundant down-under as a Mitsubishi Scorpion, is it a 2.0 or 2.6 engine?

Parts should be easily obtained from Oz

Mazdax605 wrote: http://japanesenostalgiccar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=8173 I love the salvage yard writing still being present on the rear quarter panel. I may just eave it there until I get up the cash to get it painted.

Oh, man, it's cool! I would totally leave the junk yard tag. Any idea what kind of power it makes and what it weighs?

2.6 MCA-Jet engine Steve. No idea on power or weight eddie. My guess is it isn't a real powerful car,and add in the automatic I bet it is pretty anemic.

Anyway I think it a cool car. Anyone have any clues as to how to fix the wonky digital speedometer? Sometimes it works,but not all the time. The odometer always works however.

Digital problem usually mean a new dash

The 2.6 is called an Astron engine

Oh wow! A friend of mine in high school had one of these, badged as a - wait for it - Dodge Challenger.

Nice score!

A friend of mine here in CA picked up a '90 Miata from a junkyard a few months ago that just needed a clutch. For whatever reason, he was not able to get it registered due to the way it was salvaged. Since he was planning on gutting it to update a '64 Spitfire, he didn't pursue it.

If your guy was able to get it smogged and registered here, you should have no problem transferring it to MA as long as you have the title and bill of sale.

White_and_Nerdy wrote: Oh wow! A friend of mine in high school had one of these, badged as a - wait for it - Dodge Challenger.

I almost bought a sweet Dodge Challenger of around the same vintage a few years back,but passed on it. The guy selling that one would bring it to car shows,and such,and get Mopar people's dander all up when he would show off his "Challenger". I thought that was great!!

A little trivia about at least the Challenger that I was going to buy,but not this twin. The antenna of the Challenger was integrated into the trunk lid. Supposedly it didn't work so great,but a neat idea none-the-less.

Chris

Bump from page three. Was hoping to get some advice on this.

Chris

In reply to Mazdax605:

Will not being able to title the car in MA get you your money back? If not...you've already bought the car. Once it arrives, take the title & bill of sale to the DMV, SAY NOTHING, and just try to register it. If they register it, no big deal. If they won't, they'll tell you at that point what you need to do to get it registered. Is there potential for it to be a PITA? Yes, yes there is. But there's also the potential for it to NOT be a PITA.

I did that bringing my salvage-title car from NC to CA. CA didn't seem to care about the "salvage" on the title and issued me a clean title after inspecting the car.

Not as helpful as you're looking for, I know. I've pinged a few car friends in MA to see if they have any experience with buying salvage/d-title cars and can weigh in.

Oh, hey, you might not have to worry about it!

Found this on http://www.givecars.com/title/title-massachusetts-codes.html

"Effective May 1, 1991, if your insurance company made a total loss settlement for your vehicle, you were required to apply for a Salvage title.

Passenger vehicles over ten (10) years old are exempt from the Salvage title law."

Update:

Got the CA title yesterday,and went to MA DMV today to get it titled in my name,but not registered yet. Was mostly painless aside from the wait in line. The nice lady at the DMV looked up the CA Salvaged title,and ended up issuing me a MA reconstructed title. She was going to brand it Reconstructed"collision",but I talked her into something less bad than that as it was never hit. She came up with "reconstructed salt damage" which isn't bad,but I wanted it to be vandalism,or theft recovery,but she wouldn't do that. I guess at the end of the day it doesn't matter as I have a title,and will be able to register the car when I get the paperwork from my insurance company. Also I only paid sales tax on the book value of $975 which was sweet!!!

Now I need to figure out if I want to get it shipped to me or let my friend fly out,and drive it home like he has been bugging me to do.

Chris

You aren't tempted to fly out and drive it home yourself?

Oh, and great news on getting the title taken care of. That stuff can be a big PITA.

how do you put the title in your name but not register it? in MN, that's the same thing. they issue you the plates and tabs on the spot at the registrar when you transfer the title- you don't have the option of not doing it that way.

You can title a car but not have it registered in MA. My turbo RX-7 is titled, but not registered or insured. However, if you want to be able to drive your car on a public road legally, THEN you need to get it registered and insured.

I am tempted to fly out,and drive it with my friend as it is in NorCal,and I have never been there,but with work,two boys,and my wife I am not sure it is the best idea right now. I am really leaning on just getting it shipped as it would be easiest,but my friend really is hounding me to do the drive.

I've done a cross-country drive before in a ZX2. I mean, driving a car older than I am across the country? How hard could it be?

Not hard at all,but I worry that I will have a friend driving a 28 year old Mitsubishi that was pulled from a salvage yard about 17 months ago. If things don't go as planned it could get real expensive,or worse dangerous. The shipping at around $1100 sounds like the better yet less adventurous plan.

Having done a 2800+ mile test drive (hello, $2010 Challenge!) in a car that had been "finished" less than 10 hours before I started the trip...I'd recommend against it, frankly, unless you were the one who put the car together (hello, spare parts that came in handy!) and/or have LOTS of backup (hello, GRM board!).

Besides, while the total cost of the trip [gas (~$480) + food (~$100) + hotels (~$350) = $930] saves you a couple hundred bucks, there's the flight cost and lost wages to figure in, too. Driving for 4-5 days straight sounds like fun, but by the end of day two you're wondering why the frick you thought burning vacation time on this would be a good idea...

On the other hand, if your friend is covering the cost of the flight, food and hotels, sticking you with only the gas, hey! That's a good deal. :D Keep in mind, though, that if that car dies, shipping a car that doesn't run/move is significantly more expensive.

My friend is covering his flight,but I will be responsible for fuel,and hotel stays. He was planning on bringing some spares as he says the car is pretty simple as it is old. My only fears are a break down,and having to get it repaired or shipped in a non-running state. I don't plan on doing this trip,but I am also not opposed to maybe saving a few bucks,and letting my friend have the adventure he so wants. Shipping does sound like the best option though.

Chris