Hey guys,
I just purchased an 83 Plymouth(Mitsubishi) 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 bought 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(under 70k miles) 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.Just branded salvaged because the salvage yard owned it before the seller. I was then referred to a state police officer at a facility that would be better equipped to answer my questions. I called him,and he said essentially the same thing,but was more sympathetic to me as he understood what I was getting at. Now in my research there seems to be two different types of salvage title in CA. One is branded as Salvage and only for parts,and the other(this cars type) is Salvaged with a d that means it has been saved,and is now safe for use on CA roads. In my opinion this should be good enough for MA as it has already passed a test in maybe the strictest of states in the country. But what do I know?
Do you guys think I will be okay with this,or should I try to get it titled or registered in another state that maybe doesn't issue titles for cars this old? I wouldn't be opposed to an inspection here in MA,but it doesn't sound like they will do it without some sort of paperwork that doesn't exist for this car. Any help would be appreciated.
Chris
