rebodied with out salvage a title

[Pantera]

In in the eyes of most states, the fact is that it was just repaired back to original condition is legal. A salvage title has come into use, more in just the last 20 years or so because the insurance companys have finally pushed for the use of them to keep them from having to pay for the same car twice. Salvage title laws have been on the books of most states for years, but not all and some states without a Title on their cars can clean a salvage title by registering it in that state. Thank goodness the authorities are starting to close those loopholes. Newer cars with the longer vin #'s can't get away with this but the collector car that we all love are not on this list.

If a car is totally destroyed then there is no need for a "Salvage title" because it is crushed and no longer exists. But when a wrecked car is re-bodied or has major frame damage repaired and put back on the street then it will be forced to have a salvage title which is a different color of title,just to alert potental buyers that it has had major damage and has been repaired. There are way too many wrecked cars out there that are being put back on the road and the salvage title is the best way to police them.
Now the law that you are refering to is where it pertains to the vin # on the w/s post and the hidden #'s on the frame or cowl. It is a federal law to remove them or alter them in any way. Thats a $10,000 fine plus jail time. But if they are not disturbed then in their eyes, it is just a car that has been repaired.

We in this industry need to push our congress men to re-write the law and close this loophole. Also the feds need to enforce the laws on the books but they never do. They only care if it has to do with drugs or bombs. White collar crimes are almost totally ignored.

There is a big difference in what you are saying and mind you, I am not saying you are totally wrong. But it really depends on the state and what year the car in question was "re-bodied"? If it has been some time since the car was repaired, then if may not be illegal.

Now somewhere in between all this, we all feel that there is some kind of fraud involved when that repaired car is sold with out disclosing the fact to the new owner. I think there is a law now on the books that he has to disclose major repairs.

One thing is that the new buyer has a good case for a civil lawsuit because the value is not the same as one that had never been repaired to such a large extent. But ONLY if you have it in writing that the seller is declaring the car is "original" and not altered. Run don't walk from anyone that refuses to sign one if you are putting your hard earned money out on one.

Unfortunly those are just a pissing contest in the eyes of the courts and most of the time I doubt that the injured party would prevail or get any monetary restution. In my state you only have 3 yrs to sue on a verbal contract and 5 yrs on a written one. I am sure that every state has different laws on this which make it like walking through a mine field if you are out of your state and are unfamilar with the area you are buying the car in.

Above all else!!! Do your research. Knowledge is king!! I think that this forum and the knowledge it contains is the best prevention from buying a fraud or " re-builder" that someone could find.

Perhaps this group should formulate a petiton to congress and try to get some teeth in the laws and close the loop holes.???

Laws only change when injured people get someone to make campain promises to change them.

[Norm reynolds]

Larry I agree with you on what you are saying The car in question was on another post and it was stated that the car was butcher up and that some one took the fire wall and welded it to back to another car That to me is a reconstructed car just because they did not alter the vin number means that the car is worth big money It must be disclosed when its up for sale as an altered car If you know about it and is ok with it then go ahead and buy it
I my self do not feel it is the right thing to do Who knows how good was the welder that did the work WILL it hold up The car is only as good as the person that did the work As I said before this is not in all states That is why I feel that it is real important that if a car is alter it must be disclosed If you try to get big money for it you will end up paying big money in a lawsuit I am like all of the people here in preserving the classic cars But how far do you go to restore a car there has to be a point where you have to say it’s dead

[Charley Lillard]

But this car was not dead. It was a running , driving car.

[Norm reynolds]

Ok Charley maybe I miss understood I thought that the car in question was all butcher up from its drag racing days and some one re-bodied it from the back of the fire wall if that’s not the case the I sorry I wrong about that car sometimes because of my head injury I get things mixed up

[Charley Lillard]

It was a old drag car that was turned into a Pro street car years ago. Then recently it was untubbed. Somewhere in the other thread it is described. If it were a dead shell that someone just cut the firewall out of and welded to another car I would have other thoughts but this was a running car that happened to have most of the floors cut out for tubbing. We will discuss this till infinity..

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

Charley, What's your logic about the car was 'running' vs not running? If the race drivetrain was gone, would it still be ok? I think the firewall resto method should be disclosed, maybe not illegal, but why not just tell the truth? What is so stinkin hard about being honest?

[Charley Lillard]

Marlin. I don't know if any logic is involved. And yes I agree that it would be nice if the repairs were disclosed. Hard for me to think a car should have a Salvage Title assigned to it if it was a running , driving Pro Street car. Should every Pro Street Camaro get a Salvage Title if they attempt to put them back stock ? Maybe Brian can clarify just where in the front floorpan the splice is. We will always be discussing what constitutes a rebody and I know I don't think I will ever have a Cut and dried Black and white opinion.

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

Agreed.
Honesty is still the best solution, but usually greed prevails.

[Norm reynolds]

A-Men

[Mr. T]

Could someone tell me what a "tubbed" car is? Since I have never raced and keep my Camaro's all original, I am not sure what this term means. Thanks!