Salvage, flood and rebuilt: what a US title brand means

Title brands at a glance

Clean title

Clean means the title carries no brand. It does not mean the car was never damaged: an accident repaired without an insurance claim may never reach the title.

Salvage title

Salvage usually means an insurer declared the vehicle a total loss, or the cost of repair exceeded a threshold set by the state.

In many states a salvage vehicle may not be driven on public roads until it is repaired and inspected. These cars are common at auction and usually cheaper, but the quality of the repair matters a great deal.

Rebuilt or reconstructed title

A rebuilt vehicle is a former salvage vehicle that was repaired and passed a state inspection. It is usually worth less than the same car with a clean title. In some states the inspection checks the VIN and where the parts came from, not the quality of the repair.

Flood or water damage

A flood title means the vehicle was damaged by water. Water can damage the engine, wiring and electronics and cause corrosion, and the problems may appear only later.

Not every state uses a flood brand, and some sellers move a flooded car to another state and get a new title there, so water damage may never appear on the title. If the car was not insured, insurance records will not show the damage either.

Junk, non-repairable and parts only

These brands usually mean the vehicle is meant only for parts or scrap. In many states it can never be registered for road use again.

Odometer brands

Copart and IAAI lot pages often show the odometer status too, for example "Actual" or "Not actual". Odometer brands on a title include:

• Not actual mileage — the odometer reading does not reflect the real distance driven.
• Exceeds mechanical limits — the odometer reached its highest reading and started again from zero.

What title washing is

Title washing means retitling a branded car in another state so that the new title no longer shows the brand, for example because that state did not check the earlier titles or does not use the same brand. The National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS) brings state records together and keeps the brands reported to it, so an earlier brand can still show up in a history report.

A clean title on a car with a known auction history is a reason to check its earlier titles in a history report.

What to check before you buy

• The title type and odometer status on the lot page.
• A free VIN decode, compared with the listing.
• Title brands across states and odometer records in a history report.
• Where possible, an inspection by a specialist.

How to check a Copart or IAAI car by VIN