1. What is a rebuilt title? - A rebuilt title is a brand on a title that can mean a variety of things, but one thing is always the same. The vehicle was owned by an insurance company at some point of its life.
2. What does it mean? - While most people have their own opinion depending on who you talk to of how a vehicle receives a rebuilt title, most people thinking that it must have been in a really bad accident is not always the case. In recent years with a shortage of replacement parts leading to back ordered items, rather than making the customer wait for the parts to come in, the insurance company will total out the vehicle, pay the insured to purchase a different vehicle, and sell it at the auction. We also see that if a vehicle was stolen and recovered, most insurance companies will total them out even if there was no visible damage to the vehicle. Some are due to hail damage, and some are due to flood damage. All of these instances should show up on the carfax in one way or another.
3. Can I get financing? - As far as financing goes with a rebuilt title, we at BK Motor Sales have teamed up with a local credit union that will finance the whole amount of the vehicle with the same rates as a clean title. While most banks or credit unions will only do half of full retail value. We have found that our credit union has very competitive rates and will even match a rate of any other credit union if needed.
4. Can I get insurance? - As far as insurance goes, Yes, a rebuilt title qualifies for insurance even though your agent may say otherwise. Some insurance agents are trained to shy you away from them because the process of getting claims paid might look a little different but at the end of the day, insurance companies do cover rebuilt titles. These vehicles have been inspected by the State Department and are cleared for road use. The only stipulation insurance companies typically have is if you were to total out your vehicle again after it already has the brand “rebuilt title” they will pay up to 80% of full retail value. That being said, make sure you are buying this type of vehicle at or below 80% of full retail value.
5. Will I be able to sell it when I am done with it? - And lastly, will a rebuilt title make it hard to sell the vehicle when we want to get rid of it. Yes, this does limit your buyers, but we encourage you to bring it back to BK Motor Sales when you are done with it. Whether you trade it in or just want us to buy it from you, we will use the same calculations we use when pricing them for sale. We will look at the market value at this time, subtract 20-30% from actual listings and then base the trade in value from there. Where if you were to bring it to a normal dealership, they may not offer you much. Please bring the vehicle back to us to get top dollar.