Before going towards the actual question, it is important to know the meaning of the terms if some of you don’t know about. Total loss means the cost of repair (as determined by the insurance company) is greater than the actual worth of the vehicle (told by the insurance company). According to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, a vehicle is said to be a total loss when
- Insurance company compensate for the vehicle damage with one of like type and quality.
- Insurance company compensate the owner for stealing of the vehicle.
- An uninsured vehicle is damaged and the cost of repairing is more than 80% of the cost to the vehicle owner of replacing damaged vehicle one of its like kinds.
A clean title of a vehicle is when it doesn’t have undergone any serious damage. It can be better understood by examining the salvage title. A salvage title of a vehicle is when it has been involved in an accident considered a total loss and has been repaired or salvaged. A vehicle gets a salvage title when it has been repaired and restored from total loss. No doubts the vehicle can be restored to brand new condition but still, it will have a salvage title.
Here lies the answer to your question.
That is the total loss vehicle can not have a clean title in Florida or any other state.
The topic of salvage and clean title vehicle is a very interesting one. The salvaged vehicle is that for which the insurance company has defined the cost to repair the damage more than the current worth of a vehicle itself. People who love vehicles especially cars could talk about the topic the whole day. It is definitely an interesting thing to bring back the brand new car from the pile of junk and make it perfect to run on the road.
The salvage title is different from the clean title. A vehicle can have a clean title in only one case and it is when the vehicle has never suffered any serious damage, never altered the odometer and never identified for any serious defect. Total loss is completely opposite of clean title as it involves the significant damage to the vehicle and the damage is so much that it exceeds the actual price of the vehicle. The extent of damage and loss for a car depends on the insurance company and the state but generally, it lies from 60% to 90% of the worth of car.
When the vehicle is declared a total loss, it will be issued a salvage certificate with a salvage title. It means that the vehicle is not able to drive or registered on the roads. After the declaration of salvage title and salvage certification, the vehicle is handed over to insurance companies. They auction off the vehicle to rebuilders or salvage yards. Even if the car is rebuilt and restored to the working condition it will be given the rebuilt title by the state. It will never get a clean title legally in any way. It doesn’t matter how much time and effort you spend on repairing of the vehicle, the vehicle history will always remain with it and it will not get a clean title after a total loss in any way.
You can only remove the title of salvage from the vehicle if you want to use it again after a total loss but can’t restore it to clean title. You can remove salvage title through following small steps.
First of all, purchase a vehicle which is certified as salvage if it is possible in your state. Then go for its repairing through certified mechanics. After completion of the repair process go through inspection process of the vehicle to ensure that everything is perfect then at the last step, complete the paperwork to change the title of the vehicle. It will be changed to rebuild title.
Therefore, the answer to your question is “it is not possible for a total loss vehicle to have a clean title in Florida”