Totaled vehicle

[race10]

Is there anyway to find out why a car/truck was totaled? I've done a carfax and it basically tells you nothing valuable. I'm trying to sell a truck that's been totaled and needs an inspection. I'm burnt out and tired of messing with it. Any help here would be awesome.

 

[halcat]

I just done a reconstructed title on a truck but I already owned the truck when it was totaled.I had to get a signed statement from the shop that repaired the truck and had to send it with pictures and bills to the state with the old title. They rejected me the first time because the pictures were not in color. The state sent me a new reconstructed title and a inspection sticker to put on the door jam. Took about two months.

 

[race10]

I'm not having an issue with getting the inspection done other than I've not had the time to schedule it. I'm in Ohio and you have to take the vehicle and and receipts for any repair work and parts to an inspection facility. I'm trying to find out why it was totaled in the first place. Like theft recovery, wreck or whatever reason. Other than some mechanical work I've not had to do any body repairs.

 

[sexxy]

I work for a used car dealer that rebuilds wrecks. We replaced the rear end and 2 fender flares on a 2013 jk, got it inspected and should have a title back shortly. Im unsure why they totalled it but there were several little dings but nothing out of the ordinary for a 3/4yr old vehicle. Seen a 06 tj that had to get tailgate replaced and a small frame pull to get tailgate back in place, totalled too. Could have daily driven it with the damage. Was a cheap repair, and still dont understand why it was totalled.

 

[patooyee]

I've never done it before. To be honest I've always heard that it was impossible. But if I was really determined I would think that the first and primary source of info would be the police report. If it was totaled I would think in most cases there must be a police report. And I think police reports are public record, right? I don't even know if this is the legit site, but it came up on Google:

http://www.dmv.org/vehicle-history/why-run.php

In theory that wouldn't pull up the actual report, but hopefully at least the department that filed the report.

From there I would contact the department and see if I could get a copy of the actual report. Every accident I have been in with a police report has a diagram of the incident and the damage to the vehicle with a description of what happened. That's probably the best you can hope for from the DMV.

Beyond that I would think the next stop would be the insurance agency that paid the claim. Even if you could find the right one though, I'm not sure how forthcoming they would be with the info. I'm sure there are privacy concerns there.

After they are totaled they are normally auctioned. So maybe tracking down the auction house it was sold at could net some results? Again, privacy concerns.

If you were able to find the buyer though they might be willing to tell you the original damage. If they thought you were an angry customer probably not. There's probably no up-side possible in giving that info to anyone.

I'm not an expert on this by any means. I'm fairly decent at research though and I'm just listing the avenues that I would personally pursue if I was desperate.

I did own a totaled Samurai once a long time ago. There was absolutely nothing wrong that I could find with it. I briefly tried to find out what happened to it and quickly realized that it was more trouble than it was worth, being a running, driving vehicle with no obvious damage whatsoever.

 

[patooyee]

I just tried one of my vin's in that site. It appears to just redirect to a private car-fax-like company / BS / not what you're looking for.

 

[02Jimmy]

I own a collision center in Mo, we can purchase a car that is 6 years old or older from the owner if it is totaled and it will maintain the original non salvage title. If you purchase from salvage lot you may never know what are why it was deemed a total loss. Car Fax is a Joke! Have seen several cars sell that were total loss by the insurance company. If you can find what insurance company deemed vehicle totaled they keep total loss report along with pictures. Hope this helps.

 

[race10]

I called the inspection location today and they told me they can't tell me anything over the phone, I have to schedule an inspection and see what happens. I guess that's my next move and if it sells before hand I'm only out about $60.