How to convert a salvage title to reconstructed title in Louisiana
Buying salvage cars and legally rebuilding them in the State of Louisiana.
To start with a little disclaimer, I am not an attorney and this is my understanding of the process. This article and the associated video
are both for entertainment purposes only. If the article helps you great, and it should help you but I make no guarantees.
I decided that I needed a reliable, economic and inexpensive commuter car at the beginning of the year. I drive about 400 miles a week back and forth to work. This gets expensive when your Ford F150 gets around 14 MPG.
I had a limited amount of money that I wanted to spend, and I wanted something that I could put a bunch of miles on and not have any issue.
I am somewhat mechanically inclined I decided to purchase a salvage title vehicle and then refurbish it and get a rebuilt title so that I could legally drive it.
In the state of Louisiana you do not need a dealer’s license to purchase salvage vehicles at auction, so I decided to keep an eye out on the local Copart auctions. I will write a blog on that process, but I wanted to first write this to help folks in Louisiana since I could find almost no information on the internet that explained the process of converting a salvage title to a rebuilt title.
I purchased a 2013 Ford Focus at Copart with 60,000 miles. It was beat up but not wrecked. It was in a tornado and was totaled because of cosmetic damage. It ran and was able to be driven onto the trailer to get it home. It was beat up and smelled terrible but the price was right.
When I paid for the vehicle and picked it up I was given a Title that was branded as a salvage title. Which means it was not able to be registered for use on the road. I could have filed for a dismantling permit which would have allowed me to part the car out, or I could fix it and then apply to get a rebuilt title. The rebuilt title allows you to register and insure the vehicle in the state of Louisiana.
The first step was to fix the car so that it could pass a DOT safety inspection, or “Brake Tag” as they are called. In my case this required me to replace a damage fender, replace a cracked windshield and replace a broken taillight.
Once the car can pass a safety inspection; it needs to be inspected by a commissioned law enforcement personnel who have successfully completed the Physical Inspection Certification training course. Which in my case, I took the car to the State Trooper Detachment near my home. To have this inspection I took my salvage title, bill of sale, a list of all parts that were replaced and all receipts for those parts. The Trooper then compared the VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) in multiple spots on the vehicle and the VIN on the title and bill of sale. Once that all passes he provided me with an “Affidavit of Physical Inspection”, which required to register the vehicle.
The next item you need is insurance for the vehicle. Since my vehicle was so inexpensive I only have liability on the vehicle. Geico however would have provided full coverage if I would have wanted it.
You then need to take the salvage title, the bill of sale, the “Affidavit of Physical Inspection”, and your receipts and the list of purchased parts to the DMV. And fill out an application for title.
There they will help you file all the paperwork required to get a reconstructed Title. I however went to a local car title company and they assisted me with all the additional paperwork. Since I had all my ducks in order, I could leave the title office with the car registered for road use and with a plate.
I went home, put the plate on the car and drove it to get a safety inspection or Brake Tag. This was an easy step and I received my two year brake tag.
I now drive the vehicle daily and to date I have put 3000 miles on it without any issues.