California Salvage Title - What A Hassle...

Brillot2000

Brillot2000

0
Joined
Nov 7, 2017
Messages
1,300
Age
50
Location
Sun Valley, CA
Bike
NT700V, NC700X, XL600R
Be aware that if you have to get a "Salvage Title" for your bike after an insurance claim has been paid out on the vehicle.

I paid my registration by mail and waited 6 weeks for the registration card and sticker to show up. I paid my local AAA office a visit to check on the status of my registration. The person pulled the screen and then told me that my vehicle was placed on some sort of hold or was locked out. He then told me that I need to a Salvage Title Transfer. Recommended that use the virtual agent on the CA DWV website. He also stated that DMV had received my payment, so that's in my favor.

First off let me say that I was caught off guard nor was I alerted that I had to take any further action after the insurance gave me a payout on my late last year.

I received a reply back from DMV and they provided me the following list of items that are required to get the Salvage Title and my registration squared away.

- Current title
- REG 343 https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/uploads/2020/06/reg343.pdf
- REG 488c https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/uploads/2020/03/reg488c.pdf
-Brake and lamp inspection certificates from a certified shop
- VIN verification from CHP
- Current license plates

Locally CHP VIN inspection appoints are out into March, perhaps longer. I called a location that I would be willing to drive on out to get an earlier inspection date.

The officer I spoke to over the phone did not object to me operating the bike as long I had all my paperwork with me. The system will show that I did pay my registration and DMV is the one that is holding things up on their end.

Such a hassle to go through. I chose a CHP office nearly in the middle of nowhere not near any large city for the inspection. I hope to get a call back during the week to see their availability.

So nice of somebody to tell me all about this before, NOT!!!!

Wish me luck on getting DIVA's title all sort out. I while I am on running around on expired registration.
 
Good luck. Seems to me nothing is as easy as it should be.

Brad
 
ARKNT said:
Good luck. Seems to me nothing is as easy as it should be.

Brad
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You're telling me. The bike never left my possession nor did the VIN magically change on its own.

It always takes a group of people that take advantage of the system and make it nearly impossible for law-abiding citizens. :nuts:
 
It sucks you're going through all this, but it just reinforces my stance that I'm not calling insurance adjusters unless I want a bike gone.
 
NewTo700V said:
It sucks you're going through all this, but it just reinforces my stance that I'm not calling insurance adjusters unless I want a bike gone.
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Well, my insurance adjuster was an "Idiot" and never came to look that the bike in person. He made many expensive assumptions on his part on many parts that were not damaged. There was a $2,000 gap between his and my damage assessments. He submitted them without consulting an expert on this bike, mainly me. His figures pushed the amounts to declare the bike a "Total Loss". However, mine would have not.

Now I have a fine mess that I have to clean up.
 
Yup - that sounds about like the PITA we go through here in Ontario - except that if a bike has a salvage title on it here, you cannot transfer the ownership to another person for road use.

In other words, if the bike has ever been reported to the police as having been stolen (even if it was recovered undamaged) or if there has ever been an insurance claim paid on it (even if the claim was for purely cosmetic damage of a minor nature) - the bike can only be sold for parts - forever.

It can never be licensed for use on the roads in Ontario again - ever.

That set of rules sure makes paying for collision coverage (i.e. insurance that covers MY damage to MY bike - caused by ME), a pretty unattractive proposition.
 
When I got hit by the deer back in '16, State Farm's adjuster replaced quite a few things that the deer hadn't broken, and the total repair job ended up costing $2800. I had expected the bike to be totaled since I had 115K on it then. I was happy that they fixed it.
 
JustPassinThru said:
Now you guys are scaring me.

since the title is SALVAGE - something the kid didn't point out but that I wasn't concerned about - I'm starting to wonder, again. In Ohio, 15 years ago, a Salvage title meant it had been rebuilt, or had major issues such as theft. It did not mean it couldn't be registered. The first time it was registered with a Salvage title, it would have to be inspected by the Highway Patrol, with forms.

Now I have to wonder if I can never register this thing. Oh, well...in three months I've got nearly my money's worth out of it, anyway...
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I will tell you this, I would not want to go through this again anytime soon.

The next time this happens, I am saying "Adios" to that vehicle. Then it can "Va con Dios", goes with god.
 
A quick update.
  1. I managed to get my CHP VIN Inspection done this past Thursday, 1/28/21.
  2. The required Brake and Lamp Inspection this morning. The CHP referred me to probably the only place in all of Southern California that inspects motorcycles.
Next, I need to see if I can get a DMV Appointment locally or at a lesser-known Field Office in a small town.
 
Brillot2000 said:
A quick update.
  1. I managed to get my CHP VIN Inspection done this past Thursday, 1/28/21.
  2. The required Brake and Lamp Inspection this morning. The CHP referred me to probably the only place in all of Southern California that inspects motorcycles.
Next, I need to see if I can get a DMV Appointment locally or at a lesser-known Field Office in a small town.
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In all of So-Cal - there is ONE motorcycle inspection location?

Why on earth, with your climate and population, would that be the case? That just doesn't seem to make any sense......
 
MaxPete said:
In all of So-Cal - there is ONE motorcycle inspection location?

Why on earth, with your climate and population, would that be the case? That just doesn't seem to make any sense......
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The main reason is that it is very difficult to get certified. I was told by the guy that I spoke to from the Bureau of Automotive Repair that the certification test has a 90% failure rate. Not everyone passes the testing. Most certified shops that are certified Brake and Lamp Inspection Location are car repair shops. They do not want to deal with motorcycles. Motorcycle shops do not want to invest the money into one of their technicians to get certified. In many cases, they end up leaving that shop to get another job for more pay elsewhere after receiving their certification. So the motivation to invest in a single guy is not worth their investment.

I had to pay $71 USD for this inspection and to get the certificates of inspection.

Probably more fees to pay to the DMV in addition to the registration fees I already paid for this bike too... :censored:

Never again will I keep a salvage vehicle.
 
Brillot2000 said:
I will tell you this, I would not want to go through this again anytime soon.

The next time this happens, I am saying "Adios" to that vehicle. Then it can "Va con Dios", goes with god.
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I do feel for you but I also have a funny story, or lots of them.
My state patrol office was across from the VIN lane and I had a big window that looked out on it. It was kind of a car wash looking thing and I knew all the vin inspectors of course.
At the time, if you came into the state to live, the vin lane would check out your vehicle. If you rebuilt a vehicle, you had to have reciepts for the parts. Russian and Ukrainian car theft gangs had all sort of tricks to rebuild stolen cars and try and get them licensed and titled in WA. When ever I would chance at seeing a guy with slick backed black hair and a long black leather coat bring a car in to try and get a title, I would ask the vin inspector at break time about it....usually, the title was refused so they just took the car over to Idaho and got it titled. :rofl1: The vin inspectors told me to put a piece of electrical tape over my vin number that is on the dash of my car as the theives would go through parking lots and find vin numbers they needed to try and get a stolen car titled. The gangs have very good lawyers and it was always hard to pin crimes on them....
 
I once rebuilt a CL125A from 2 parts bikes and got it titled in WA. The best frame for the rebuild was from an abandoned motorcycle found in an apple orchard in Eastern WA and the original titled owner had deceased decades earlier. To get it titled I had to write a letter to the deceased owner asking to release the title and then wait for the letter to be returned to me since it was undeliverable. Had to get it inspected by the state and wait for the returned letter and then I got some interim registration and after a year (IIRC) I was able to title it in my name. Somehow it all worked out.
 
Good News, I got DIVA Re-Registered today. All the waits at all my local DMV Offices were very unreasonable. I ride NaNCy out to a small town Lake Isabella out in Kern County. It is a small hidden gem in the DMV network that is easily overlooked. It is about 170 miles away from my place and took about 3 hours to get there. Left at about 5:20 this morning arrived there a little ofter 8:00 shortly after they opened up. I encountered temperatures as low as 28Ā°and high as 52Ā° on the ride out this morning. I was actually was shivering at times. It was worth the trip as I was able to go in almost immediately and I was out in about 20 minutes. Then it was time to get some breakfast.

After breakfast rode around the Lake to take some pictures of some areas of interest. I used to camp in this area with both my grandparents and parents through the 1970s through the mid-1980s. I decided to be a little bold and took NaNCy off-road and down to the receded shoreline that would be beneath 40 feet of water if the dam was filled to capacity. I had to reacquaint myself that street tires do not like the sand. The good thing is that falling off in this sand wouldn't hurt as many places that were really soft. I really wished that I had Megas for this portion of my adventure.

IMG_2424.JPG

On the way home, I got to ride a great canyon route without many cars on this route. It's off the normal beaten path and is overlooked for it being a windee road that would take a car twice as long to get through. Some places have no guard rails and there's a cliff on the other side. I rode over 350 miles roundtrip today. The most that I have ridden in one day this year.

Overall it was a good day and I was able to accomplish the mission objective.
 
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that trip was well deserved to wear off the DMV doldrums!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

on the spyder forum, someone bought a new spyder from Imotorsports, so its a 2021, he bought in Dec 2020. found out that can-am didn't get the California emissions done on the first few models of the new 2021 run. VIN and sticker on bike state that not CA certified. DMV told him couldn't be registered, so called imotorosports and have been dealing with him. they were unaware that they were sent models that could not be sold in CA. so they are in the process of sending new bike
 
Woodaddict said:
that trip was well deserved to wear off the DMV doldrums!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

they were unaware that they were sent models that could not be sold in CA. so they are in the process of sending new bike
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Being CARB (California Air Resource Board) Compliant is quite important in California. If the vehicle does not have this emission compliance, the vehicle cannot be registered in the state of California. If the forum member lives in California, they should have known this from the get-go.

During my CHP VIN verification, the officer performing the inspection requested to see the emissions stick on DIVA. He knew it would be under the seat and asked to see under the seat specifically. I knew it was there if he did not know where it would be, just in case.
 
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