Insurance Company Vehicle Buy Back and Title

[asparks]

Hopefully someone can help me with a vehicle titling issue in the state of Michigan.

I have been working my way the Michigan SOS website but cannot find this answer.

According to the State of Michigan, when a vehicle is damaged, and the cost to repair exceeds 75% of the vehicle value, the Insurance Company is required to apply for a salvaged title. This is pretty straight forward.

What I am trying to find out is, what if the cost of repairs is less than 75% of the vehicle's value but the Insurance Company buys it back anyway. Are they still required to apply for a salvaged title?

I ran into a situation where a used vehicle I was looking is listed as having a clean title. When I pulled the Carfax it shows as a Total Loss due to a claim buy back. However, the AutoCheck also lists the vehicle as an claim buy back, but not a total loss.

I can confirm that previous Insurance Company bought back the vehicle and sent it to a salvage auction. The value of the vehicle was listed as $31k and the repair cost at $20. That's only 65% repair cost.

Does anyone have any insight into how this process works?

 

[fed up]

What probably occurred is that the estimated repair was 20K before tear down and the insurance company decided that they would total the vehicle sensing additional repairs. The difference between 65% and 755 is $3000 on this vehicle, that could be a few airbag sensors or headlight buckets. I would walk unless the mileage is so low you are willing to chance losing your money

 

[adjusterjack]

Carfax and Autocheck are not completely accurate and I have seen reports that they can be clear one year and come back the next year with a branded title on the same vehicle.