A branded title isn't a problem to hide here -- it's what every buyer on this site came looking for.
We'll decode the car, and you pick the title status -- Salvage, Rebuilt, or Clean (Total Loss) -- as you go.
17 characters. You'll find it on the driver's door jamb, the base of the windshield, or your insurance card.
You're not talking a clean-title shopper into a branded car. Rebuilders, parts buyers, and budget buyers come here specifically for these.
Title status is a field on the listing, not an awkward conversation on the third phone call.
Attach the Carfax, the alignment and inspection reports, and your before-repair photos. Private until you choose otherwise.
On this page
The two words get used interchangeably and they are not the same thing, so it's worth being sure which you have before you price anything. A salvage title means an insurer declared the car a total loss and it has not been repaired and re-inspected since. In most states it can't be registered or driven on the road in that condition -- it's sold as a project, as parts, or to someone who intends to rebuild it. A rebuilt title (some states call it reconstructed, revived, or restored) means a salvage car has since been repaired and has passed a state inspection confirming it's roadworthy again. It can be registered and driven, and it's worth substantially more than the same car still on a salvage title. The brand stays on the title for the life of the car either way. It doesn't wear off, and it will show on the history report the buyer runs -- which is the whole reason to lead with it rather than let them discover it.
Selling a branded-title car is completely legal and completely ordinary. What varies is what the buyer can then do with it, and what you're required to tell them. Every state requires the salvage or rebuilt brand to be disclosed to the buyer, and it's carried on the title document itself, so this isn't something you could conceal even if you wanted to. Some states also have rules about who may buy an unrepaired salvage vehicle, or require the title to be in your name before you can transfer it. The specifics differ by state and they do change -- check your own DMV for what applies to your title and your sale. What's consistent everywhere: disclose the brand, hand over the correct title document, and keep the paperwork.
A salvage-title car typically sells for a fraction of the clean-title value of the same year, model, and mileage. A rebuilt one usually lands well below clean-title value but well above unrepaired salvage -- the inspection is what closes some of that gap. The spread is wide, and it's driven by things a book value can't see: what was damaged, whether the structure was involved, how competent the repair was, and how much of that you can prove. A rear-ended car with a straight frame, receipts, and an alignment report is a different proposition to the same car with none of that. The practical way to price it is to look at what comparable branded-title cars are actually listed for here. Filter the inventory to your make, model, and title status, and look at the range rather than any single car.
This is the single biggest difference between a branded-title listing that sells and one that sits. Shoot the damage directly and in daylight -- the panel that was hit, the repair, the area around it. If you have before-repair photos, upload them: they're a separate photo type on the listing, so they show as what they are rather than confusing a buyer into thinking the car is currently wrecked. Buyers of these cars assume the worst about anything they can't see. A listing with eight flattering three-quarter shots and no photo of the repaired corner reads as concealment, even when nothing is being concealed. Photographing it plainly does the opposite.
For a branded-title car, documentation isn't a nice extra -- it's most of what a serious buyer is evaluating. You can attach a Carfax or history report, an alignment report, an inspection report, and before-repair photos to the listing. Each one is private by default: you decide per document whether to publish it on the listing or send it to one buyer with a private link, which is useful when you'd rather not put everything in front of every browser. If you did the repair yourself or paid a shop, keep the receipts for parts and labour and say so in the description. "Frame checked at a shop, alignment printout attached" answers the question the buyer was about to ask, and it's the difference between an offer and a haggle.
Knowing who you're writing for changes how you write the listing. Rebuilders and body shops want to know exactly what's damaged and whether the structure is straight -- they're pricing the repair, so detail helps them and vagueness makes them assume the worst. Parts buyers care about what's intact rather than what's broken: a clean drivetrain, a good interior, undamaged panels on the opposite side. If the car is worth more in pieces than on the road, say that plainly and list what's good. Budget buyers want a running, registered, rebuilt car for less than a clean-title one costs, and they're the ones who need reassurance -- inspection paperwork, repair receipts, honest photos. One listing can speak to all three. Describe the damage for the rebuilder, list what's undamaged for the parts buyer, and attach the paperwork for the budget buyer.
All of them are normal listings here, and each one has a detail worth stating outright. If the car doesn't run, say why if you know -- "doesn't start, suspect the ECU, was running when parked" is far more useful than "non-running", and it changes who bothers to contact you. Flood damage deserves the specifics: fresh or salt water, how deep, and whether it was ever run afterwards. Buyers who work on flood cars know exactly what those answers mean. Hail is largely cosmetic and often mechanically sound, which is worth saying, because the title brand alone makes people assume otherwise. Theft recovery varies enormously -- a car recovered untouched is a very different sale from one stripped to a shell. Describe which it was.
Yes. Selling a branded-title car is legal and routine -- the brand just has to be disclosed to the buyer, and it's printed on the title document anyway. What varies by state is what the buyer can do with an unrepaired salvage car afterwards, and occasionally who may buy one, so check your own DMV for the specifics of your sale.