I apologize to everyone else in advance for continuing to reply to this. What I am going to say in this post is a regurgitation of what I already wrote above, so I thought I'd give you a heads up that if you're sick of this topic, just skip this crazy long post because there will be nothing new. I'm going to repeat it again, in hopes that he might be willing to read the proof and logic that refutes what he is saying. I would hate for people who may not know any better to be misled by what fookin is saying, especially when tens of thousands of dollars are at stake.
Whatever Jibber. Quotation marks are used to quote what someone else said. If it's something you say then don't quote it. Every point I made is correct. If you're trying to nit pick the unrepairable title as a rebuke of my points then ok, in your world, you can be right. In the context of the settlement, this form, and people who are turning in cars that are NOT unrepairable then my points are correct and informative.
Your actual quotes are clearly delineated in the quotation boxes. I was not trying to be deceptive, and anyone who reads a sentence that starts with "If what you are trying to say is XXXXX..." knows that it is not a verbatim quote.
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I am
not talking only about unrepairable title; I am also talking about Salvage Title (ie. one that can be repaired). Did you not read the links to the Texas Code, or the quotes from it that I posted that specifically talk about Salvage Title?
Let's look at the definitions first:
https://texas.public.law/statutes/tex._transp._code_section_501.091
Section 501.091
Definitions
In this subchapter:
...
(9) "Nonrepairable motor vehicle" means a motor vehicle that:
(A) is damaged, wrecked, or burned to the extent that the only residual value of the vehicle is as a source of parts or scrap metal; or
(B) comes into this state under a comparable ownership document that indicates that the vehicle is nonrepairable.
(10) "Nonrepairable vehicle title" means a printed document issued by the department that evidences ownership of a nonrepairable motor vehicle.
...
(15) "Salvage motor vehicle" means a motor vehicle that:
(A) has damage to or is missing a major component part to the extent that the cost of repairs, including parts and labor other than the cost of materials and labor for repainting the motor vehicle and excluding sales tax on the total cost of repairs, exceeds the actual cash value of the motor vehicle immediately before the damage; or
(B) comes into this state under an out-of-state salvage motor vehicle title or similar out-of-state ownership document.
(16) "Salvage vehicle title" means a printed document issued by the department that evidences ownership of a salvage motor vehicle.
Now let's look at what the Texas Code says about the restrictions put on these 2 types of titles:
https://texas.public.law/statutes/tex._transp._code_section_501.09111
Section 501.09111
Rights and Limitations of Nonrepairable Vehicle Title, Nonrepairable Record of Title, Salvage Vehicle Title, or Salvage Record of Title
(a) A person who owns a nonrepairable motor vehicle:
(1) is entitled to possess, transport, dismantle, scrap, destroy, record a lien as provided for in Section 501.097(a)(3)(A), and sell, transfer, or release ownership of the motor vehicle or a used part from the motor vehicle; and
(2) may not:
(A) operate or permit the operation of the motor vehicle on a public highway, in addition to any other requirement of law;
(B) repair, rebuild, or reconstruct the motor vehicle; or
(C) register the motor vehicle.
...
(c) A person who owns a
salvage motor vehicle:
(1) is entitled to possess, transport, dismantle, scrap, destroy, repair, rebuild, reconstruct, record a lien on, and sell, transfer, or release ownership of the motor vehicle or a used part from the motor vehicle; and
(2) may not operate, register, or permit the operation of the motor vehicle on a public highway, in addition to any other requirement of law.
Using the Texas Code listed above, a 'Salvage Title' evidences ownership of a 'salvage motor vehicle.' From the second part, a person who owns a 'salvage motor vehicle' (ie., the person who has the 'Salvage Title' of the car)
may not operate, register, or permit the operation of the motor vehicle on a public highway.
It is as clear as night and day.
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To go over each of your incorrect blanket statements:
If a vehicle has a title it is legal, driving on US roads and highways. It matters not that it is a salvage title.
As shown above, a car needs more than just a title to be legal to drive on US highways, and, also as shown above, some states' 'salvage titled' cars are explicitly barred from being registered or driven.
One is driving on the road legally with whatever brand is shown on the vehicle title and the other is not legally driving on US roads and has NO title.
Saying that a car with a title showing "whatever brand" can legally drive on the road is inaccurate, as shown above with the Texas 'salvage title' brand explicitly being barred from driving or being registered.
"xxx title" is a legit, boni fide vehicle driving on US roads.
"xxx title" is synonmous with saying 'whatever brand', and the same logic disproves this one as well.
If a vehicle has a title, it does not matter if it's salvage title, rebuilt title, squirrel-monkey title. It's a title. It's registered. Done.
This one has two parts:
1. The first part is the same as the 'whatever brand' logic above, implying that as long as a car has a title, any title, it can legally be driven on the road. This is proven wrong with the Texas 'Salvage Title' above.
2. The second, and I think this may be where your whole miscommunication stems from, is that you seem to conflate, or rather you seem to inextricably link,
titling with
registration. You say, "It's a title. It's registered," with the implication being that one must follow the other.
Titling and registering are, however, distinct processes that can be done individually (well, titling can be done without registering, but registering cannot usually be done without a title in your name). For example, let's use the Texas situation above, since we have the code quoted here (this applies in any state though, as far as I am aware). If I go buy a car, I can go to the DMV, pay the sales tax and get the title transferred into my name, and I can complete that title transfer
without registering the car.
As you can see in the 'Application for Texas Title and/or Registration' from the following link, there are 4 boxes at the top of the application: 1. Title & Registration, 2. Title Only, 3. Registration Purposes Only, and 4. Nontitle Registration.
http://www.txdmv.gov/reports-and-data/doc_download/998-form-130-u-application-for-texas-title-and-or-registration
The title just confers ownership, and you can transfer ownership via titling a car whether that car is clean, salvage, junk, whatever other type of title. The car does not have to be roadworthy or rebuilt to transfer the title and acquire a new title in your name. You can get the title without registering the car. Having a title in your name does not imply roadworthiness, nor does having a title in your name imply registration.
... you write about walking into a dmv with a branded title and the title is updated. That doesn't happen. You do not have title if you are bringing in a car to a dmv for an inspection in the hopes of receiving title and registration.
As shown in the Texas code above, you are incorrect, and that is exactly how it happens in some places. A totaled, but salvageable car is issued a 'salvage title' in the name of the rebuilder. The rebuilder can't drive the car, but he can rebuild the car. He rebuilds the car, takes the car to the DMV together with the existing 'salvage title', he gets an inspection (or already had one), fills out a couple of other papers and he submits the documents, including the title that he already had, to get a new, updated title which allows him to drive it on the road legally.
You cannot have a salvage car with a salvage title in the context of US dmv definitions in any state.
You can. Texas is 'in the context of US dmv definitions,' and (if you look at the first Texas Code quote box above) Texas explicitly states that a ""
Salvage vehicle title" [is] a printed document issued by the department that evidences ownership of a
salvage motor vehicle.
I don't think this can be made any more clear, so if you refuse to see this, you are willfully trying not to see.
What really threw me off is I think you and I were both on the same page earlier in this thread and then we spiraled off on this tangent.