I am thinking of buying a car in Ohio, I had the "Ohio Certificate of Title" faxed to me, first of all it says "Salvage" about 5 times on it, what exactly is a salvage title?

Next off I wanted to make sure there is no leans on it, it is dated Dec15/07, is this some sort of lien document also saying there are no liens on it, it is stamped by the county clerk.

Can someone let me know......thanks

In regards to the salvage title, it means it was in an accident or incident that warranted the insurance company to "total it"...and then it was either bought back or sent to the junk yard and bought from there. Basically, the title will read "Salvage" if the car was totalled. Some states you can rebuild your car and have the county clerk, I believe, examine the car and they will issue you a clear title, salvage-less....see if your state has this, MN doesn't  :icon_frown:

here in indiana it will change to a "rebuilt" title after its inspected.

Quote from: stargazer7467 on January 14, 2008, 09:11:00 AM
here in indiana it will change to a "rebuilt" title after its inspected.

Same here in Missouri

I do not believe that you can get a clean title after it has been designated "SALVAGE".  Safety inspections are usually required at State facilities and a certified rebuilder sometimes must do the work. 
      HERES A PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH THIS MATTER IF YOU CARE TO READ ON....Back in the early to mid 90's a lot of vehicle title fraud was happening between bordering states.  Some poor bastards like myself would go across a border and buy a car (in Iowa) (from Illinois).  I get a IOWA title that says duplicate but not rebuilt or salvage on it (even though somewhere along the line a salvage title was issued--I presume the guy did not even keep the rebuild title after having the car "recertified" through the state as he had saved the duplicate title).  Poor bstrd takes it back to Illinois to do a title transfer and ILLINOIS title comes back saying rebuilt. .  Poor b'd wonders how this happened and inquires to find out that Illinois has a good title search that always locates a vehicle that has been totaled through insurance claim.   I was furrious and was nearly arrested in Iowa later in the week pounding on the guys front door.  To make a Long story short (or longer)--this is a little more difficult to get away with now than it was back then....States have much better ways to track the accidents now than 10-15 years ago.......Happened to me with a  '87 5.0 mustang LX in 92 when I came home from USMC.  Illinois never charged this guy with any fraud....and I was stuck with a car that dogtracked and was valued at $2,400 and spent $6K. 

Hey Dale this is Ken thanks for the radiator again.  Anywho you are right however there are still states where you can obtain a clean title for a vehicle that has been salvaged or rebuilt.  I don't remember where but I have heard of it.  Carfax is your friend either way.

Ken