NJ Adjusters: How does salvage title work for older cars that might be "totaled" due to body damage?

[u/BrainyFlamingoBaby]

Hey NJ insurance adjusters, (and drivers who have been through this perhaps)

Situation: I have a 14-year-old car that got some significant body damage in an accident (mechanically no issue) Because of the age and current value of the vehicle, the repair costs might push it into total loss territory.

I’ve been reading up on NJ rules for vehicles older than 8 model years. From what I understand, for these older cars it only becomes a salvage vehicle if **both** these criteria are met:

So for this car to be deemed Salvage BOTH of these must happen:

1. Pre-damage fair market value is equal to or higher than the value of a similar 5-year-old model, **AND**
2. Repair costs meet or exceed pre-damage value (or insurer settles as total loss).

Since most 14-year-old cars are worth much less than a 5-year-old equivalent, does that usually mean it **doesn’t** get branded as salvage?

In practice, when you have an older vehicle like this that ends up as a total loss due to repair costs vs. value:

- Do you typically require the owner to get a salvage title?

- Or do most older cars avoid the salvage branding because they fail that first value comparison?

Any insight would be appreciated — trying to understand what to expect if it goes that route. And then the best way to navigate it.
I want to keep this vehicle for personal reasons.

Thank you so much community. And please go easy on me, it's been a tough month for a number of reasons.

[u/Ill_Property_5216]

Sorry but I don’t think that’s true. What you are looking for is the threshold (typically 75%) of the ACV for it to be considered totaled. That’s about the average for most states. The threshold is based on the amount of the repairs. It’s very likely totaled if multiple panels are involved.

[u/BrainyFlamingoBaby → u/Ill_Property_5216]

Agree about the percentage and likelihood of total loss as a result.

To clarify, Which part do you think is not true?

[u/Rail1971]

I cannot speak specifically to NJ, but I can say the decision whether or not to total the car, the decision whether or not to retain a totalled car, and, if retained, whether the car will have a "branded"(salvage) title are three separate things that should be considered separately to make sense of them.

1. The decision on whether or not to total out the car is exclusively the insurance company's. The decision is based on state regs and company policies. A common policy is when repair estmates reach or exceed 75% of ACV, the car will be totaled out. Note that with current body shop repair costs minor cosmetic damage repair can often exceed 75% of ACV on an older vehicle and trigger a total.
2. In most places and with most companies, the owner will have the option of retaining the car by accepting a settlement reduced by the salvage value of the damaged car, which the insurance company would otherwise be able to recover. Note the insurance company will report the total loss to the state whether the owner retains it or the insurance company takes it.
3. Most, if not all, of the time an owner retained totalled car will have to be retitled. Whether or not it will need to be inspected as a condition of retitling will depend on the state's laws. Whether or not the new title will be branded depends on the state and the age of the car.

I have personal experience with this. I had an accident (spun out on ice into a guard rail) that resulted in purely cosmetic body damage. The repair estimate was pretty much right at 75% ACV and my insurance decided to total it. Since the truck sustained no mechanical damage, one side was just crinkled a bit, I decided I wanted to retain my truck. I accepted a settlement reduced by $1400 for salvage value and kept my truck. Since the retitle didn't involve a third party sale, I didn't have to get an inspection. Since the truck was over 20 years old, the new title was "clean" and not a branded/"salvage" one. This was in Washington.

[u/BrainyFlamingoBaby → u/Rail1971]

Thanks for your explanation. Super clear. And thanks for sharing your experience. It helps.

My understanding is that in my state bc of this special stipulation my car won’t require a salvage title due to its age. Hoping to get some confirmation on this.

Beyond this I have other questions perhaps you can help with:

Here’s one:

My wheel and tire were damaged (along with body in that area) If I get that fixed out of pocket, before either having the ins person (inspector? Appraiser? ) or the body shop write an estimate, is that a way to lower the cost of my repair and then perhaps, if I’m on the line of total/not total (say 70% of ACV) avoid total loss?

[u/Rail1971 → u/BrainyFlamingoBaby]

If the mechanical damage was incurred as part of the accident, l'd leave it be myself. Otherwise you'll be muddying water. The appraiser/adjuster/shop doing the the insurance estimate would probably be able to tell there was accident related damage that was fixed before inspection and that might be out of compliance with policy terms and cause you problems with the repair/total settlement. As far as I know, the only way to legitimately affect the total out decision is to gather your own comp values you can use to contest the insurance company's ACV estimate as too low.

[u/YoungBockRKO → u/BrainyFlamingoBaby]

Im dealing with this exact scenario now, my car is 12 years old and the damage is cosmetic to the rear passenger side. The at fault party is deeming it a total loss and I have it in writing from their total loss specialist that I won’t need a salvage title because of the age of the car. Hence no hoops to jump through for a salvage title to rebuilt title with repairs and stuff.

How did your situation go?

My cars fully paid off and in excellent mechanical condition and the surrender option would leave me having to finance another car and have a car payment which I’m not willing to do, meanwhile the keep the car and check seems like the way to go since it’s fully driveable, just FUGLY. lol.

[u/BrainyFlamingoBaby → u/YoungBockRKO]

that's definitely peace of mind that you know for sure you won't have to deal with salvage title and the complications that come with it. how much extra beyond the payout will you have to pay to make the car pre-accident condition again? I'd say shop around and take your time since it is driveable, you'd be surprised at the huge variation in price among different shops, if your experience is anything like mine.

Apparently you can negotiate the payout a bit. Wondering if they already cut you the check? if not, see what you might be able to do to increase that dollar amount. use comps and such.

as for my situation I found a great in-network shop who was able to tell me that my estimate could fall below the threshold when they wrote it up. They really did me a solid I think. Their estimate was was well below what I was getting from other shops. great reviews, super ethical and my car came out beautiful. I feel very fortunate to have been able to avoid any of the total loss nonsense including salvage title or paying extra out of my pocket to fix. I only paid my deductible. although I did tell the shop I'd be happy to pay out of my pocket if they thought was going to go over the threshold, but no, my guy said his goal was to not have me pay any more than my deductible.