Police report equals not a clean title??

[WhiteG35Bullet]

I have a question, if you reported a minor accident on the highway to the police does that means your car title will have an accident indicator on it and not a clean title any more even though you didn't reported it to the insurance company????!!

Thx!

[ArizonaG35]

No... a minor accident does not affect your vehichles title marketability. As far as I know the only indicators that affect your car title are total losses and/or salvage title. This is only when the resulting damage to a vehichle is greater than a certain percentage of the value of the vehichle (60%?) and the holder of the title has declared the vehichle a total loss... this also applies to theft and non-recovery.

I'm not an expert on this, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night...

[C-Kwik]

An accident report does not brand a title. However, one of carfax's methods of obtaining accident data is to check for police reports.

As for salvage titles, it can vary from state to state as to what qualifies the vehicle for a salvage. But from an insurance standpoint, the vehicle is totalled as a matter of cost of repair vs value of vehicle less the value of salvage. Some consideration may be given towards rental car cost as long repairs may increase the total cost to repair the vehicle quite a bit.

The percent value thresholds you hear in the industry are guidelines. Depending on the company, they may adhere somewhat strictly to it or use it to decide to actually run the valuation reports to make a more accurate assessment of what the better financial option is. The process can be much more complicated than that, but that's the essense of an insurance company's total loss assessment...

The holder of the tital does not necessarily declare a vehicle a total loss. It may vary from state to state, but I would imagine, like in CA, if an insurance company determines a vehicle to be a totoal loss, they are required to notifiy the DMV. This is to prevent the owner from repairing it on their own (likely without proper repair methods) and selling it off to an unknowing consumer.

[k@osx71]

If someone does a carfax history report, it'll show that a police report for a collision was filed which normally does not look appealing for someone in the market. I usually skipped those that had a police report from carfax when I was in the market, but thats just me~

[WhiteG35Bullet]

Im not sayin anything that has to do with a total loss or car to car accident. What I mean is that I hit a tire on the highway and filed a police report but I don't to report it to the insurance becuz Im fixing it with my own money. Also I didn't want my rates to go up and for my title to not be clean becuz if I try to sell it lata then the value wouldn;t be right ya dig?

Does carfax gets their info from mostly reported incidents from the police or insurance company?

Man, I shouldn't have reported it to tha police.

[k@osx71]

yea, they search police reports, and dmv issued reports mainly. Don't think so about insurance unless insurance reports to dmv. The carfax reports I looked at usually shows how the title of the vehicle was taken (personal/lease) and how many owners, any collision reports, police reports, any liens, salvage history, lemon, etc...

[Josh214847]

No, it shouldn't be reported to carfax. I have had two fender benders where the police where called because the other party did not have insurance. Then when I sold my car I bought a carfax report and it did not show up.

[k@osx71]

well the presence of police doesn't necessarily mean they'll write up a report. So if you have a police report, then I'm pretty sure it'll show up on a carfax history report.

[Cali 2 Balti G]

Question:

Why did you report it to the police? There is no other vehicle involved - so it was basically your fault - I'm not trying to be funny - but in a scenario like that I could see maybe calling the insurance company to repair your car. But not sure what the police report would have added - beyond your own admission.

[WhiteG35Bullet]

True, feel kinda dum but I thought that you need the police report to report it to insurance company. Dunno, but f**k it what is done is done! Plannin to keep my G fo a long time neways but just wanted a clean title for as long as I own it.

[C-Kwik]

If someone does a carfax history report, it'll show that a police report for a collision was filed which normally does not look appealing for someone in the market. I usually skipped those that had a police report from carfax when I was in the market, but thats just me~

Then you narrow your choices by quite a big margin. Keep in mind, a very large percentage of cars have had some minor damage that was repaired. When I worked in insurance claims, I had access to reports that only some insurance companies reported to. Carfax misses a lot of claims. The key determing if it might be worth it or not is to find out what the damage was. My G had a small run in with a flying object which caused a small ding in the hood and a cracked windshield. It showed up on carfax, but none of the potential buyers were concerned once I showed them the estimate of repairs. In other words, you could end up passing on a very good deal, by limiting your choices without looking into it a little first.

[C-Kwik]

Im not sayin anything that has to do with a total loss or car to car accident. What I mean is that I hit a tire on the highway and filed a police report but I don't to report it to the insurance becuz Im fixing it with my own money. Also I didn't want my rates to go up and for my title to not be clean becuz if I try to sell it lata then the value wouldn;t be right ya dig?

Does carfax gets their info from mostly reported incidents from the police or insurance company?

Man, I shouldn't have reported it to tha police.

No insurance company I know of or state thatI know of reports anything to a government agency. They may participate voluntarily with a NICB program and report claim info there, but to my knowledge its accessible only by paying insurance companies and law enforcement. It's used primarily to help investigate fraud. It's actually most effective in theft, fire and injury fraud cases. Last I ran a carfax report, there was no indication that they had access to this info or do I believe they would ever be allowed to.

As for your rates, most states can't raise your rates unless the loss is your fault. And at least in CA, the damages have to exceed $750 or there has to be injury or a fatality before there can be a point considered against any driver. I'd imagine some other states have some similar laws. You may want to look into that to see if you might be able to have this handled under your insurance without any negative impact to your record.

[k@osx71]

well fortunately for me, I got a pretty good deal on my '04~ I just hate the fact that "some" kind of work besides mods was done whether it be a minor one to a major one.... a bit anal i guess