Title brands explained: salvage, rebuilt, flood, lemon and junk

A title brand is a permanent label a state titling agency applies to a vehicle's title to record something serious that happened to it. Brands follow the car from owner to owner and from state to state. This guide explains what each one means, why they matter to the price and to insurance, and where to check for them. CarHenry reports do not include title brands; this page tells you where to get that check.

The brands you will meet

Salvage

An insurer declared the vehicle a total loss, usually because the repair cost exceeded a percentage of its value set by state law, after a collision, flood, fire, theft recovery or vandalism. A salvage-titled car cannot legally be driven on the road in most states until it is repaired and inspected.

Rebuilt (or reconstructed, restored)

A salvage vehicle that has been repaired and passed a state inspection. It can be registered and driven. The brand stays. Rebuilt cars sell for substantially less than clean-title equivalents, some insurers will not write full coverage on them, and the quality of the rebuild ranges from excellent to dangerous. A rebuilt car is not automatically a bad buy, but it is never a clean-title car at a discount.

Flood (or water damage)

The vehicle was damaged by water, typically in a hurricane or a river flood. Flood cars develop electrical faults, corrosion and mould long after they are dried out and cleaned, which is why the brand exists and why flood cars are moved across state lines to places where buyers do not expect them.

Lemon (or manufacturer buyback)

The manufacturer repurchased the vehicle under a state lemon law because a defect could not be fixed after a reasonable number of attempts. The defect may have been fixed afterwards, or may not.

Junk (or non-repairable, parts only)

The vehicle can never be titled or registered again and is legally only a source of parts. If a car with a junk brand is offered for sale as a driver, the sale itself is the fraud.

Odometer brands

"Not actual mileage" and "exceeds mechanical limits" record that the odometer reading on the title cannot be trusted, either because a rollback was found or because the odometer rolled over or was replaced.

Why brands matter to you

• Price. A branded title takes a large percentage off the value. If you are being offered a car at a clean-title price, you need to know the title is clean.
• Insurance and financing. Some insurers decline comprehensive coverage on rebuilt vehicles and some lenders will not finance them.
• Resale. Whatever you pay now, you will sell it as a branded car later.
• Safety. A rebuild done to cosmetic standard can hide structural damage and disabled airbags.

Where title brands are recorded, and who can show them to you

Brands are applied by state titling agencies. The National Motor Vehicle Title Information System, run by the US Department of Justice, collects title and brand history from the states, and insurers, salvage yards and junk yards are required by federal law to report total losses and salvage to it. Consumers can buy an NMVTIS report from the providers listed at vehiclehistory.bja.ojp.gov; CARFAX and Experian are not on that list for consumers, though both hold brand data from other sources in their own reports. The insurance industry's free NICB VINCheck shows whether a member insurer declared the car salvage or reported it stolen, with a limit of five lookups a day.

CarHenry does not include title brands. Our report covers the VIN decode, open recalls, owner complaints, crash-test ratings, the market price range and known model faults, and it says in its own words that title, accident, odometer and service records are not part of it. For the one car you are serious about, buy the NMVTIS check from an approved provider; the two together cost less than a single CARFAX report.

Signs of a brand the seller did not mention

• A price well below the market range for the year and trim.
• A title issued recently in a different state from where the car spent its life.
• A seller who has a photo of everything except the title.
• Fresh paint, new carpets and a strong air freshener in an otherwise ordinary car.
• A vehicle from a hurricane-affected region within the last two years.

Brand washing

Because brands are applied by states and states record them differently, a car can be re-titled in a state that does not carry a brand forward, then sold with a title that looks clean. NMVTIS exists to defeat this: it keeps the brand history from every reporting state. That is the reason to check NMVTIS rather than only the paper title in front of you.