Buying a car is a huge investment opportunity, so when you have decided on a car that you like but it has a branded title attached to it. But what is a branded title on a car? What does it mean when it comes to the price of the car? And what about the quality of the car?
To get an answer to all your questions, you need to keep on scrolling down.
Understanding What Is A Branded Title
- If you find a car that has a branded title, it means that the car has previous damage, but now it is repair or had some defect due to which it was brought back to the manufacturer.
- If you are fine with such information, then a car with a branded title can give you a great deal, but it would still have some drawbacks to it.
- A car with a brand title may have damages like water damage, faulty odometer, or maybe it got damage in an accident.
➤ According to the Kelley Blue Book value, a car with a branded title will cost 20 to 40% less than a clean title car. But with a branded title car, it is hard to get car insurance or any financing help.
Types Of Branded Titles
Whenever you are buying a used car, make sure that you know everything about the car. Its history, characteristics, previous owners, and any possible accidents that it obtained.
But when buying a car with a branded title, it is important that you know there different types of branded titles that a car can get. Just knowing what is a branded title is not enough, knowing the types are important.
1. Salvage Title
When a car has a salvage title, it means the car’s repair cost is about 50% or more than the car’s actual selling price. This title applies to cars that have been in an accident.
This car is then put up for auction after the car company reimburse the owner its market value and a deduction on the applicable fee.
2. Lemon Title
A lemon title is given to a car that has continuous malfunctions that keep on occurring, this recurrence forces the car manufacturer to redeem the cost to the owner. These kinds of continued malfunctions make the car very risky and unsafe.
The lemon title or law makes the manufacturers buy back any faulty car and replace them with a newer model. However, the requirements for the lemon title differ from state to state. Even a few states don’t even acknowledge the title.
3. Rebuilt Title
A rebuilt title, or a reconstruction title, is given to a car when it has been restore from a salvage title. But even if you rebuilt a car from its salvage position, it is still important to look at its history.
4. Odometer Rollback Title
The cars that receive an Odometer rollback title are when any previous owners have rolled the odometer back of the car. Detecting an odometer rollback is very difficult, but there are some techniques for catching it.
- Excessive wear and tear of the brake, gas pedals, the seats, and the carpets.
- Missing screws on the dashboards.
- Mismatched tires.
- The VIN record and the odometer numbers don’t match.
5. Water Damage Title
The reason for this title is quite obvious; it is given to cars that have suffer extensive water damage due to storms, floods, hurricanes, or tornadoes. The most common types of water damage are like.
- The car was stuck in heavy rainfall with windows open, and the inside of the car got filled with water. In this case, the owner will be reimburse for it before the car is auction.
- The car is stuck in a natural calamity, such as a flood or hurricane, which might severely damage the engine and other interiors of the car. Then it is recommend not to buy such cars.
6. Hail Damage Title
When a car is damage due to extreme weather conditions such as hailstones, the hail damage title is given to it.
The body receives a lot of damage and dents. Even though a car receives such damages, it can be repurchase, only a minor repair is require to fix the damages. Even if the body is full of ents, it can be easy to repair and fit to drive again.
7. Junk Title
If a car has a junk title, it means the car has been through enough damage and is mark “total loss.” Damages like broken transmission or engine, even the brake system, and repairs might exceed the car’s original cost.
Any insurance companies do not cover them, and the owner refuses to pay for their repair. These cars are not suitable for driving.
Pro And Cons Of Branded Titles
Whenever you are thinking of buying a branded car, you should tally the pros and cons of buying a car like that.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| ￫ These cars are highly affordable. | ￫ You might face difficulty in reselling the car. |
| ￫ They are, most of the time, well-equipped cars at a lower price. | ￫ The financing part of the car can be quite expensive. |
| ￫ Securing insurance can be expensive. |
How To Know If A Car Has A Branded Title?
Now that you know what is a branded car title. From now on whenever you buy a car, you should know beforehand whether it has a branded title or not. To help you with that, there are two very useful tools that you can use.
- CARFAX
CARFAX is a very useful tool that easily detects whether a car has a branded title or not, but it is not free. Each CARFAX report costs about $39.99. Not only will it show the brand title but also whether the car was ever stolen or salvage.
- VINCheck
Unlike CARFAX, VINCheck is a free service authorize by the National Insurance Crime Bureau. It will offer a report on the brande title as well as if the car is stolen or somehow salvage or not.
Frequently Asked Questions!
If you have any more questions regarding what is a branded title, then here are a few questions that others have asked.
When a car is title as salvage, it means the car is wreck and is totally illegal to drive on the road. While if a car is branded title, it can be one of many titles so it may or maybe not be a lost cause. It can still be driven if fix.
If a salvage title car has been tag as a “total loss,” then it is illegal to be driving a car like that on any public road. So you shouldn’t drive a car like that.
If your car has a rebuilt title then it is much better than a salvage title, as a rebuilt title car can still be driven but a salvaged title car is not fit to be driven around.
Wrapping Up!
Finally that you know what is a branded title, so from now on if you are buying a car that has a branded title then it might cause some added stress, but at least the prices of such cars are quite less. But on the lighter side, not all branded title cars are risky to buy, so you should buy those than the worst titled ones.
So comment down below if you have ever dealt with a car that had a branded title attached to it.
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