Rebuilding your totaled car's title

[Cameron Hall]

My wife's car was recently totaled. Buyback was sub-$600, so I was very motivated to figure out how to get that title rebuilt. This is not my first time rebuilding a title, but the first in AL. Turns out, it's not too hard. You, as the OWNER OF THE VEHICLE WHEN IT WAS SALVAGED can rebuild the title without any licenses.

I thought I'd share this info with y'all, since title work and dealing with the DMV is a bit of a black art. Hope this can help someone else to get a great deal on their own car!

Essentially, you repair the damage, keep receipts for the parts, fill out 2 forms to send to the DMV in Montgomery, and pay a $90 fee.

The info is all contained here: https://revenue.alabama.gov/wp-conte...5/Owner_Re.pdf

[nicktcr]

Nice!

[janders211]

This interests me.
Have you successfully completed the whole process (i.e. completed the inspection and received a title)?

How thorough was " Departement of Revenue Automobile inspection Section" (their typos, not mine)?

[Cameron Hall]

I haven't done it in AL yet. I've gone through a similar process in SC, and their inspection was not very thorough. The inspector cared about checking that the VIN tags matched still, headlights and tail lights worked, and odometer was still correct/unaltered.

Whole inspection probably took 10-15 minutes.