Know Before You Sell
Plain English definitions of the title terms that decide whether your sale is easy or complicated. Florida specific.
A vehicle title with no brands, no liens listed, and no damage history recorded against it. This is the simplest title to sell with: the buyer can transfer ownership with standard paperwork and no extra inspections. In Florida, clean titles are issued by the FLHSMV when a vehicle has never been declared a total loss.
A clean title means the car has never been totaled, flood damaged to the point of branding, or otherwise flagged by the state. It does not guarantee the car is accident free, only that no title brand was ever applied.
A title brand applied in Florida when an insurance company declares a vehicle a total loss. Under Florida law, a vehicle is generally considered a total loss when the cost of repairs exceeds 80 percent of its actual cash value. Once branded salvage, the vehicle cannot be legally driven on public roads until it is repaired and re-titled.
Salvage branded cars are typically sold for parts or rebuilt. Most lenders will not finance a salvage title vehicle, and insurance options are limited.
A title brand issued after a salvage vehicle has been repaired and passed the required Florida inspections. The brand changes from salvage to rebuilt, which signals the car was totaled, fixed, and cleared to return to the road. Rebuilt title cars can be driven, insured and sold, but they carry the brand permanently and are worth less than comparable clean title cars.
In Florida, the rebuilt inspection verifies the vehicle is roadworthy and checks that stolen parts were not used in the repair.
A legal claim against your vehicle held by a lender until the loan is paid off. The lien is recorded on the title, and you cannot transfer clear ownership until the lien is satisfied and released. If you still owe money on your car, there is a lien on it.
We cannot buy vehicles with an active lien or loan, with one exception: if your lien is from 2022 or earlier and at least four years old, call us at 954-787-5717 and we will check whether we can buy the vehicle.
The bank, credit union, or finance company that holds the lien on your vehicle. The lienholder is listed on the title and must issue a lien satisfaction or release before the title transfers free and clear. If you lost track of who holds your lien, the FLHSMV can look it up from the VIN.
The Florida form a seller files to notify the FLHSMV that a vehicle has been sold. Filing it protects you: once recorded, you are no longer liable for tickets, tolls or crimes involving the car after the sale date. In Florida you can file a Notice of Sale online through the FLHSMV website.
Always file the Notice of Sale the same day you sell. It takes minutes and closes your liability.
Under Florida Statute 823.11, a vehicle that is wrecked, junked, or inoperative and left on public or private property can be declared a public nuisance. Cities and counties can have derelict vehicles towed and can fine the property owner. An HOA violation or code enforcement notice about your old car usually traces back to this statute.
If code enforcement is on you about a dead car, selling it fast is the cheapest way out. We pick up same day.
An insurance determination that a vehicle is not worth repairing. In Florida the general threshold is when repair costs exceed 80 percent of the car's actual cash value. Once declared a total loss, the insurer takes the car and the title gets branded salvage.
You do not need to wait for insurance to finish. If your car was totaled and you kept it or bought it back, we can still make you a cash offer.
The 17 character serial number stamped on every modern vehicle, visible through the windshield on the driver side dashboard and on the driver door jamb sticker. The VIN encodes the make, model, year and factory, and it is how the FLHSMV, insurers and buyers verify a car's identity and history.
Have your VIN ready when you call for a quote. It lets us verify the exact vehicle in seconds.
A Florida form that lets someone else sign title and registration paperwork on your behalf. Useful when the owner cannot be present, for example an inherited car where the heir lives out of state, or a car owned by an elderly parent. The FLHSMV requires its secure form for odometer disclosures.
If you are selling a car that is not in your name, call us first at 954-787-5717. We deal with these situations daily and will tell you exactly what paperwork you need.
The Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles department, the state agency that issues titles, registrations and driver licenses. Every title transfer, duplicate title request and Notice of Sale in Florida goes through the FLHSMV or your county tax collector's office acting on its behalf.
Most sellers only learn these terms when something goes wrong: the buyer asks about the title brand, the tow yard mentions a lien, or code enforcement leaves a notice on the windshield. Knowing the vocabulary ahead of time means no surprises and no delays.
Whatever your situation, clean title, salvage, no title at all, lien, inherited, we buy cars in every title condition across Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach. Call 954-787-5717 and tell us what you have. We will tell you straight what we can do.
Call 954-787-5717 for a same-day cash offer and free pickup.
Get a cash offer 954-787-5717Thanks for considering us for your junk car needs. We will contact you immediately, we're open 24/7 and always available.
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