question: Why wouldn't you want a car with a rebuilt title?
comment: A rebuilt title means that at some point in the past the car was so damaged that the owner wrote the whole thing off. Then someone came and fixed the car and is trying to sell it. The risk is that not everything was fixed and that it might break sooner than normal.
passages: While some vehicles (such as cars exported overseas after severe collision or damaged before the introduction of mandatory branding) may carry no warnings as to their history, others may be branded as "total loss" when they could have been quite repairable in the hands of someone willing to install used parts and do the work at a more modest price.
   When a car is sold from one owner to another, the title must be transferred to the new owner. This is achieved by requesting approval by the state DMV.
  
  When the vehicle title is lost, the owner on record may replace the lost title by completing an application with the state that issued the current title. Online lost title applications are available for several states including Maine, Wisconsin, Virginia, Michigan, New York, Indiana, Maryland, South Carolina, Massachusetts, and Washington DC.
   Section::::Resale value with a salvage title.
  
  In the US, motorcycles and cars which carry a salvage title may not be registered and driven on public roads in most states, which affects resale value. Rebranding of the title is not permitted without having an inspection to verify that they meet all safety standards. The inspection procedure may be complex, and attempts to illegally circumvent the inspections are periodically reported.
   Developments in technology have made it possible to salvage the original automobile's interior by various restoration processes. Examples of this include leather seat, dash, console, steering wheel, door panel, and trim repair, as well as re-dyeing.
  
  Section::::Mechanical.:Exterior.
  
  In a complete restoration, the repair and refinishing of the car's body and frame must again go through the careful inspection and subsequent repair and recoating as necessary to bring the car to as first sold condition.
   Restoration of a car is a daunting task, not one to be undertaken lightly, or by the inexperienced. A full restoration can take many years and can cost tens of thousands of dollars; often, and generally, well in excess of what the finished value of the car will be. Many jobs will have to be farmed out to specialty shops; those with the special knowledge and equipment to do the job. Often a restoration once started is left unfinished and the car and parts can be purchased for a fraction of their worth. However, if a person buys an unfinished project, it is imperative to be sure that all of the parts are there. Finding parts for an orphan or rare car can sometimes be impossible. This necessitates the fabrication of parts from scratch, generally at great effort and expense.
   Automobile manufacturers have attempted to hinder or suppress automotive aftermarket sales by means of copyright or patent infringement litigation. For example, in "British Leyland Motor Corp. v Armstrong Patents Co." in the UK, the House of Lords decided in 1986 that Leyland could not claim copyright infringement in order to prevent the aftermarket sale of replacement tailpipes to purchasers of those motor cars.
   BULLET::::1. A deterrent to auto theft: If a vehicle is a complete loss due to an accident, its serial number (VIN, Vehicle identification number) and registration documents could still be of potential value to persons dealing in stolen cars. The diminished sale value of a title branded vehicle reduces the profitability of switching the registration and VIN from an accident vehicle to that of a stolen vehicle of the same make and model/year, in an attempt to register it as a rebuilt car and sell it.
   BULLET::::2. A consumer-protection warning: Cars which have been involved in serious collisions often find their way into auctions and onto dealers' lots. A permanent record of a severe accident warns potential subsequent owners that a car has been damaged (and possibly repaired). Properly repaired and carefully inspected, a vehicle may be acceptable - but an improper repair after a serious accident may leave the vehicle frame, body or key electrical and mechanical systems in damaged or non-roadworthy condition.
  
  Section::::Mandatory vehicle branding.
   If a vehicle is branded as 'junk' or 'irreparable' in error, or importation paperwork indicates it as imported 'for parts', there may be no straightforward means provided in legislation to remedy these errors. These vehicles, if not exported to another jurisdiction with different regulations, will never be registerable or licensed again - even if all needed repairs are made and verified.
   Depending upon how appropriate the upgrades are considered by other owners of the same model, this may reduce or enhance the value of the car. If the car is in regular use non-original upgrades would be likely to be more acceptable, than if the car is a stored collector's piece where originality would be more important. It is important as a restorer or owner, to know what is acceptable to the potential market for the finished car, in order not to de-value it.
  
  Section::::See also.
  
  BULLET::::- Antique car
  
  BULLET::::- Auto detailing
  
  BULLET::::- Barn find
  
  BULLET::::- Conservation and restoration of vehicles
   Legally, most states have time-based rules for the definition of "historic" or "classic" for purposes such as antique vehicle registration. For example, Maryland defines historic vehicles as 20 calendar years old or older and they "must not have been substantially altered, remodeled or remanufactured from the manufacturers original design" while West Virginia defines motor vehicles manufactured at least 25 years prior to the current year as eligible for "classic" car license plates.
   BULLET::::- The market of reproduced parts mostly depends, like many other things, on supply and demand. Vehicles that are still quite popular (for example a Ford Mustang or a VW Beetle) have a vast array of parts readily available. Some of them are OEM re-productions and some are newly made, mass produced items. Owners of a rare marque or model will find it more difficult sourcing out new parts. In many cases, vintage or pre-war vehicles have their parts remade as one-offs by professionals. There are some very large retailers of reproduction parts, especially in the U.S.
   If the vehicle is rebuilt to a road worthy condition and has passed State inspection, the difference in price is 60-70% of fair KBB. These cars have "rebuild" or "rebuild salvage" annotation in the title and can be registered and operated just like a new car.
   Overage does not solely relate to land and property and could be written into any contract for a sale of goods. Therefore, if an old classic car in poor condition was to be sold to someone with the intent of refurbishing it and then selling it on, the original seller may choose to sell the car at a very low value and contract to receive a percentage of the uplift from the next sale as well.
  
  Section::::Example.
  
  A typical scenario would be:
   A "replica", "re-creation", or "tribute", is "A vehicle that has been modified to appear like another car or truck entirely, or like a more desirable version of that same vehicle." Replica restorations are often performed by enthusiasts who want to imitate specific rare or famous vehicles, such as one from a particular movie or TV show. One such example is Trey Gee and his 1970 Pontiac LeMans published in High-Performance Pontiac magazine, which has been restored to replicate a much rarer Pontiac GTO Judge of the same year, a car which has recorded "auction sale prices [peaking] at well over $300,000." Trey is quoted in the article saying "'I really wanted a classic GTO, but with the power, ride, and comfort to rival modern cars—a great car to drive. At the same time, I didn't want to heavily modify an original GTO or Judge and put lots of miles on it, because I would feel guilty for depreciating a piece of history, so I decided that a tribute car built as a resto-mod would be my best choice.'"
   "Title washing" refers to transferring a vehicle's registration for the express purpose of removing a title brand. The practice is legal, and practiced by the insurance companies themselves. Title brands such as "salvage," "junk," and "rebuilt" are not standardized, and a vehicle which has such a designation may receive a clean title when registered in a different jurisdiction. Further, vehicles imported to or exported from the United States and Canada are issued a clean title, even if they have been involved in an accident. Other states have relatively lax inspection criteria to remove the salvage brand.
  
  Section::::Vehicle history reports.
   BULLET::::- The first, obvious advantage is having the item available again, which aides in the restoration of a vehicle to the correct, factory specifications. It also cancels the need to find a good used part otherwise not available new, or the sourcing out of NOS parts (New Old Stock) which can be a difficult, time consuming task and often an expensive one due to their rarity. Many auto manufacturers actually discard or even destroy new parts that have been stocked unused for long periods.
   According to Young, many enthusiasts were displeased with him and felt that his modifications compromised the originality of the extremely rare car, being one of three built like it. Though many enthusiasts within the auto restoration and preservation community feel this way about resto-modding, many others endorse it, such as TV personality and car collector Jay Leno: "Some purists object to changing or modifying these old cars. I look at it this way: If it makes the car better, safer, more reliable and faster—and you can change it back to stock whenever you want—why not do it."
  
  Section::::Styles.:Replicas.
   A few years later, the rights to the Miller-Meteor name were acquired and resurrected by another professional car builder in Norwalk, Ohio which in 2004 was producing a line of funeral coaches and limousines on Cadillac and Lincoln chassis under the Miller-Meteor brand name.
  
  BULLET::::- Regulatory Changes
   BULLET::::2. Less Downtime - Opting to replace your existing engine with a new one typically requires significant engineering time that can render rental equipment out of service for months. The integration and testing process also takes significantly longer with a new Tier 4 Final engine than with remanufactured engines.
   A comparable result to that of "Aro" has been reached under UK law, although the latter goes somewhat further by allowing automobile repair to extend to the replacement of worn out parts subject to intellectual property protection. In British Leyland Motor Corp v Armstrong Patents Co, the House of Lords held that Leyland could not prevent a third party (Armstrong) from supplying replacement tailpipes to purchasers of Leyland motor cars. despite the existence of an intellectual property right (copyright) in the tailpipe design. To allow Leyland the relief it sought would have the effect of derogating from the title Leyland had conveyed to car owners when they purchased the cars. This rationale is comparable to the doctrine of legal estoppel under US law.
   In 1989 and 1990 Jaguar Cars produced a special edition of the XJ40 using the Majestic name, at first in the US only, leather-equipped with steering wheel in interior colour and often red or blue piping. In the final XJ40 years the name Majestic was used for the special build LWB XJ40, of which only 121 examples were constructed.
   Colors and treatments applied to the panels from the factory should be considered. Although more original looking, period enamel or cellulose paint will be less capable of protecting the car bodywork than modern paints. A car's owner may wish to have a panel or portion of the car entirely painted when in fact it may have come from the factory with undercoating or other coating applied to one side, which may be less attractive than a smoothly finished and painted panel. In other cases, the owner might paint or plate a collection of small parts to look similar for a better appearance, when the factory might have installed these as many different colors since the factory's prime concern was a balance between function and cost and not the appearance of unseen areas. Given the cost of restoration, it makes sense to many owners to upgrade the corrosion protection of paints, underseals, and anti-rust waxes to far above the original factory standard to protect the time and money invested in the restoration. Some owner's feel these improvements would make the car a "Restomod", and not a restoration. The term "Restomod" is not used in the UK.
   Section::::Fraud.
  
  Classic cars are subject to various types of fraud, most notably provenance fraud, where owners falsify documentation and serial numbers in order to make a car's history seem more colorful and historic. Fraud also assumes the form of knowingly inflating a car's estimated resale value, as was referenced in court proceedings relating to JD Classics, hitherto one of the UK's largest and best-known classic car dealers prior to its collapse in 2018.
  
  Section::::Classic car styling.
   Aftermarket engines are used in many forms of motorsport. Some late model racecar series use "crate engines" many of which are made by independent firms. This ensures that drivers all have similarly powered racecars. Legends and Allison Legacy Series cars also use sealed crate motors.
  
  Section::::Types of replacement engines.
  
  The four most common types of replacement engines are:
  
  BULLET::::- Remanufactured engines (also known as "re-manned," "reconditioned," or "re-engineered")
  
  BULLET::::- Rebuilt engines
  
  BULLET::::- Used engines
  
  BULLET::::- New engines (also known as "crate engines")
  
  Section::::Replacement blocks.
  