Need some advice on a mistake.

[Seangie]

Hi Scott.  Long time brother

Can you have a REBUILT title issued for the trailer?  We have a car that was titled as salvage (it was totaled in an accident) and rebuilt by the person we bought it from and now has a rebuilt title.  It cost standard price for the car title and just had to have it inspected that it was operable.

I'd be surprised if you couldn't get a rebuild title for it.  It just signifies to a future buyer that the vehicle at one point has been totaled and alerts the insurance company that a payout has already been made on the vehicle and it has little to no worth. (We cannot get full coverage on the rebuilt car)

Anyways - If you want me to buy it from you for a dollar, get it titled up in WA state and then sell it back to you for 2$ I'd be willing to make a 100% profit on the initial investment.

-Sean

[eagle19952]

There's 2 minutes gone out of my life forever.  Canada/US free trade started under Mulroney & Reagan.  That's a fact. If you don't like it I don't care.  Slick Willy wouldn't have had anything to sign if it wasn't for the work of the two real leaders.

Nor would Donald Hump were it not for the work of his predecessor, in many theaters.

[chessie4905]

file:///storage/emulated/0/Download/200.webp

[Scott & Heather]

Hi team,

Sean, no. Scrap title and salvage title are different in Michigan. Scrap title is final. Absolutely no way to get around it legally.

That being said, here's what has transpired and it's an interesting story:

The original owner of this camper crashed it. It looks to me like he jackknifed it and tagged a guardrail.

Damaged was pretty extensive but no frame or structure damage per se. State Farm assessed it and gave it a scrap title. It went to auction on copart and a used car dealer with a salvage/recycler license bought it.

This is where he messed up. First, he brought it home to his residence. He's not supposed to do that here in Michigan. If a vehicle has a scrap title he's supposed to take it to his dealer yard and part it out from there.

He then put up a Craigslist ad for the trailer asking $1400 for it saying it had a salvage title (second mistake and a lie).

I contacted him, and went to see the trailer. It was a 2015 Forest River hybrid trailer and it was the sapphire edition which is their top notch upgraded unit. I knew I could refurb it and use it. I offered him $1300, and he took it. I towed the trailer home and began working on fixing it up last summer. I texted the former owner photos of my progress and he was amazed and encouraged me. He also said I could go to the Secretary of State and obtain a form to retitle the camper. Also another lie.

After spending $4000 on parts and who knows how many labor hours, I had fixed it up and made it quite nice. I go to SOS with a $180 surety bond to obtain a title and to my chagrin we can't title it. Ever. Period.

I'm very disappointed at this point. Completely deflated and out $5300 and have a 5500lb paper weight. I'm laying in the hammock coming up with a way to tell my wife when I get a phone call from Lansing (our capital).

I answer and the guy on the other end is an agent with investigative services and regulatory affairs for the state of Michigan's department of motor vehicles. He asks me a bunch of questions about the trailer, who sold it to me, how much I paid etc.

Thankfully I had all the texts from last year between the seller and myself as well as his phone number and address. I send all of this info to the Agent who promises to call me back.

Within an hour I receive an email from said agent informing me that he has determined the man who sold me the trailer indeed was a dealer, had a recycler/salvage endorsement and apparently he had broken the law selling the trailer to me. The agent said he would be proceeding charging the dealer with fraud and several transaction violations. It is illegal for a recycler dealer to sell any scrap titled vehicle to anyone. He can buy it at auction and then he has to part it out and shred it. He cannot let anyone take it on the road. It must be trailered.

Agent asked me to put together my receipts for repair, an estimate of my labor hours and the initial purchase price of the unit. My wife thankfully kept every single receipt so we spent literally an entire day creating a spreadsheet with all the info and between my labor and money out, we came up with $8000.

The state of Michigan informed the dealer that he was required to take the trailer back and cut me a check for $8000. He is obliging since he doesn't want to lose his licenses and the transaction takes place on Thursday or latest Monday next week. Agents will be handling the transaction and transfer of trailer to him and check to me.

So, I'm out the trailer but I'm happy to have a check that covers my time and money into it. He's learned a valuable lesson as have I, and I'll avoid scrap titles at all costs now.

At the very beginning of this thread I posted photos after I repaired the trailer. Here are before photos to give you an idea of what I put into it:

[Geoff]

Golly gee whiz, there IS a Santa Claus and the government does come through once in a while!

[buswarrior]

Once in a while, the good guys come out on top.

Sure is nice when the system works.

Happy coaching!
Buswarrior

[chessie4905]

Wow, Michigan is sure anal about that stuff. And yet, no annual vehicle inspections. Go figure.