News in 2015

With ever-increasing competition for vehicles, smart recyclers are using tools to make better purchases, especially when trying to buy more expensive vehicles. Most management systems have tools to quickly identify which parts are needed and determine a purchase price, assuming key parts are in working/resellable order- but how can a buyer determine what parts are good? Online sales mean that many buyers often can’t see or physically inspect the vehicles they are bidding on, and are relying on the auction photos to determine the “good” parts. Unfortunately, many people have figured out that physical inspections are becoming less frequent and some vehicles being sent to auctions are not what they seem. With many parts escalating in value, more and more vehicles are being sent to salvage auctions where the integrity of the parts in a vehicle falls under the “AS-IS” designation.

Fortunately, many forms of information about incidents and activities that may affect a vehicle’s value are available. These tools can be used by buyers to make more informed decisions, especially when considering higher-value vehicles. One such tool is a title history or title check report. Until recently, some history/title reports were cost prohibitive, but with more access and more information available, these reports have become a valuable tool for the recycling industry. One low-cost option is a report from the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS). These reports include state title data, dates of issuance and odometer readings, as well as total loss and salvage records that quickly summarize information and paint a pretty clear picture of what has happened to a vehicle.

States report data to a central, Federal NMVTIS database that includes brand data, title status changes with dates, recorded mileage at title issuances, plus junk, salvage and insurance information, which is very helpful as most of the salvage auctions report their salvage vehicles sales on a daily basis. From the odometer information, a buyer can usually get an idea of what the mileage is on a vehicle, even if the vehicle won’t start and odometer reading is “0” in the auction description. If a vehicle shows an excessive amount of retitling activity, bouncing from state to state, or auction to auction, the vehicle may have mechanical issues or something that “scares” owners. If a buyer tracks natural disasters like floods and hurricanes, and a vehicle was titled in a state where a major weather event happened, then soon after was titled in a distant state or shows up in an auction across the country, that vehicle was likely involved. It can also be a red flag is a vehicle was a salvage auction in July and shows up at another salvage auction a few weeks later, a buyer might be concerned that the vehicle was purchased, stripped of desirable parts and sent back to auction with “dud” parts in their place. These days there are many “games” being played with vehicles because of the value of their parts, and times are too tight to make bad purchases.

Auto Data Direct offers NMVTIS Title Check reports to recyclers for $1.50 per report for full service account holders. The cost of the report also includes the free submission of a salvage record to the NMVTIS if the recycler decides to purchase the vehicle. ADD also offers the option to run batches of reports at one time, saving time when considering multiple vehicles.

I will be at the ARA Convention in Charlotte, NC October 7- 10th, and will be presenting a session where I will discuss title check reports, recall information and how recyclers can use this information to make better buying decisions.

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