Iowa Total Loss Threshold

Iowa-Auto-Total-Loss-Threshold-By-Law 🔗 (pdf)

Iowa Total Loss Threshold

321.52 Out-of-state sales — junked, dismantled, wrecked, or salvage vehicles.

Iowa Code 2016, Section 321.52 (19, 5)

Part 4.

a. A vehicle rebuilder or a person engaged in the business of buying, selling, or exchanging vehicles of a type required to be registered in this state, upon acquisition of a wrecked or salvage vehicle, shall surrender the certificate of title or manufacturer’s or importer’s statement of origin properly assigned, together with an application for a salvage certificate of title, to the county treasurer of the county of residence of the purchaser or transferee within thirty days after the date of assignment of the certificate of title for the wrecked or salvage motor vehicle. This subsection applies only to vehicles with a fair market value of five hundred dollars or more, based on the value before the vehicle became wrecked or salvage. Upon payment of a fee of ten dollars, the county treasurer shall issue a salvage certificate of title which shall bear the word “SALVAGE” stamped or printed on the face of the title in a manner prescribed by the department. A salvage certificate of title may be assigned to an educational institution, a new motor vehicle dealer licensed under chapter 322, a person engaged in the business of purchasing bodies, parts of bodies, frames or component parts of vehicles for sale as scrap metal, a salvage pool, or an authorized vehicle recycler licensed under chapter 321H. An authorized vehicle recycler licensed under chapter 321H or a new motor vehicle dealer licensed under chapter 322 may assign or reassign an Iowa salvage certificate of title or a salvage certificate of title from another state to any person, and the provisions of section 321.24, subsection 5, requiring issuance of an Iowa salvage certificate of title shall not apply. A vehicle on which ownership has transferred to an insurer of the vehicle as a result of a settlement with the owner of the vehicle arising out of damage to, or unrecovered theft of, the vehicle shall be deemed to be a wrecked or salvage vehicle and the insurer shall comply with this subsection to obtain a salvage certificate of title within thirty days after the date of assignment of the certificate of title of the vehicle.

b. When a wrecked or salvage vehicle has been repaired, the owner may apply for a regular certificate of title by paying the appropriate fees and surrendering the salvage certificate of title and a properly executed salvage theft examination certificate. A motor vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of thirty thousand pounds or more is not subject to the salvage theft examination otherwise required under paragraph “c”, and the owner of such vehicle is not required to submit a salvage theft examination certificate. The county treasurer shall issue a regular certificate of title which shall bear a designation printed on the face of the title and printed on the registration receipt indicating that the vehicle was previously titled on a salvage certificate of title in a form approved by the department. This designation shall be included on every Iowa certificate of title and registration receipt issued thereafter for the vehicle. However, if ownership of a stolen vehicle has been transferred to an insurer organized under the laws of this state or admitted to do business in this state, or if the transfer was the result of a settlement with the owner of the vehicle arising from damage to or the unrecovered theft of the vehicle, and if the insurer certifies to the county treasurer on a form approved by the department that the insurance company has received one or more written estimates which state that the retail cost of repairs including labor, parts, and other materials of all damage to the vehicle is less than three thousand dollars, the county treasurer shall issue to the insurance company the regular certificate of title and registration receipt without this designation.

c. A salvage theft examination shall be made by a peace officer who has been specially certified and recertified when required by the Iowa law enforcement academy to do salvage theft examinations. The Iowa law enforcement academy shall determine standards for training and certification, conduct training, and may approve alternative training programs which satisfy the academy’s standards for training and certification. The owner of the salvage vehicle shall make the vehicle available for examination at a time and location designated by the peace officer doing the examination. The owner may obtain a permit to drive the vehicle to and from the examination location by submitting a repair affidavit to the agency performing the examination stating that the vehicle is reasonably safe for operation and listing the repairs which have been made to the vehicle. The owner must be present for the examination and have available for inspection the salvage title, bills of sale for all essential parts changed, if applicable, and the repair affidavit. The examination shall be for the purposes of determining whether the vehicle or repair components have been stolen. The examination is not a safety inspection and a signed salvage theft examination certificate shall not be construed by any court of law to be a certification that the vehicle is safe to be operated. There shall be no cause of action against the peace officer or the agency conducting the examination or the county treasurer for failure to discover or note safety defects. If the vehicle passes the theft examination, the peace officer shall indicate that the vehicle passed examination on the salvage theft examination certificate. The permit and salvage theft examination certificate shall be on controlled forms prescribed and furnished by the department. The owner shall pay a fee of thirty dollars upon completion of the examination. The agency performing the examinations shall retain twenty dollars of the fee and shall pay five dollars of the fee to the department and five dollars of the fee to the treasurer of state for deposit in the general fund of the state. Moneys deposited to the general fund under this paragraph are subject to the requirements of section 8.60 and shall be used by the Iowa law enforcement academy to provide for the special training,certification, and recertification of officers as required by this subsection.

d. For purposes of this subsection, “wrecked or salvage vehicle” means a damaged motor vehicle subject to registration for which the cost of repair exceeds fifty percent of the fair market value of the vehicle, as determined in accordance with rules adopted by the department, before it became damaged.