Utah is a buyer beware state, meaning it is the buyer’s responsibility to find out if the vehicle they are purchasing was in a crash in the past. A car sitting on a lot can look beautiful and beckons to the buyer to purchase it. But little does this buyer know that the car they are admiring was recently a mangled mess that was almost totaled by the insurance company. This is an easily avoidable situation by just doing a little bit of checking on the car before signing on the dotted line.
In Utah, a car title is branded as salvaged if the repair costs are more than the car’s value, but if the repair costs are less than the value, then the title is branded as rebuilt or restored. If a car has a branded title, the dealer has the obligation to let the potential customer know this, but there is no such obligation if the title is listed as rebuilt or restored. That is where the customer must do their own investigating. There are several companies that offer vehicle history reports that can alert a customer to any issue. These companies use national databases to pull together any information available on a vehicle. Some dealerships, such as lowbook sales in Salt Lake City voluntarily offer a free vehicle history report right up front.
Other ways for avoiding buying a car that has had an accident history, is to have a trusted mechanic visit the dealership and inspect the car. A mechanic can see signs that a car has had a lot of bodywork, or multiple major part replacements, which can indicate that the auto was in an accident. Some dealerships will allow a trial period with a no questions asked return policy within a specified time. The company lowbook sales in Salt Lake City offer a 7-day exchange or return policy on their cars. Years ago a car buyer could only judge a used car by inspecting it and taking a chance that it had a clean history, but now there are options for the buyer to be an informed customer.
