Quebec salvage title rules: Gravement accidenté (VGA), Reconstruit and Irrécupérable

US searches call it a "salvage title", but Quebec doesn't issue a "title". What it has is a status on the vehicle's record with the Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ), which also shows on the registration certificate.

These notes sum up the SAAQ's published rules as of October 2026. They aren't legal advice, so check with the SAAQ before you buy, repair or register a vehicle.

Quebec's three statuses

The status words are French, and a Quebec listing on DNF shows them in French with an English explanation. The SAAQ's English pages say "severely damaged", "rebuilt" and "irreparable".

VGA is short for véhicule gravement accidenté. A vehicle gets the VGA or irrécupérable status when the owner, the insurer or an administrative authority in Quebec or elsewhere declares it, and the status then appears on the vehicle's record and registration certificate.

A vehicle with none of these statuses can still have been damaged and repaired, so a registration with no status isn't a clean history.

When a vehicle is Irrécupérable

The SAAQ gives a vehicle the irrécupérable status when it:

• has been flooded
• is damaged so badly that it can't be rebuilt, or the extent of the damage can't be assessed
• has a unibody whose passenger compartment floor or front bulkhead was damaged in a collision, a fire or an immersion and can't be repaired
• was imported, and its record, "title" or registration certificate from elsewhere shows it as irreparable
• has been identified as a vehicle that should be kept off the road indefinitely.

Insurers have to declare a flooded vehicle irrécupérable once it meets one of the SAAQ's criteria, such as water up to where the engine wall meets the passenger compartment floor, and the status applies even when the vehicle had no insurance. A flood-damaged vehicle from another province can't be brought into Quebec to be rebuilt, whatever the status on its papers.

An irrécupérable vehicle can only be towed or carried on a trailer if it has to be moved, and it can only be used for parts. From a flooded one, only some parts can be reused.

Buying a VGA vehicle

A VGA vehicle can't be driven on public roads, so plan to tow or trailer it. Before you pay:

• Read the status on the registration certificate, and compare the VIN on it with the VIN plate you can read through the windshield and the label on the driver's door frame.
• Ask for the insurer's name and claim number, the damage estimate and the invoice for the vehicle. The SAAQ asks for all of them, with the vehicle's VIN, in the rebuilding record, and its guide says you need the damage estimate when you choose a vehicle to rebuild.
• Read the manufacturer's repair instructions for the model. Some manufacturers release them only to shops they approve, and some repairs need a spot welder, which changes what the rebuild costs.
• Get the full VIN and search it for liens in the personal property registry where the seller lives and where the vehicle is registered. A lien can stay with a vehicle after it's sold.

The SAAQ's page on flood-damaged vehicles tells buyers to have a professional look at the vehicle, to ask the seller to confirm in writing on the purchase contract that it wasn't damaged in a flood, and to look for a musty smell, rust inside, mud in the vents or under the mats and carpet that's discoloured or the wrong colour. It also notes that the manufacturer's warranty no longer covers a flood-damaged or severely damaged vehicle.

The Quebec rebuilt inspection guide goes through each step from VGA to Reconstruit.

Flood and fire on DNF

DNF lists every vehicle with flood or fire damage for parts only, whatever brand the registration shows. That's our rule, not the province's. In Quebec a flooded vehicle is already irrécupérable, and so is a unibody vehicle whose passenger compartment floor or front bulkhead was damaged by fire and can't be repaired. Where fire damage leaves a vehicle VGA instead, DNF still lists it for parts only, because water and fire do damage that photos can't show.

Buying to resell or part out

You don't need a dealer licence to buy a vehicle for yourself or to make an offer on DNF. Businesses are different. The Office de la protection du consommateur requires a road vehicle merchant permit to acquire road vehicles in order to sell them or lease them out long term, and a recycler permit to dismantle or sell scrapped road vehicles, their carcasses or their parts. A business that does either without the permit it needs breaks the Consumer Protection Act, so ask the Office first if you plan to resell.

See salvage vehicles for sale in Quebec, rebuilt vehicles in Quebec, vehicles for parts in Quebec or everything listed in Quebec.