New York salvage title rules: Salvage Certificate (MV-907A), Wreck and Rebuilt Salvage: NY

The New York DMV titles vehicles in New York. A vehicle an insurer acquires because of significant damage is transferred on a Salvage Certificate (MV-907A) instead of a title, and it can't be titled or registered until it passes the DMV's salvage examination. Newer vehicles then get a title that reads Rebuilt Salvage: NY.

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

New York's words

A branded New York title prints its brand in capital letters on the front of the certificate.

When a vehicle becomes salvage

By the DMV's description, a vehicle is salvage when an insurer acquires it with a Salvage Certificate because of significant damage from a collision, theft, vandalism or water. It's also salvage when repairs would cost more than 75% of its retail value before the damage, when it arrives on another state's salvage title, or when its owner declares it a wreck on the back of a New York title at a sale or transfer.

If the DMV finds a salvage history on a recently registered vehicle, it won't issue a New York title or renew the registration until the vehicle has been through the salvage examination.

Buying one: what to get from the seller

Ask to see the ownership document before you pay. If it's a Salvage Certificate (MV-907A), you'll need the salvage examination to get a title. If the seller has a title instead, check its back: a DMV office can't complete the transfer when the title shows the vehicle was destroyed or damaged.

New York's titles carry an odometer and damage disclosure statement on the back. If the title doesn't have that section, you'll need form MV-103, the Odometer and Damage Disclosure Statement, as well. For a rebuilt salvage vehicle, the seller has to give you a disclosure statement whatever its age, and a seller who fails to disclose a vehicle's salvage history can be fined, on top of any penalties under New York's Penal Law. Dealers have to tell you in writing when a vehicle they're showing or selling has a branded title.

The DMV's buyer advice applies here too: check the front of the title for lienholders before you accept it, ask the seller about any unpaid loans, and examine every document before you pay. Run the full VIN through an NMVTIS vehicle history report from a provider listed at vehiclehistory.gov, and check for open recalls at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

Papers New York will never title

The DMV won't title a vehicle whose out-of-state title or Salvage Certificate is labeled parts only, non-rebuildable, non-repairable, scrapped or destroyed. Those vehicles can't go back on New York roads, whatever is repaired. On DNF, a vehicle with a parts-only or non-repairable word is listed for parts or scrap only.

Flood and fire on DNF

The DMV lists significant damage from water among the reasons an insurer acquires a vehicle with a Salvage Certificate (MV-907A), which makes it a salvage vehicle.

On DNF, when a New York seller reports flood or fire damage, the listing keeps the title's word, carries a high-risk notice that the damage can hide in wiring and safety systems, and its Score stays in the Parts only band (0 to 24). A vehicle with another state's flood brand carries the same notice, plus the fact that Canada won't accept a flood-branded vehicle as a vehicle, only as parts. That's our rule, not New York's.

Who can buy

No dealer license is needed to make an offer on DNF. Buying to resell, rebuild or dismantle as a business is where New York's licensing starts, and the New York guide to buying without a dealer license covers it. The New York salvage examination guide walks through the steps from a Salvage Certificate to a title.

Every New York listing on DNF shows the title word as the seller reports it, with the damage, the condition, photos and a Score. See salvage vehicles for sale in New York.