Vehicle Status Types

We discuss the five types of vehicle status and how they affect the value of your car.

What is a vehicle status?

Vehicles are given a status so that they can be tracked, mostly for insurance, resale and public safety purposes. There are five types of status that can be given to a vehicle. ICBC determines a vehicle’s status after an inspection.

The five vehicle status types in B.C.:

Altered status: Given to a vehicle that has been significantly modified after its manufacture. The vehicle must pass an ICBC inspection to gain this type of status. An example of this type of modification would be a vehicle with a suspension height altered by more than 10 cm. The altered status is also used to describe homemade vehicles to indicate that they have been inspected and are structurally sound. We take all kinds of altered vehicles for scrap. Unfortunately alterations usually lose their appeal over time and decrease the value of a car making them more likely to be considered scrap cars.

Normal status: If a vehicle does not have a status of rebuilt, salvage, non-repairable or altered, it is considered to have a normal status. “Normal” is simply a term used for the purposes of vehicle registration. A normal status does not mean the vehicle has never been damaged or is in good mechanical condition. A new car has a normal status.

Even cars with normal status can fall into disrepair and just become too old for resale. We buy all kinds of normal status vehicles as they usually are in better condition and can fetch the highest scrap value or resale prices.

Rebuilt status: The rebuilt status is an upgrade from the salvage status. Once a salvage vehicle is repaired and passes its inspection it is given the rebuilt status. Rebuilt vehicles usually have a lower perceived value as they have been in a previous accident and people would prefer the normal vehicle status when buying used.

Salvage status: This status is given to a vehicle that has been written off in an accidental loss, but has the potential to be repaired or reconstructed. The vehicle must be repaired and inspected before it can be licensed or reinsured. We buy salvage vehicles all the time. Sometimes it doesn’t take much damage to turn a perfectly good vehicle into a salvage vehicle.

Non-repairable: This status is given to a vehicle that has been written off or otherwise totally decommissioned, cannot be repaired due to structural or safety impairment, and can never be re-licensed or insured. A non-repairable vehicle may be used only for spare parts or scrap. We offer the most cash for non-repairable cars, trucks, SUV’s and vans. If you have a non-repairable vehicle give us call and let us tow it for free and give you cash on the spot.

What status is a scrap car?

A scrap car can be any of the five types of vehicle status. We mostly see vehicles designated as non-repairable and salvage status as the the scrap cars with the lowest value as they may had significant damage and not not insurable. Vehicles with the rebuilt and altered status can also qualify as scrap cars but they may have slightly higher valuations and the cars may still be in drivable condition have some resale value. Normal cars can also be considered scrap if they are are very old, rusting or in severe disrepair.