When your vehicle is totaled in a crash or natural disaster in New Mexico, state law does not permit you to rebuild it. You insurance company will write off the vehicle as unrepairable. You give the title and the wrecked vehicle to the insurance company and you'll be compensated for its fair market value. Conversely, you can inform the Motor Vehicle Division (MVD) yourself and register the car as a salvage vehicle. You can then sell it to an auto wrecker, recycler or dismantler, where it must be stripped for parts, crushed or scrapped.
Go to the local office of the New Mexico Motor Vehicle Division and ask for the "Salvage Vehicle or Vessel Notification Form." You can also go to the MVD New Mexico Motor Vehicle Forms website (see Resources) and download the form to print out yourself.
Write your name and contact information on the form. Write in the year, make, model and body type of the totaled vehicle. Write the license plate number and the Vehicle Identification Number, a unique number assigned to each vehicle. You can usually find the VIN on the driver's side of the dashboard near the window or on the driver's side door frame.
Check the applicable box if you are self-insured or enter the name and contact information for your insurance company and your insurance claim number. Check the box that declares your vehicle was wrecked or damaged and is hereby declared a total loss. Fill in the date when this occurred.
Write your phone number in the space provided. Then, sign and date the form, acknowledging that you request the MVD flag the registration and title for the vehicle as a salvage.
Give the completed form to a worker at the MVD along with your photo ID and the vehicle's title. You will have to pay a fee of $5.00 to register the salvage title, as of December 2010. If you don't have the vehicle's title, you'll be charged a fee of $16.50.
