The Expert Podcast

So what is a Kentucky red title? We get a lot of calls from people who are looking to get a title for a vehicle, and what they've obtained from the last owner is a Kentucky red title, or maybe they didn't even get it; they just found out that's what's on it. Well, here's what happens: if a vehicle has been declared a parts-only vehicle or non-repairable vehicle, most states don't give anything for it. They might give you a title that says non-repairable; they might give you a junk title or parts-only title. In Kentucky, they give you a document that just says title, but it doesn't say parts-only, it doesn't say non-repairable; it just says Kentucky title, and it's red. The problem is that vehicle is not eligible for title or registration in any state. It's been declared a parts-only non-repairable vehicle, and federal law doesn't allow it to be titled in any state. But Kentucky gave this document for ownership just to prove ownership.

A really good description of this comes from the Tennessee Department of Revenue. The reason why Tennessee has this on their website is that Tennessee is right next to Kentucky, so a lot of people try to go from Kentucky to Tennessee with these vehicles to get them on the road. What does Tennessee say? They say that a Kentucky red title is the equivalent of a non-repairable certificate. Vehicles that are issued Kentucky red titles or Tennessee non-repairable titles are damaged beyond repair and would not meet Federal Motor Vehicle Safety standards for road operation. A vehicle that is issued a Kentucky red title may not be registered in Tennessee, so this is the same as every other state that doesn't give out titles or registrations for these vehicles.

So if somebody's trying to sell you a Kentucky red title, be very wary. Also, if you're not a resident of Kentucky, you can't put it on the road because it's not allowed to be driven, as they consider the condition to be poor. Now, you may say, "Hey, my car's fine; there's nothing wrong with it." That doesn't matter. At some point in its history, an insurance company decided they don't want this car back on the road for whatever reason, and it doesn't matter what their reason was. It may just be that they just don't want it for liability.

So that car is not eligible to get a title. Beware of Kentucky red titles; they're the same as a non-repairable junk parts-only certificate of destruction. Every state calls it something different, so don't try to buy one unless you're 100% sure that you can take it apart and get money back from selling the parts.

If you like this video, be sure to click on a few others on our channel to see if there's other information that might be helpful to you about this same subject, or maybe even other related subjects that could assist you with the resolution of your issue.