How to fill out Idaho 3312

The form that turns a written-off car back into something you are allowed to sell. Idaho's rule for an owner who kept a total-loss vehicle after the insurance settlement is unforgiving: the owner may not sell or otherwise dispose of the vehicle until he has been issued a salvage certificate, and an owner who fails to surrender the title, or who sells without telling the buyer the vehicle was totalled, is guilty of a misdemeanour carrying up to six months in jail, a one thousand dollar fine, or both. The certificate this application produces is itself the ownership document - it takes the place of the previous title - and it is what a buyer of an unrepaired salvage vehicle receives instead of a title.

Written against 3312 (Rev 4/24), issued under Idaho Code 49-524. Whatever you do, tell the buyer. The misdemeanour in section 49-524(8) is not only about failing to surrender the title - it is also about selling the vehicle and not telling the buyer that it is totalled. On top of that, ITD's own tip sheet warns buyers to run a NMVTIS history report before purchase, so a concealed total loss is likely to surface in the middle of the sale rather than after it.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank 3312 from the itd.idaho.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our 3312 guide and keep it beside you while you fill theirs in.

Every line, in the order you meet it

1. 1
   You fill this in

   Stop before you advertise it

   An owner-retained salvage vehicle cannot lawfully be sold until the salvage certificate has been issued.

   Watch out: The penalty is a misdemeanour with jail time attached, and it applies equally to selling without telling the buyer the car was totalled.

2. 2
   You fill this in

   Tick the box that describes you

   Titled owner declaring the vehicle salvage, or an Idaho dealer selling raw salvage.

   Watch out: If you kept the car after a settlement, the first box is yours and the second is not - and the Agency/Dealer block at the foot stays empty.

3. 3
   You fill this in

   Describe the vehicle and the loss

   VIN, year, make, body type, model, and whether it is damaged and uneconomical to repair or an unrecovered theft.

   Watch out: The odometer reading date is a separate box from the reading. Use the date it was actually read, not today.

4. 4
   You fill this in

   Name the insurer and the date

   The insurance company and the date the total loss or salvage was declared.

   Watch out: That date drives the timetable in section 49-524. Take it off the settlement letter rather than from memory.

5. 5
   You fill this in

   Owners and any lienholder

   Full legal names with identifiers, addresses, and any lender still recorded.

   Watch out: A salvage certificate carries a lien forward. If the loan was cleared by the settlement, get the release before you file this.

6. 6
   You fill this in

   Sign and pay

   The fourteen-dollar salvage certificate fee printed on the form, the county's title admin fee, and sales or use tax where the printed note says it is due.

   Watch out: The tax note catches the common case: an insurer that paid out and then sold the wreck back to you.

7. 7
   You fill this in

   Then sell it, or repair it

   The certificate is the ownership document. A buyer of the unrepaired vehicle receives it in place of a title.

   Watch out: If you repair it instead, the route is a Salvage Vehicle Statement and an application for a branded title reading Rebuilt Salvage - which stays on the record permanently.

What gets this one rejected

• •Selling the vehicle before the certificate is issued. The salvage rules say the owner may not sell or otherwise dispose of the vehicle until he has been issued a salvage certificate.
• •Registering it. Vehicles issued salvage certificates cannot be registered until an application for title has been completed and submitted after repair.
• •Neither declaration box ticked. The form has one box for the titled owner declaring the vehicle salvage and one for a dealer selling raw salvage, and the county needs to know which of the two it is reading.
• •No insurer or no declaration date where there was a settlement. Both are how the department places the vehicle in section 49-524's timetable.
• •A lien left off. A salvage certificate carries the lien across like any other ownership document.
• •Assuming no tax is due. The printed note is specific about the three cases where sales or use tax is required, including where the insurance company sold the vehicle back to the titled owner.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

• •The certificate replaces the title, it does not sit beside it. ITD's salvage page: the salvage certificate serves as the legal ownership document for the vehicle and will take the place of the previous title or manufacturer's certificate of origin.
• •Repair does not clear the brand. After repair the owner takes the salvage certificate to a county assessor's motor vehicle office with a Salvage Vehicle Statement and applies for a branded title, and the brand Rebuilt Salvage stays on the title for the life of the vehicle.
• •An insurer's own clock is thirty days. Where an insurance company paid damages and received the vehicle and the ownership document, it must apply for a salvage certificate within 30 days of receipt of the properly released ownership document.

Every line here was read off 3312 (Rev 4/24) itself — the PDF is here — and off the Idaho Transportation Department, Division of Motor Vehicles pages. This is plain-language help with a form, not legal advice, and where our wording and the agency's differ, theirs governs.

Back to all Idaho seller paperwork, or what selling a car in Idaho involves.