How to fill out Michigan TR-12

One application, two very different outcomes, decided by a single percentage. A vehicle whose estimated cost of repair is 75% or greater but less than 91% of its pre-damaged value gets a salvage title and can be rebuilt; at 91% or greater it gets a scrap title and can never be registered again. You, your insurer or a dealer can apply.

Written against TR-12 (Rev 07/26), issued under Public Act 300 of 1949, as amended. The tax warning on the reverse is heavier than most: penalties can include criminal prosecution or an assessment of up to 175% of the tax due, and it then quotes Public Act 162 of 1980 - a person who violates the section with intent to defraud or evade the payment of tax is guilty of a felony punishable by a fine of not more than $5,000, or imprisonment for not more than five years, or both.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank TR-12 from the michigan.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.

Step 1 · the form itself Blank TR-12 — Application for an Original Michigan Scrap or Salvage Title PDF at michigan.gov · new tab

Filled in

What a completed one looks like

This is all 2 pages of the actual TR-12, rendered from the PDF the Michigan Department of State publishes and completed end to end: letterhead, every field, and the blocks at the foot.

Amber — you write it
Grey — not yours to fill
Numbered — explained below

A Michigan TR-12 filled in for a flood-damaged 2013 Chevrolet Equinox LS with VIN 2GNALBEK1D6115843: the Salvage title box ticked, Flood ticked in the damage description, all parts salvageable ticked, owner Marguerite T. Boisvert of Marquette, the vehicle purchased from line reading retained by owner after settlement, a purchase price of 1,400 dollars with 84 dollars of tax, an estimated cost of repair of 9,850 dollars against a pre-damaged value of 11,900 dollars, and 82 percent damaged. — Page 1 of 2. The application. Only one damage tick and one disclosure tick are used - the other eleven damage boxes and all twenty component-part boxes are greyed because a flood-damaged vehicle with every part salvageable needs none of them.

Field by field

Every line, in the order you meet it

1
You fill this in
Salvage title or Scrap title
Two ticks at the top right of the form.
Watch out: The percentage at the foot decides which. Below 75% you may title it salvage voluntarily; from 75% to under 91% you must; at 91% or greater it is scrap and the vehicle is finished as a road vehicle.
2
You fill this in
Vehicle identification number
The VIN, on the second row beside the colour codes and the fee category.
Watch out: The colour codes come from a printed table on the reverse. One colour goes in the first space only, and multicolor cannot be combined with anything else.
3
You fill this in
Damage description
Twelve ticks down the left margin, beside a diagram of a car.
Watch out: Tick what is true, not what is convenient. This list and the percentage at the foot are read together, and a flood tick with no water damage in the estimate is a contradiction on a form signed under a criminal certification.
4
You fill this in
Owner name(s) and address
Your name, street address, city, state and ZIP, with a filing date above them.
Watch out: There is a survivorship tick beside it if the title is to read Full rights to survivor. It is easy to miss because it sits in the margin rather than on a line of its own.
5
You fill this in
Flood damaged, in the disclosure row
One of four ticks in the vehicle use and history disclosure - police vehicle, government vehicle, taxi, flood damaged.
Watch out: The instruction at the head of the form is explicit: if flood damage or scrap status, check the flood damaged box in disclosure. It is a separate tick from the flood box in the damage description.
6
You fill this in
Full purchase price or retail value, whichever is greater
Line 1 of the tax calculation, with 6% of it on line 2.
Watch out: On a settlement where you bought the wreck back from your insurer, this is the buy-back figure. Dealers and insurance companies holding a vehicle for resale are exempt from the tax; an owner is not.
7
You fill this in
Title fee
One box beside the certification block.
Watch out: $15 for a salvage title, $20 for a scrap title. The reverse prints them as two separate figures because the two applications go to two different addresses.
8
You fill this in
Estimated cost of repair and pre-damaged fair market value
Two dollar boxes at the foot left, with the percentage between them.
Watch out: Keep the estimate. The reverse says the certification indicates you have one on file verifying both numbers, and that it must be kept for five years in case anyone needs to look at it again.
9
You fill this in
All parts salvageable
A single tick beneath the twenty lettered component boxes.
Watch out: Use it instead of the twenty when nothing structural is gone. Ticking it on a vehicle with a missing engine is the sort of contradiction the certification above the signature is about.

At a glance

What goes where

On the form	What to put in it
Salvage title or Scrap title	Two tick boxes at the top right, and the instruction beside them: if flood damage does not dictate salvage or scrap status, use the TR-11L title application instead.
Damage description	Twelve ticks down the left margin - front, right front, right side, right rear, rear, left rear, left side, left front, burned, rollover, stripped, flood - beside a diagram of a car.
Major component parts not salvageable	Twenty lettered ticks, a to t, from front bumper and hood through frame, passenger vehicle body, truck cab and pickup truck cargo box - or a single box confirming that all parts are salvageable.
Vehicle and owner	Year, make, model, body style, colour codes, VIN, fee category or weight, filing date, owner name, street address, city, state and ZIP, and a survivorship tick.
First secured interest	Name and address of a lender, if one is still recorded.
Corrected title	A tick and a state reason line. The reverse says a certification has to be attached to an application for a corrected salvage or scrap title describing the reason for correction.
Vehicle purchased from, and purchase date	Two boxes and an address block. On an insurance settlement this is where the vehicle came back from.
Vehicle use and history disclosure	Four ticks: police vehicle, government vehicle, taxi, flood damaged.
Tax calculation	Four numbered lines: full purchase price or retail value whichever is greater, 6% of it, credit for tax paid to a reciprocal state, and the amount of tax being paid.
Percent damaged	Three boxes at the foot left - estimated cost of repair, pre-damaged fair market value, and the percentage the first is of the second. That number is what decides salvage or scrap.
Owner's certification	A signature and printed name, under a printed line: any false statement, alteration, forgery, or fraud in connection with this title is a crime.

What gets this one rejected

•The wrong box at the top. Below 75% damage a vehicle can be titled salvage voluntarily; at 91% or greater it must be scrap, and a scrap vehicle can never be re-titled or returned to the road.
•No certification of damage. The department wants proof of ownership, a certification from an insurance provider verifying the vehicle damage, and the fee.
•Using it for flood damage that does not change the vehicle's status. The instruction at the top says to use the TR-11L in that case and simply tick the flood damaged box in the disclosure.
•No estimate on file. The reverse says the certification indicates the applicant has an estimate for repair on file verifying the cost and the pre-damage value, and that it has to be kept for five years.
•Expecting to plate it. A black band across the foot of the form reads: a license plate cannot be purchased for or displayed on this vehicle.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

•Two fees, and they are not the same. The reverse prints them separately: salvage title fee $15, with tax due unless otherwise exempt; scrap title fee $20, and tax is not due with scrap titles.
•Two addresses, and they are not the same either. A salvage application goes to the Michigan Department of State or a Secretary of State office; the scrap instructions give a different destination, P.O. box 30330, Lansing, MI 48909-7830.
•Colours come from a printed table. The reverse carries the full list of colour codes - SIL, BLK, DBL, MUL and the rest - with the instruction that if the vehicle is all one colour the code goes in the first space, and that multicolor cannot be used in combination with any other colour.
•Ten days, then chase it. Printed under the certification: if your title is not received within ten days from the date of filing, contact a Secretary of State office.

Every line here was read off TR-12 (Rev 07/26) itself — the PDF is here — and off the Michigan Department of State 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 Michigan seller paperwork, or what selling a car in Michigan involves.

How to fill out Michigan TR-12

What a completed one looks like

Every line, in the order you meet it

Salvage title or Scrap title

Vehicle identification number

Damage description

Owner name(s) and address

Flood damaged, in the disclosure row

Full purchase price or retail value, whichever is greater

Title fee

Estimated cost of repair and pre-damaged fair market value

All parts salvageable

What goes where

What gets this one rejected

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

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