The rebuild's paper trail - the application that takes a salvage vehicle to a Mississippi Department of Public Safety inspection and, if it passes, on to a Rebuilt title. The owner-rebuilder affirms the vehicle has been completely restored in this state, inventories every major and minor component part replaced or repaired with the VIN of each donor vehicle, attaches notarized bills of sale for the major parts, and pays a $75.00 inspection fee - due whether the vehicle passes or fails, and again at each re-inspection.
Written against 78-021 (Rev 08/17), issued under the Department of Public Safety's inspection stations, with the title paperwork returning to the Department of Revenue.
Component parts are defined terms, not judgment calls - the form's preamble points at Title 35 Part VII of the Mississippi Admin. Code, and the counting matters: enough major parts, or five minor ones in combination, is what made the vehicle salvage in the first place. Count with the definitions open.
Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank 78-021 from the dor.ms.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our 78-021 guide and keep it beside you while you fill theirs in.
This is the actual 78-021, rendered from the PDF the Mississippi Department of Revenue, Motor Vehicle Services 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
The actual 78-021's application page at Rev. 08/17, completed for a hail-damaged sedan the owner kept and rebuilt. The parts grid is the substance: each entry uses the form's own 1/2 and N/U code, each major part names the vehicle it came from, and the empty inspector's corner is the point - that signature, with a badge number, is what the $75.00 appointment is for.
Field by field
Every line, in the order you meet it
1
You fill this in
Clear or Rebuilt, and who you are
The owner block, and the application-for tick - Rebuilt Title for a salvage rebuild.
Watch out: The sales-tax and designated-agent numbers are for trade rebuilders; an ordinary owner leaves them empty without apology.
2
You fill this in
The vehicle and its reading
VIN, make, year, model, body type, acquisition date and the odometer with its two boxes.
Watch out: The VIN here is about to be physically verified by an officer - this is the one application in the state where a discrepancy will be discovered in person.
3
You fill this in
The parts grid, coded honestly
1 for replaced with N or U, 2 for repaired, across the major and minor grids, with donor VINs for the majors.
Watch out: The grid is cross-examined against your receipts and the car itself. An undeclared replaced part found at inspection converts a paperwork visit into something else.
4
You fill this in
The evidence folder
Notarized bills of sale for major parts and transmission, invoices for minors, four color pictures, the salvage certificate.
Watch out: Each major-part bill of sale must list the donor's manufacturer VIN - a receipt that just says 'hood' is a minor-part receipt no matter what it bought.
5
You fill this in
The appointment and the fee
Arrange the inspection with the Department of Public Safety and bring $75.00 in certified funds.
Watch out: Pass or fail, the fee is spent, and each re-inspection costs it again - which is the state pricing in exactly how finished the car should be before you book.
6
You fill this in
After the pass
The inspector signs with badge number and issues the completion certification; the rebuilder applies for the Rebuilt title with the whole file and the $9.00 title fee.
Watch out: Title first, sale second - the Rebuilt certificate in your name is what makes the finished car sellable at all.
At a glance
What goes where
On the form
What to put in it
The owner block
Name, doing business as, mailing address, city, state, ZIP, phone - plus a sales tax account number and designated agent number for trade rebuilders, and the tick that frames everything: application for Clear Title or Rebuilt Title.
The acquisition and the odometer
When the vehicle was acquired, then VIN, make, year, model and body type, and an odometer reading with Exceeds Limits and Not Actual tick boxes.
The parts inventory, coded
The form's own key: ENTER '1' FOR PARTS REPLACED AND 'N' FOR NEW OR 'U' FOR USED. ENTER '2' FOR PARTS REPAIRED. Major component parts get rows for the donor vehicle identification number, year, make and acquired from; minor parts - doors, hood, fenders, bumpers, deck lid - have their own grid, and motorcycles their own short list.
The evidence rule
Printed in the preamble: notarized bills of sale of major component parts and transmission, listing the manufacturer's vehicle identification number of the vehicle from which the parts were removed, must accompany this application - plain bills of sale suffice for minor parts.
The inspector's corner
Inspector's signature, date and badge number - the Department of Public Safety's endorsement, which is the thing the whole application exists to earn.
The certification and plate question
The restored-to-operating-condition affirmation tied to the attached salvage certificate of title, permit to dismantle, total loss certificate, or similar type certificate, questions on painting and plate replacement, and the applicant's typed name, signature and date.
What gets this one rejected
•Un-notarized major-part receipts. The preamble's rule is exact - notarized for major component parts and transmission, ordinary invoices for minor - and a folder of till receipts fails the file.
•Donor parts with no provenance. Every major row wants the VIN, year, make and acquired-from of the vehicle the part left; a part nobody can source is the fraud pattern this inspection exists to catch.
•Turning up without the fee. The $75.00 is due at inspection, pass or fail, and due again for each re-inspection - certified funds, to the Department of Public Safety.
•Rebuilding out of state. The affirmation is that the vehicle was restored by applicant in this state (Mississippi), and the salvage pages say the same thing from the other side: a vehicle repaired in another state cannot be inspected in this state.
•Selling before the Rebuilt title exists. A salvage vehicle cannot be operated on the roads, issued a tag, or sold by a dealer until re-titled - the inspection and the new certificate come first, then the sale.
Rules that decide whether it is accepted
•The pictures and the second form. The procedure page bundled with the application adds the practical list: four color pictures of the vehicle presented to DPS, and - after a pass - the inspector issues the Completion/Certification of Vehicle Inspection, the 78-022, which travels with the rebuilder's title application and its own $9.00 title fee to the Department of Revenue.
•Who counts as the rebuilder. An ordinary owner who kept their totalled car is one. The owner-retained path on the salvage pages runs exactly here: have the vehicle rebuilt and inspected in their name, then take the insurer's letter and the inspection forms to the county Tax Collector for a Rebuilt title and new registration.
