How to fill out Tennessee RV-F1311801

Where a badly damaged car stops being a car with a title and becomes a thing with a certificate. Two very different outcomes on one sheet: a salvage certificate, which can be rebuilt back onto the road through an inspection process, and a non-repairable certificate, which cannot - it is parts or scrap and the vehicle never comes back. The form is free to file and it is the ticks at the top that decide which of those you get.

Written against RV-F1311801 (Rev 1-21), issued under Tenn. Code Ann. 55-3-201. Seventy-five per cent of retail value is the statutory threshold, and it is the insurer's figure that usually crosses it. If you are still holding the vehicle after a settlement, the choice between the two boxes decides whether the car has a future.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank RV-F1311801 from the tn.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.

Step 1 · the form itself Blank RV-F1311801 — Application for Tennessee Salvage or Non-Repairable Certificate PDF at tn.gov · new tab

Filled in

What a completed one looks like

This is the actual RV-F1311801, rendered from the PDF the Tennessee Department of Revenue 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

Tennessee form RV-F1311801 filled in: Loretta J. Bramblett of Maryville applies for a Tennessee Salvage Certificate for a 2014 Chevrolet Equinox LT, vehicle identification number 2GNALBEK7E6318204 written one character per printed cell, current odometer reading 118,420, previous title 88027451 in Tennessee, the flood damaged box ticked, purchase date 28 March 2026, signed and dated 6 April 2026. — **Look at the vehicle identification number row.** Seventeen printed cells, one character in each - the same comb shape that gets filled in at half spacing on other states' forms and comes back rejected. Section C is greyed because it is an insurance company's block, not an owner's.

Field by field

Every line, in the order you meet it

1
You fill this in
Salvage or non-repairable
One tick at the top of block A, and it is the most consequential mark on the form.
Watch out: Salvage keeps a route back to the road through the rebuilt process. Non-repairable does not, and no later application undoes it.
2
You fill this in
Block A, who is applying
Name, email, phone and physical address, with a mailing address if it differs.
Watch out: The certificate comes back by post, so the mailing address is the one that matters. This is a Nashville transaction, not a counter one.
3
You fill this in
The vehicle, and the seventeen cells
Year, make and model, then the vehicle identification number one character per printed box.
Watch out: Write it from the title, then check it against the dash plate. A salvage record attaches to the number, and the wrong number brands a stranger's car.
4
You fill this in
Odometer and previous title
The current reading, and the number and state of the title being surrendered.
Watch out: For a model year 2011 or newer vehicle an Odometer Disclosure Statement goes in the envelope as well - it is the third line of the instruction list.
5
You fill this in
Condition and purchase date
Total loss or flood damaged, and the date you acquired the vehicle.
Watch out: Flood is a brand in its own right in Tennessee and it follows the vehicle. Ticking total loss on a flooded car understates what the next owner needs to know.
6
You fill this in
Sign, and post the whole envelope
Block D, then the application with the assigned title and any power of attorney to the Vehicle Services Division.
Watch out: Section C stays empty unless an insurance company is applying. If the insurer has taken the car, it is their application and a different form governs the case where you never sent the title back.

At a glance

What goes where

On the form	What to put in it
The two definitions	Printed at the head. A salvage vehicle is a passenger motor vehicle wrecked, destroyed or damaged to the extent that repair costs would exceed 75 per cent of its retail value. A non-repairable vehicle is one incapable of safe operation with no resale value except as a source for parts or scrap.
Application is for	Two boxes: Tennessee Salvage Certificate, or Tennessee Non-repairable Certificate.
A. Applicant information	Name, email, phone, physical address and a mailing address if different.
B. Vehicle information	Vehicle year, make and model, then the vehicle identification number in seventeen printed cells, one character each.
Odometer and previous title	The current odometer reading, and the previous title number with its state.
Vehicle condition and purchase date	Two ticks - total loss, flood damaged - and the date the vehicle was acquired.
C. Insurance information	Lot number and policy number, required only where the application is being made by an insurance company.
D. Applicant certification	The true-and-correct statement, then the signature of the owner, representative or attorney-in-fact, and a date.
The instruction list	Three documents to post with it: the current title properly assigned or proof of ownership, a power of attorney where somebody other than the owner is applying, and an odometer disclosure statement for a vehicle of model year 2011 or newer.

What gets this one rejected

•Both certificate boxes ticked, or neither. They are opposite outcomes and one of them is irreversible.
•A vehicle identification number that does not fill the cells. Seventeen printed boxes, one character in each, and a run-on entry is unreadable to the clerk who keys it.
•No title enclosed. The instruction list opens with the current title, properly assigned, or proof of ownership documents.
•A 2011 or newer vehicle with no odometer disclosure. It is the third item on the same list.
•An application signed by somebody other than the owner with no power of attorney behind it.
•Expecting to drive it afterwards. The purpose paragraph says no vehicle deemed salvage or non-repairable can be registered in or operate on the roads and highways of Tennessee.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

•It costs nothing. The purpose paragraph says so directly: there is no cost to obtain a salvage or non-repairable certificate. The expense in this process is the rebuilt inspection afterwards, not the certificate.
•Non-repairable is a one-way door. A salvage certificate can be rebuilt back to a road-worthy title through the rebuilt vehicle process. A non-repairable certificate serves only to establish ownership of parts or scrap.
•It is posted, not filed at a clerk. The completed application and its supporting documents go to the Vehicle Services Division at 500 Deaderick Street in Nashville.

Every line here was read off RV-F1311801 (Rev 1-21) itself — the PDF is here — and off the Tennessee Department of Revenue 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 Tennessee seller paperwork, or what selling a car in Tennessee involves.

How to fill out Tennessee RV-F1311801

What a completed one looks like

Every line, in the order you meet it

Salvage or non-repairable

Block A, who is applying

The vehicle, and the seventeen cells

Odometer and previous title

Condition and purchase date

Sign, and post the whole envelope

What goes where

What gets this one rejected

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

Want the paperwork handled instead?

Or send the details — we'll come to you