[bcrdukes]

A theft recovery which leads to a rebuilt title could end up this way based on a few criteria:

- VIN tags stolen/stripped
- Value of parts within vehicle that were stripped exceed cost of replacement (i.e. entire interior was stripped and/or engine was removed etc.)

Ultimately, it will get a rebuilt title if the vehicle's "damage" is too significant. Someone would have had to buy it back and piece the car back together and be inspected to become admissible and inspected to be safely driven again.

Case in point - The current Toyota Sienna my folks have is a rebuilt from theft recovery, but the entire interior and VIN tags were stolen.

The old Toyota LE Vans my folks had (the ones you see in HK gangster movies full of machete-wielding gangsters) was stolen 7 times in a year, but was ever returned to us with no rebuilt title. Just a broken lock and ignition cylinder.