Bought car “clean” title— state issued salvage, dealership goes silent

Hi all! I’m trying to understand if anyone has been in a similar situation and how it turned out (before I lose hope)

I bought a used car from a dealership in South Carolina in January 2026. At the time of sale, the car was presented as a normal used vehicle with a clean title. I reviewed the CARFAX, which showed a prior insurance “total loss” due to hail (reconsidered “minor damage” afterwards), but also showed that the vehicle had clean titles issued afterward in Colorado and Utah. The dealership also told me the title was clean.

I did NOT sign any salvage disclosure, and the Buyer’s Guide even indicated that manufacturer warranty applied.

The dealership handled the title application. About 2 weeks later, South Carolina issued the title as SALVAGE.

I tried to resolve it with the dealership (they said they would look into it and the never answered the phone or emails again), filed with the Department of Consumer Affairs (they said the dealer didn’t respond to them either) and the DMV looked into it but said they don’t see a clear violation, more of a “miscommunication.”

So now I’m stuck in this weird situation where:

- I knew it had prior damage / “total loss”

- but I was never told it would be titled salvage

- and I ended up with a salvage title after purchase

Has anyone dealt with something like this?

- Did you manage to get the title corrected?

- Did the dealership compensate you or take the car back?

- Did you go through small claims or a lawyer?

I’m mostly trying to understand how these situations usually resolve and what worked for people, so that it doesn’t consume me LOL