Press release: “More than 15 years after Congress required the federal government to set up a national database to allow car buyers to determine whether a vehicle has been stolen or rebuilt after a wreck, the system is still not in place, three consumers groups said Wednesday in a lawsuit filed against the Department of Justice (DOJ). Public Citizen, Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety (CARS) and Consumer Action sued in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The groups want the court to order the DOJ to move forward with creation of the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System…The database would help consumers avoid purchasing a potentially dangerous used car by allowing them to instantly check the validity of a car’s title and mileage and learn whether it had been stolen or was a junk or salvage vehicle. A salvage vehicle is one that was totaled in collision, fire, flood or other event to the extent that its value, plus the cost of repairing it for legal operation, is more than its fair market value immediately before the event that caused the damage.”