Jenny in Florida Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 I mean, I understand the principle: It's when the repair will cost more than the car is worth. But does anyone have more details to share about how they make that determination? We had a tire blow out on the highway today, which took with it the headlight and front fender and damaged the front bumper. The officer who stopped to offer help guesstimated it may be as much as $2,000 - 3,000 in damage. I checked Kelly Blue Book online, and it looks like my car may be worth as little as $4,500 in trade-in, $6,200 in outright sale. I like my car and definitely couldn't afford to replace it at the moment. So, now I'm scared. At what point is my insurance company likely to "call" this? Does anyone have experience with this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chocolatechip Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 We had an accident (small) in our 1996 Toyota Corolla (read: not very valuable car). The front hood of the car went partly under the back of a big SUV. The insurance company's estimate said that the repairs would be more than the value of the car. We sent the car to our own mechanic for an estimate. He quoted less than the value of the car. So we chose to fix the car anyway, however, it does now carry that branded title. It was worth it to us to fix the car, because even though it wasn't "worth" much, it is worth a lot to us: we aren't having to buy a new car because we have it. So if you're not scared of salvaged titles. . . It's frustrating that our title is salvaged, though, when a title on a brand new Corolla in the same accident would have been clean. :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 My insurance company and the company of the guy who rear-ended my van both decided that the van was worth fixing. The van was only worth, at most, $2000, and the repairs were over $1,000. $1600, IIRC. I can't remember exactly, but it was around that (plus the cost of replacing two carseats). I got the estimate for work myself, from a shop I trusted completely, and it included replacing the rear door entirely. In my case, I couldn't afford to buy something better for the money they paid (and car shopping with four kids in the two weeks before Christmas, because if they'd totaled it, the rental wouldn't have been good for very long, would have been a HUGE PAIN), and it worked out okay, but it was awfully close. ETA: I do not believe our title was changed to "salvaged," because nobody ever said anything to me about that. It doesn't really matter anyway, because the vehicle is about dead (unrelated to the accident; it's ancient and high miles), and as soon as I can afford to replace it, I will. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carriede Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 I mean, I understand the principle: It's when the repair will cost more than the car is worth. But does anyone have more details to share about how they make that determination? We had a tire blow out on the highway today, which took with it the headlight and front fender and damaged the front bumper. The officer who stopped to offer help guesstimated it may be as much as $2,000 - 3,000 in damage. I checked Kelly Blue Book online, and it looks like my car may be worth as little as $4,500 in trade-in, $6,200 in outright sale. I like my car and definitely couldn't afford to replace it at the moment. So, now I'm scared. At what point is my insurance company likely to "call" this? Does anyone have experience with this? My insurance said for them, it's when the cost of repair is more than HALF it's value. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChocolateReignRemix Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 My insurance said for them, it's when the cost of repair is more than HALF it's value. That is the industry standard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 you can take the money the insurance company would give you as a settlement, then fix the car so it runs dependably. it won't be pretty cosmetically. it would also say on the title it was a totaled car. oh- you will also only get money for it if you had comprehensive (or someone else ran into you and their insurance paid.). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bzymom Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 Cost of repair at half of value BUT it also can depend upon type of damage. As mentioned by PP, you can buy back the car from the ins. company and use the check you receive for the totalled car to make repairs. This can make sense if you are planning to drive the car until it is truly done, but not if you will be selling it down the line. I hope it works out for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caroline Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 I hope everyone is ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idnib Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzanne115 Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 I had a bad wreck last summer. I knew I could never feel comfortable in the car again. The decision to total the car was borderline. My husband called and talked to the insurance company. Since it was so close, they went ahead and made the decision to total the car. Good luck with your car. Suzanne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettyandbob Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 The last time my van needed body work due to an accident (my fault ) we reported the accident and insurance repaired the other vehicle, but we did not make a claim on the van b /c we were concerned it would be totaled. I found a repair shop that would repair it enough to pass inspection in my state. The shop did both insurance work and self pay--he knew my van would have been totaled based on his experience with estimates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 I had a mechanic offer to get the "totalled" insurance money for me and then find the part when I made it clear to him that I wanted my existing car fixed instead of money towards a newer, shinier one. That was a few years ago, but it was a scary situation that turned out to be no big deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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