Even though I've been in the auto body and insurance industries for 30 years, I've never understood the criteria insurance companies use to decide whether to fix or total a vehicle.
Right now, my daily driver is a '99 Olds 88 that has been totalled twice and still has a clean title. I did both the rebuilds on it, myself. I bought it after it had been smacked in the rear end, and it really wasn't that hard a fix. Just put it on a frame machine, had the rear end squared up, and new (used) deck lid, rear bumper, and tail lights fitted.
I drove it several thousand miles and our daughter nailed a deer with it and blew both air bags. The insurance company let me keep it for $500, so I hung onto it. It had just turned 80K miles and was too nice a vehicle to give up on so I decided to rebuild it again. I transplanted the entire air bag system from an identical car, and replaced the hood, header panel, etc. Still runs and drives the same as when I bought it originally.
On the other hand, several years ago on a dark, rainy morning, on her way to work my wife took out several of the neighbor's cows that had gotten out. She was driving a Pontiac mini-van. The neighbor's insurance company insisted on fixing it. As it happened, the morning of the accident a local Chrysler dealer had an identical van with 40,000 miles less on his lot. By the time our van was fixed, the insurance company had spent some $500 more than the Chrysler dealer's asking price on his van.
It doesn't seem to make any sense. Some times a vehicle will be fixed that is damaged worse than another one that's totalled. Maybe it makes a difference whose insurance company is liable. Ironically, that same Pontiac van that hit the cows was demolished in a head on collision a year later. There wasn't any question about it that time. Thanks to the air bag and belts, my wife walked away from it.
Like I said, it doesn't make any sense. Just because a vehicle has been totalled doesn't mean it can't be fixed properly and be as good as new. The operative word, though, is "properly". As in any other endeavor, there are people with a variety of intentions and skill levels.
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