I see people saying cars are being declared salvage when there's a dented fender or something incredibly simple to fix. In some cases one or two parts need replacing and the car is fine. Has the bar been … lowered recently?
are auto insurers declaring more cars ‘salvage’ than they used to?
byu/YellowSea11 inInsurance
Posted by YellowSea11
8 Comments
Parts and labor have gone up a lot, and used car values have come back to Earth. Thus, the math for a total loss adds up more quickly.
Yes, not only are they more expensive to fix today, but the amount of sensors in them and electronics etc. make some things not possible to repair at a reasonable cost. Cars didn’t used to have so many electronics, so a new fender was simple. Today that’s not the case.
Crash an Elon mobile and damage the battery pack? Insurance companies will just total. Faster than waiting for Elon to send out a replacement; gets the car out of the shop, lets the owner move on and get a new ride, and the insurance company can close the claim
my thing is this.. as advanced as the cars have gotten these days.. if you get in a really bad accident.. can a “body shop” really fix that car back? would you trust it?? i mean i think we’re at a day and age now where it’s not so simple as replacing that throwaway bumper that got destroyed by a new one. Body shops can do that eyes closed and obviously repair more damage/etc since it’s what they do. I am not in the business and am honestly curious to those who are.. would you rather a car get totaled or repaired considering how advanced cars have become these days.
Insurance carrier are getting destroyed with higher costs. So when it comes to declaring total loss they are going to look at the cheapest way out. They are comparing the cost of repairs vs the cost of paying out Actual Cash Value and selling to a salvage yard. So if the salvage yard is paying good money on a particular unit, thats going to be the cheapest way out of the claim
>I see people saying cars are being declared salvage when there’s a dented fender or something incredibly simple to fix. In some cases one or two parts need replacing and the car is fine.
Those people are lying or they have been lied to by whoever sold them the car. They are minimizing the damage in order to sell the vehicle. Ask for the repair invoice and they will conveniently not be able to produce it.
Salvage titles don’t happen for minor damage.
Never believe anything anybody who is selling a vehicle tells you.
Its the air bags and sensors that cost a ton of money. My wife got in a ten mph accident this last year. Insurance stated 21k to fix. They wanted to replace both front seats at 5k a piece I believe. Airbags were 1400 a piece.
Tried to low ball me on what the vehicle was worth and I spent a couple of weeks going back and forth with them. Couldn’t find a comparable vehicle within 150 miles of where we lived. Plus they were not taking into consideration the low miles we had and the extra stuff like DVD player, tow hitch, wiring, less than 3 weeks old brakes on it etc.
We finally agreed on a price and I kept the vehicle since the damage was actually minimal and I had connections to get it fixed.
One thing to keep in mind also is if you don’t rent a car, make sure you let them know you want reimbursed for loss of use of your car.
If you ever have questions, give your state’s insurance commissioners office a call. They will assist you with the process to make sure the insurance company is operating within the laws of your state.
Yeah , in the long distant past, salvage meant frame damage. In the less distant past, I guess it means frame or other expensive damage. Now I guess it means the bar is very low. Time change, as all know.