When is a Car Considered “Totaled”?

Recently a New Jersey father took his young son down to a local river to watch and feed the birds. As he slowed the vehicle in preparation to park it, the boy bolted from the car and headed for the river’s edge. The understandably panicked father also jumped out of the vehicle to prevent his son from falling down the embankment. While he saved his son, his vehicle went off the road, rolled down the embankment, and ended up in the water.

The story has a happy ending as far as father and son are concerned, but the vehicle is another story. Although it started right up as soon as police fished it from the water, the owner told reporters he assumed his car insurance company would total it.

His comment raises an interesting question. If the engine runs normally and there appears to be no major structural damage, why would an insurance company total it? To understand that, we must look at some other factors.

What It Means to Be “Totaled”

Before talking about the vehicle and the damage it might have sustained, it’s important to first understand what it means when a car is “totaled.” When a car insurance company uses that designation they are essentially saying the car is a total loss from a financial standpoint. In other words, regardless of whether the owner purchased the cheapest car insurance possible or a top-of-the-line policy, the insurance company has decided they will spend less money to replace it then to repair it.

In most states when a car insurance company totals a vehicle they take ownership of that vehicle once the owner accepts a claim check and cashes it. If the insurance carrier believes it can make a little money by selling the vehicle at a salvage auction they will make arrangements to come and tow it from the customer’s property. If they decide they can’t make any money they will sometimes tell the customer to dispose of it as they see fit. Either way, the car insurance company has the final say.

What May Have Happened

In the case of a New Jersey man, we don’t know exactly sort of damage was incurred by his vehicle. But there are couple of things we can speculate on. First of all, regardless of whether or not he had cheap car insurance we can say that he did have collision and comprehensive coverage; otherwise, the idea of the insurance company totaling the vehicle would be irrelevant. Knowing that, we can look at a couple of things that might have driven the repair costs too high.

If the front end of the vehicle suffered body damage when it hit the river bed, or perhaps dents and dings on its way down the hill, they could result in repair costs of up to several thousand dollars. The insurer must also consider having the engine taken apart and checked for water damage despite the fact the vehicle started right up.

Third, there’s the issue of drying out the vehicle’s interior; this might be the most costly part of the procedure. In order to prevent mold from growing the car’s interior would have to be dismantled, disinfected, and properly dried. That job would probably be worth at least several thousand dollars if the potential water damage was serious.

If you add up the costs of all three types of repair work it’s conceivable a claim could cost the car insurance company $8K-$10K. If the vehicle is more than three or four years old it could be replaced for less money.

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