What To Do With A Totaled Car?
When your car is totaled, meaning it has been deemed a total loss after an accident and is damaged beyond the state of repairing, it can be challenging to make up for the loss. Ultimately, a totaled car will cost you money because you are suddenly out a car and in need of cash or a new one. Most people prefer their car to not be labeled a total loss so as to avoid losing money on its value or having to be out a car for a long time while they negotiate with insurance companies and find a new affordable car to purchase.
Who determines a total loss?
After an accident, the first thing you will probably ask yourself is, “Is your car totaled?” Unfortunately, the insurance companies are the ones who have the right to determine if its totaled and how much money or cash you will receive. They will appraise your vehicle after the accident and determine if it’s worth the cost of repair.
There are also some specific damaging factors insurance companies look for when determining if a car is a loss or not, such as, airbag deployment, frame damage, axle unalignment, engine damage etc. Unfortunately, they will likely undervalue your car and overestimate the cost of repairing the damage so that they have to pay out less money.
You can fight the insurance companies, but it is likely to be a true uphill battle. You will have to gather together documents displaying your vehicle’s maintenance history, and maybe even hire a private appraiser. Also, check your state’s laws to see what protections and rules they have for determining totaled car meaning. Even then, there is still no guarantee that the insurance company will decide to revoke their declaration.
What happens to a totaled car?
Normally, once the insurance determines that your car is a total loss, they will attempt to sell the totaled car at an auction to make back some of the cash they doled out to the owner. This is just the general practice, they don’t have to sell it at auction, they have many other options. The car owner can keep the car, but the insurance company will not give the owner any money for the car. But this may not be a bad thing if the money offered by the insurance company is small.
Some owners may find it difficult to figure out what to do with a wrecked car if they don’t give it to the insurance company. The car owner actually has the option to sell the car and try to recoup losses on it themselves. In many circumstances, they stand to make more money than the insurance company would pay. They will have to sell it under a salvaged title though.
Why sell a total loss yourself?
There are a lot of reasons for an owner to sell their totaled car themselves. The biggest reason is that the car is not insured, and the owner is at fault or the car has been damaged by an uninsured vehicle. Either scenario can make it difficult to get enough cash from the insurance company. There are also many different types of car insurance, such as comprehensive, collision, liability, etc. which can make it difficult to get the proper payout for your totaled vehicle. If you don’t have the right insurance you may just be out of luck. Take for example if your car is totaled by hail, but you don’t have comprehensive insurance. The insurance company will do everything they can to avoid a cash payout.
How to make cash on a total loss without the insurance company
If your car is totaled and you’re not comfortable trying to get the best totaled car value for it yourself, you should sell it to Copart Direct. Copart Direct will give you an instant online quote for your car and schedule a free pick up in 24 hours or less. There are close to 200 Copart Direct locations nationwide, so we know the local car market everywhere in the country which is why we can buy wrecked cars at fair and competitive prices.
Contact us at (888) 883-9981 or go to our online instant quote form
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Read more about what to do with your junk car here!