# Cars Being Declared a "Total Loss" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 9, 2017, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-being-declared-a-total-loss/779416 "2017-02-09T21:40:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2017, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-being-declared-a-total-loss/779416/21 "2017-02-12T00:32:57Z")
If you do not cross state lines, will an insurance company write a collision policy on a car another insurer in that state had written off as “Totaled”? It is my understanding that the problems with Salvage titles is the unavailability of “hull damage” insurance - because the vehicle had been “totaled”. I’m driving a 20 year old beater mini-pickup\*. When it dies, I will check out the local salvage shops - it seems that CA will “total” pretty much anything with the airbags deployed. Now that everything is either welded or glued, I have no idea what it takes to replace a grill, hood, and left fender (including the headlight). Apparently several people do know how to do these things and flip late-model fender-benders with deployed airbags. I don’t care what it looks like, but I do want it to last at least 10 years. This means I’m not worried about hull damage insurance - just liability. - - 1997 was the last year Nissan made the small body pickup. Toyota stopped in 1995. I wanted a small truck with a 4 cyl/stick -and when they “supersized” the pick-up into what became the SUV, I didn’t expect a 4 banger would carry the extra weight. ---
**Author:** ![slash2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@slash2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slash2k)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2017, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-being-declared-a-total-loss/779416/22 "2017-02-12T02:49:30Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > If you do not cross state lines, will an insurance company write a collision policy on a car another insurer in that state had written off as “Totaled”? Not quite the answer to your question, but State Farm will write a collision policy on a vehicle that State Farm itself wrote off as totaled. Once the state was convinced to issue a rebuilt salvage title, the insurer was perfectly happy to write full coverage on it again. That particular vehicle, though, was a heavy pickup that didn’t have airbags in the first place. I don’t know as I’d want to be running around in something that was designed to have airbags and didn’t anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2017, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-being-declared-a-total-loss/779416/23 "2017-02-13T14:00:11Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > …- it seems that CA will “total” pretty much anything with the airbags deployed. Airbag deployment does not automatically render a vehicle “totaled”, but because of the [high cost](http://cars.costhelper.com/airbag-cost.html) to replace they can quickly change the cost/benefit analysis. > [@](#): > > The total cost for professionally replacing airbags that deployed in a collision can be $1,000-$6,000 or more but averages about $3,000-$5,000, depending on the year, make and model of vehicle; the number and location of the air bags; and the related parts that need replacing, such as the electronic control unit[2] (also called the airbag computer or diagnostic unit), sensors, springs, the instrument panel, the dashboard, the windshield or the steering wheel. (Some passenger-side airbags are designed to deflect off of – and break – the windshield, and may also break the dashboard.) Labor at $30-$90 or more an hour is usually about a third of the total cost. For example, [Lemurzone.com](http://Lemurzone.com) lists the parts and labor needed for a typical air bag repair[3] , with an estimated total cost of $3,898. Airbags are not only expensive in and of themselves, but they can also do a lot of collateral damage when they deploy. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2017, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-being-declared-a-total-loss/779416/24 "2017-02-13T14:40:41Z")
Spoke to My BIL and I had the story a bit wrong. The insurance company (which was the other driver’s liability insurance, not my BIL/SIL’s comprehensive) did pay for the damage, but not as much as they would have paid had it not been a salvage title. Meaning, they declared the car a “total loss” and paid the entire value of the car, but they reduced the value of the car due to the salvage title. (My BIL said he hadn’t paid attention to the title when he got the car and had been unaware of this.) > [@LSLGuy](#): > > Seems clear enough although I agree it’s awkwardly stated. Writing from a consistent POV would do wonders for many posters, myself too often included. On rereading the OP, I see there may have been confusing over the words “that car” in the sentence. It referred to the other driver’s car, not to my wife’s. Apologies for any confusion. > [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > I’d seriously reconsider keeping the car. From what I understand, if the frame is damaged, the car is NOT as strong, and will not protect the occupants as well if there is another collision. I think any frame damage has to be minor. I didn’t see any, and I drove the car around for over a week before bringing it in for repair. The place I brought it to is one of these real professional places that crosses all the t’s etc. (Had I known the car was going to be totaled I would probably have brought it to a cut-rate repair place, and kept the change.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-being-declared-a-total-loss/779416.md?page=1)