Have you been involved in an automobile accident? Vehicle crashes can be among the most traumatic events in a person’s life.
While dealing with the emotional and physical toll these incidents can take, you are left with the aftermath of the accident and have to decide what is next for your car. Evaluating the damage to your vehicle, you have to determine if it is better to have it repaired or cut your losses. Is your car repairable, or should it be totaled?
If your car can be fixed, you will file a claim with your insurance to help cover the costs to fix your vehicle. On the other hand, labeling a car a total loss means it is beyond repair or would cost more money to repair it than it is actually worth.
How will you determine whether your car is totaled or fixable? That is what we are helping to answer in this article.
Is Your Car a Total Loss or Repairable?
If you are weighing these two options now, whether your vehicle is best as a repair project or it’s a total loss, you can determine which is the best route by factoring in the following:
- The insurance company: Insurance companies have established standards on what is a “total loss” for a vehicle. Your insurance company will use several methods to determine its value. They will choose from Kelley Blue Book, NADA, or another standard to determine whether or not the vehicle is worth repairing.
In some cases, it might not be entirely up to you or your insurance company. Some states have rules in place to determine whether a vehicle is a total loss or repairable. The insurance companies must abide by these rules, so even if you want to fix it, their hands might be tied.
- The car itself: When an insurance company is determining the value of the vehicle, they consider several attributes of the car. They take into consideration the type of vehicle, how old it is, how much mileage is on the odometer, and the pre-accident condition of the car.
All of these factors are evaluated by the insurance company’s claims adjuster, or appraiser, to see if it’s better to consider the car a total loss or if there is hope to repair the vehicle.
- The damage: Some damage can be fixed. If it’s just a dent, crease, or bumper damage from being involved in a minor accident, that can be fixed by the team at First Aid Collision, and we’d be happy to do so. In some other cases, the damage may be too much to repair.
If the damage from the accident is severe enough, there’s nothing that can be done except to consider the car totaled. While this is unfortunate, being designated a total loss could help give you options.
- The safety of the car if repaired: When your car has been in an accident, it should only be repaired if it can be deemed safe to drive again.
If, after repairs, the vehicle is not going to be safe to drive, it is time to consider it a total loss. You don’t want to put a car on the road that could be a danger to yourself or others.
- Financially feasible: At the end of the day, money talks. Is it financially feasible or reasonable to repair your car? Evaluate the car’s ACV, the actual cash value, to determine what is the smart economic decision. Would it cost more to repair the car than what the car is actually worth or another car on the market?
How First Aid Collision Is Here to Help After an Accident
If you have deemed your car repairable, what do you do next?
Your next step is to find a collision shop that will repair your vehicle and help you find some sense of normalcy after the accident, and this is where the team at First Aid Collision comes in.
First Aid Collision is a full-service collision shop in the south Asheville area. We can help repair your vehicle and restore what it was before your accident. Our customer-friendly team specializes in auto body repairs like body rebuilding, dent repairs and scratch removals, windshield replacements, and so much more that can put the accident in a distant memory.
First Aid Collision provides a sense of convenience and ease for each customer, especially in trying times such as when you are in an accident.
Get your vehicle back on the road safely with the help of the First Aid Collision team. Contact us today for more information on how we can assist you.