I was recently rear ended.

I believe my car MAY be totaled, as the damage is pretty severe.

If I choose to buy back the totaled car and fix it myself, will it then have a salvage title?

Or can I just take the check(minus the salvage value), and use the money to fix it myself and not even touch the title?

 

Sure you can do that. Expect a hefty fine and fraud charges if you try and sell it though.

 

When I was T boned in my 50mpg diesel rabbit, the ins company gave me a check and didnt touch my car. I put a new axle in the rear and kept driving it. They gave me over 2G because of the economic value of the car, and it was deemed totaled.

Insurance companies only care oner thing. Is the car worth the repair costs? If you can fix it yourself with the money they give you, they couldn't care less what you do after you sell it. If they junk the Title its another story.

 

So it was "totaled", but there wasn't any paper trail to state it was totaled?

 

Your insurance company will report it to your DMV as a total loss.

Take the $$$ give them the car and move on to the next one.
If you chose to buy it back to drive it, you will most likely have a huge issue obtaining insurance on it again.

It's not worth it.

 

I kept paying the bill to the same ins company.Its not "totalled" or "junked" until the scrapper has the title and processes it as such.
Ins companies "total" a car when repairs outweigh the total worth, not when they deem it unrepairable. If it can be reopaired by the owner, they will give you the money to do so. Its up to you to make it passable and safe.

 

It appears you've never worked in the industry.
But thats just a guess on my part.

It's actually based on a percentage of it's total worth.

If and when it's considered a total loss by your insurance co., it will be reported to the DMV. The only way for you to recover the insurance money is to surrender the title and or vehicle to them. If you buy it back, provided that your insurance company will even entertain that, you must retitle the vehicle as Salvage. It will become very hard to get good insurance coverage on a salvage titled vehicle. Some woun't insure it and you can forget about ever having collision insurance on it again. Basic liability might become expensive too.

There is another side of the insurance industry called LKQ. It's the money they make selling your totalled vehicle to the recycle industry. There's big bucks in that for the insurance company, which is why a buy back is almost unheard of. Repair costs are kept down when shops use LKQ parts. Insurance companys love to use LKQ or aftermarket parts on repairs. Read your insurance policy very carefully and it will clearly state based on age when LKQ or aftermarket will be used to repair your car. Some are as soon as 2 years. Hello GEICO...

LKQ = Like Kind Quality = OEM Part from the scrap yard.

So, buy back your car and fix it yourself? A classic car perhaps, but not a car worth a few thousand if that. It's just a stupid move and your ins. company may not even entertain that idea because they will lose $$$ on the recycle end.

 

In California, they never took my car, nor did they ask for my title. They just gave me a check for the damages. I drove my car home 3 blocks with the tire rubbing hard on the rear "strut", after talking with the cops. It sat at my parents house where the adjuster guy looked at it.


I was given a choice.
1 let them junk it with a buy back option and recieve $$
2 take $, fix myself, and keep driving.

I took the lesser amount and kept the car.

Where is the car? Talk to you insurance company and explore all your options.

 

personally,

take the money and buy a new car or put a down payment on one. if the title says junk or salvage you will have a hard time selling the car in the future

 

It is also nearly impossible for any would be buyers to get financing on a salvaged vehicle.

 

I don't pretend to know all the rules about buying back, but I do know that in illinois the car has to be more than 8 years old to be bought back, period.

 

Every state is different about how they handle salvage vehicles. The Insurance company has to give you a chance to buy it back, however, the rule of thumb is that they want a quarter of the loss value, which, depending on the damage is usually more than the wrecked car is worth. I have rebuilt and driven/sold several totaled vehicles over the years. Never had any problem putting full coverage insurance on them, but lately they are very hard to sell. Since the lending meltdown most banks wont even lend a few thousand on an otherwise $30,000 truck. If the insurance company will work with you and give you a repair check without declaring your car totaled that is the best way to keep it, even if you get less money.