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How Do You Determine If Your Car Is Totaled?
After a road accident, your car could be worth writing off. But how do you determine if your car is totaled? Here's a guide.
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When getting into an accident on the road or coming across any other situation that may damage your cars such as a hail storm or a flood, it's essential to know if your cars are totaled or not. Although the term total loss might seem like nails on a chalkboard, it might be in your favor at times.
So, how do you determine if your car is totaled or not? The first step to understanding your car's condition after damages is to know what total loss means. The next steps are looking for signs that would lead to a total loss.
Here's what you need to know!
Definition of a Total Loss
When a car is considered a total loss, it means that the cost of the repairs to bring the car back to its original condition would cost more than the value of the car itself.
Naturally, it wouldn't make sense to spend $5,000 fixing a car that only holds a value of $3,750. If a car is considered totaled, then your insurance company writes a check for the value of the car rather than fixing it.
You'll be given a check for the car and the insurance company will then keep your car. An insurance adjuster will come out to assess the damages and is the one who determines the car's fate. However, there are some signs that will suggest a total loss that you can determine on your own.
The Insurance Adjuster Makes the Call
If filing a claim with your insurance company, the insurance adjuster will schedule a time with you to come out and give a quote on how much they believe the car will cost to be repaired. If the adjuster decides that the cost of repairs is more than the cost of the car itself, then you have a totaled car on your hands.
When not filing a claim with your insurance company, you'll need to be on the lookout for signs of a totaled car before deciding to take it into a shop for repairs.
Tell-Tale Signs You Might Notice
One of the first signs that a car is a total loss is a deployed airbag. If the airbag has deployed, then there's a good chance that it's totaled, although this might not always be the case. This depends on how much your car is worth.
If your car is not drivable because it won't start after an accident or other damages to the car make it so that you can't see out of the windshield to drive, then you might have a totaled car. If there is extensive damage to the car's frame or fluids leaking profusely, you should also consider the chances of a totaled vehicle.
If the damages to your car are more expensive than your car itself, consider selling your vehicle to a cash for cars dealer, which will give you cash for your car even if it's not in working order!
How do You Determine if Your Car Is Totaled Without an Adjuster?
After reading through our guide, how do you determine if your car is totaled? We hope that these tips were enough to help you understand how the total-loss process works and what to be on the lookout for.
Always stay safe while driving and be sure to cruise back over to our website regularly for more posts!
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