They totaled my VW Jetta wagon when I was rear-ended on the highway.

Post #436,406 by Another Scott 9/26/20 1:59:30 AM 9/26/20 1:59:30 AM Reply	They totaled my VW Jetta wagon when I was rear-ended on the highway. 3 pm on a weekday in rural Ohio on I-75, going 70 mph, and was rear ended by an Explorer who was weaving through traffic going too fast and not watching what he was doing... Smashed the bumper and the hatch. Rest of the car was fine. But it was over 12-ish years old and over $2k in damage, so they said it was totaled. :-(. They paid me, I got it fixed, and I still have it (and it is still insured with USAA). Be prepared. :-(. Good luck! Cheers, Scott.
Post #436,407 by pwhysall 9/26/20 2:59:52 AM 9/26/20 2:59:52 AM Reply	How does that work for resale? Over here, if the insurer determines that the cost of repair exceeds the value of the vehicle, it is "written off". There are four categories of write-off (lifted from a UK car site): Category A write-off: These vehicles are usually burnt-out and they must be totally crushed including all spare parts Category B write-off: These vehicles cannot return to road and the shell must be crushed, but their spare parts may be salvaged and sold for spares Category S write-off: Repairable, but cost of repair is more than value of car. Has been determined to have some sort of structural damage (previously category C) Category N write-off: Again repairable, but it would cost more than the car's value to fix. Shouldn't have sustained any structural damage (previously category D) Cat S and N cars are common on the resale market, and can be quite a bargain - however, a lot of buyers (myself included) are nervous about these cars - especially Cat S, and will avoid buying them. (When selling a vehicle it is mandatory to declare any insurance write-off)
Post #436,409 by drook 9/26/20 8:38:41 AM 9/26/20 8:38:41 AM Reply	Only category I've heard is "salvage" -- Drew
Post #436,425 by Andrew Grygus 9/27/20 1:27:41 AM 9/27/20 1:27:41 AM Reply	No, there is another designation . . . . . "Submarine". This is for cars refurbed after floods in the Mississippi drainage system.
Post #436,426 by drook 9/27/20 1:32:56 AM 9/27/20 1:32:56 AM Reply	I almost want to buy one so I can tell people I'm driving a submarine -- Drew
Post #436,432 by boxley 9/27/20 5:46:21 PM 9/27/20 5:46:21 PM Reply	in mississippi that is a salvage flood tiitle so the potential new owner is aware "Science is the belief in the ignorance of the experts" – Richard Feynman
Post #436,414 by Another Scott 9/26/20 2:13:09 PM 9/26/20 2:13:09 PM Reply	Dunno. It's probably worthless as a general principle. It's a 2004 Jetta TDI. Too old to be part of the "dieselgate" stuff, but the value was killed anyway. I don't understand the details of "totaling" and so forth. Virginia would have required that I get a "salvage title" once it had been ruled a total loss if it were less than 10 years old at the time, but wasn't, so I didn't. Everyone probably assumes that normal cars over 10 years old are near-junk anyway. I plan to give it away to the local NPR station or a local charity if/when I decide it's too old for a new clutch, or am willing to pull the trigger and go electric, or whatever. They'll auction it off or send it to the crusher and I'll get a note in the mail telling me what they were able to get for it, and I'll use that for a federal income tax deduction. (J got over a value of $900 for her 1993 Corolla that had 203,000 miles on it at the time. We were astounded.) Cheers, Scott.

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