Ask an Expert: Can a new car be considered a total loss?

by John and Theresa Kightlinger

Let’s take, for example, a brand-new 2020 Subaru Outback. Should it be totaled or repaired after an accident? Let’s take a look at an actual situation that I came across recently.

Factors in the decision

The 2020 Subaru Outback in question was involved in a head-on collision angled off of the driver’s side. It was delivered via tow truck from the impound/auction lot. Right off the top, this raises red flags. The question is how and why the car was taken to auction, and when the insurance company wrote the original estimate to REPAIR it. The belief is that the car was taken to auction first, and that is where the insurance adjuster wrote the estimate.

When the insurance company decided to repair, rather than total this vehicle, the owner of the vehicle chose to take it to their preferred shop. After the most cursory inspection, it was obvious that the cost of repair would exceed the value of the car and that this would be a total loss. The vehicle was disassembled and a complete inspection was performed. When they submitted their estimate in the end, the insurance company agreed that the car was a total loss.

Who makes the decision

Here is the issue we are trying to raise awareness about: The insurance company originally wrote their estimate to repair this 2020 Subaru Outback. Had the car’s owner decided to take it to one of the insurer’s “preferred” shops, it is possible – maybe even probable – that it would have been repaired. Body shops that are in partnership with the insurance companies are compelled to perform the repairs – almost always with aftermarket or salvaged parts – as the insurance company writes them.

The body shop isn’t the one who decides whether a vehicle is to be totaled or repaired. That is up to the insurer. They must weigh the expense of repair against the value of the car. The problem comes into play when the repair is written for the cheapest parts that don’t have documented safety ratings – a common practice for most insurance companies.

However, if the body shop is in a partnership with the insurer – they may also pressure you to go through with a repair, even when it should be totaled. Why would they do something like that? Simply put, it’s much more profitable for them to perform a repair – even the wrong repair – than to total a vehicle. And in today’s economic climate, many shops are taking anything they can get just to keep their doors open.

This practice bypasses the PROPER REPAIR in the name of saving money for the insurance company and benefiting the body shop. And because the proper repair isn’t performed, it puts at risk the safety of the vehicle’s owner, his or her family, and everyone on the road that the vehicle ever comes near. Cheap parts can, and do fail. Repeat accidents can and do happen. A proper repair maintains the integrity of the vehicle the way the manufacturer originally designed it.

Only one proper repair

There’s only one way to repair your vehicle — THE RIGHT WAY — using 100% original equipment manufacturer’s parts. And sometimes, that costs a little more than what insurance companies want to pay. But the way we see it, your life and the lives of others is more valuable than cutting corners on the proper repair to save the insurance companies money. And if that means that the expense of the proper repair outweighs the value of the vehicle, then we feel that totaling the car is the right thing to do, regardless of how new it may be.

On this 2020 Subaru Outback, they wrote an estimate for a proper repair. And, fortunately, the insurance company came around to agree that the expense of the repair outweighed the value of the vehicle. It doesn’t always happen that way.

The moral of this story is this: Don’t let an insurance company or even a body shop bully you into performing a substandard repair just because they will make more money doing so. If a shop is unwilling to stand up for the proper repair of your vehicle, you have the right to choose a shop that will. And if performing the proper repair ends up costing more than the value of the vehicle – you (and everyone around you) benefit from removing an unsafe car from the road.

John and Theresa Kightlinger own My Body Shop at 401 N. Clinton St., Stockbridge.The couple have lived in the area and raised their children here over the past 20 years. John has been in the auto body business since 1985, and Theresa began work at General Motors after high school. Between the two, they have been working on cars for more than 75 years.