On 7/23/98 11:59 AM, DAVID MOST emailed

>Thanks to all who have replied thus far.  A couple of you have wondered
>why the vanagon would be considered totalled if the drivability hasn't
>been affected.  >
>In any case, if you go a dealer and estimate how much it would cost to
>replace the entire front dash (and the other parts mentioned), you may
>(or may not) be surprised a how muchthis would cost.  It's not unusual
>for body damage caused in an accident to lead to costs exceeding the
>"value" of the vehicle.

Many wonder why a vehicle is totalled in insurance terms when most of the
car is fine.  In addition to the points David raised:

(1) Insurers use a book value for autos that probably is lower than
replacement retail.  With our beloved vanagons and westfalias, the book
and market values are very different.  gotta drive these puppies
carefully...

(2) Often if a damage estimate comes in at 70-80% of the book they may
well want to declare it totalled because if the vehicle is repaired and
additional work is found then that must be done, the insurer could end up
paying more than book value.  Imagine you are doing a $3,000 job (when
book is $3600) and then another $1000 in damages is found.  You cannot
just stop and get the $3600 book value, you would already be committed to
out of pocket $4000.  This happens and insurers want to avoid it.

(3) The salvage values of autos have increased. When the car is totalled,
the insurer keeps the car and sells it off.  This is an offset to the
costs of totalling the auto.

Be extra careful out there...   :)

-peace
Ed Stevens
Valley Forge PA