Turk;
A little something about totaling cars; The industry standard is 75% of the ACV,but I have totaled cars and trucks for as little as 50%. A lot of things go into doing this.
We may total an auto at the owners request to help avoid an injury claim,for instance if the owner requests that we total his auto and he will forego an injury claim and sign all wavers,we may total a vehicle that is not technically a total,it is just cost effective.... Looking at the claim as a whole,the insurance company may settle the claim quicker that way than going thru litigation with a personal injury attorney that will drag it out for months....
Remember when an insurance company totals a vehicle, they are basically buying it from the owner at the ACV,then they take possesion of the vehicle and sell if for salvage and recoup what they can....
In cases such as with one to two year old vehicles such as Z-71s-most all large 4X4s-Corvettes-Mustangs-Camaros-Beemers and the like,we get an unreal amount of salvage back right now,so we will total them at a lower percentage because we will recoup the money on the salvage....
Case in point,just recently I totalled a 2003 Z-71,hit a large cow dead center in the front,radiator was on top of the engine.... The repair estimate was exactly 50% of what the owner paid for the truck six months before,he requested we total the truck as he did not want it anymore....I called our guy that handles the totals and gave him the info and e-mailed him the photos,we totalled the truck,re-imbursed the owner the purchase price less 25 cents per mile for the mileage he put on it and sold it at a salvage sale and received 55% of the value back when sold!!!!!!!!!! It was actually cheaper for us to total it than fix it and it also avoided an injury claim with the owner,claim settled in less than a week,owner in a new Z-71,everyone happy...
We have seen some specailty cars go for as high as 60% of the ACV at some sales,so that is something else we take into account when settling claims with certain autos and trucks....
There is nothing written in stone about totalling vehicles other than at 75% of the ACV,state law says you HAVE to total it,but we can deem an auto a total at any lesser amount we chose...The circumstances of every accident or claim are different and we make our decisions on each claim on the basis of the accident and circumstances,so each one will be somewhat different from the last....
I know the company I work for is a national company and in your state Turk,I'll keep their name off the internet,but in the south here they are in the top five of insurance companys....So you may just have to change your insurance carrier soon!!!!!!!!!!
David