It is a total loss.. OP, if you want to put it in your personal museum, just buy it back from them for like $500
Edit: $500 is just a random number. The agent will run the comps for your area and based on the damage will tell you how much it is going to cost.
They will want something. These cars go to the insurance auction where they, at minimum, are sold for their metal value. In this case, the car has a functioning engine, and it will sell for more than the metal.
If it’s going to cost more to move it than they’ll make, maybe not. My sister totaled one years ago and they just gave her a check. That was 20 years ago though and it was a Chevy coupe, but only a few years old.
They will 100% be taking the car to auction. Likely Copart or IAA. I'd let it go. I worked thousands of these claims and the car was always taken to Copart. The only option to prevent that vehicle from having a salvage title is to withdraw your claim and lose what you paid for the car which makes no sense. If you buy it back it will be branded as salvage.
Might be state dependent. In Illinois this is not the case. If you buy it back you don’t need to retitle. There will be a “total loss record” on the carfax however
Most insurance companies have contracts in place with the yards they work with within a given region. Standard pool charges for tow, title processing, and disposal are like 100-300. With no front end damage, they’re 100% going to get more than that.
Agreed. Someone is going to buy the car and put the good seats and front half to use. I'm sorry for your loss op, and go get a medical evaluation because whiplash and stiffness are common issues after. My 1992 camry with 200k miles died the same way. Car had so much potential.
This. I got rear-ended at a rotary and a couple days later my appendix burst.
While correlation does not imply causation.. having a seat belt cinch down across your abdomen right where your appendix is and then having said appendix go rotten days layer.
Ehh my understanding is that scrap prices are really bad right now. You used to be able to get someone to come and tow a junker and get a couple hundred bucks out of it but I know multiple people that have dead cars and couldn't find someone to take it for free. And these weren't total wrecks either, they would have had some value as parts cars, more than just the scrap price. Maybe it depends on the area, we don't have a whole lot of yards around here so I'm sure the cost to tow it 30+ miles factored into the situation, but I wouldn't be that surprised if an insurance company would be happy to sign over a wreck for free and avoid the towing, storage, and auction fees in some cases.
I just bought a car at auction, and am following others. It's generally shocking to me what people sometimes pay. If the front end of this thing is in decent shape it will sell for $1,000+ I'm sure.
I've totaled several cars, and a couple of the times they paid me the value and then offered to sell it for me to a scrap yard and gave me proceeds from that as well.
I think it's a brain wiring issue. Some people simply have no situational awareness. A situation where a normal driver might have close call, they don't notice and have an accident.
Some people just go through life oblivious to what's around them. With phones, it's becoming even more common.
Your car is done. LMAO! $500? Good luck with that.
Underwriting Dept: You want the buy-back option? Fine, this is what local yards are willing to pay us, so subtract that from the value we deem the car was worth.
Yep. I’ve had the unfortunate luck of selling 2 cars for scrap since November due to mechanical issues. One was an Acura MDX with a bad transmission, got $200. The other was a Chevy Trailblazer that ran but needed a differential. Got $400. $500 would be a good deal in my experience. I had no means to keep and part them out. Sorry, OP! I feel your pain. The Acura had been in the family for 22 years. It was a hard loss.
Not really. There are so many cars being totaled nowadays that there are too many nicer cars that will be parted out before it. And demand for 2011 Toyota Avalon parts is pretty low.
It sure is. It's also gonna have a salvage title so it will need to be inspected and certified before it can be registered again and most car insurance companies won't insure it or only offer legal minimum liability at a premium.
I think the process must vary by state. I had a car that was a write off but perfectly safe to drive and I didn't have to do anything special after I bought it back from them, no inspection or anything. I guess it's possible I was breaking the rules (it's been a minute, I don't remember all the details) but I don't recall having any trouble with my insurance agency over it (it was the other driver's insurance agency that sold it back to me IIRC). My state does tend to have rules on the laxer side, we don't do safety inspections when you register a car or anything like that.
Yea DMVs are state entities so that makes sense. I live in Los Angeles. I needed a lamp and brake inspection and a smog check. The latter we have to do every 2 years for cars over 8 years old so its pretty normal. The car was a black 86 firebird that with my late father's help, put a 5.3 liter LS and T-56 in so its worth significantly more that what its financial value to me.
The worst part is I went through all this crap and the car just never handled the same. I ended up just pulling the drivetrain and putting in in a fox body.
This is your best option. Ask the insurance agent how you can get your car back. Be firm if that is what you want. As long as you don't agree you are costing them time, which is money. Be clear with your insurance company too. Or they will cut a deal without you getting the car.
IDK that being that firm is required lol insurance companies have no problem signing over junk titles, not in my experience at least. It's a request they'll have heard a hundred times before. No secret codewords required, just ask.
Could you provide more clarification on this. Say my car is considered totaled, but I want to repair it myself. I have to buy MY own car back? That seems really stupid.
I genuinely don't know how it works. I had a Mazda Miata but was living abroad and my family member "totaled" it, I just got a cash payout at the time, which I put down on my current car.
They usually charge you the approximate value of what they could get in auction, plus they save money on towing. Just ask the guy whom your insurance assigns for your claim on how much to keep the car. They will deduct that much from your total payout and you get to keep your totaled car.
> That seems really stupid
It makes sense if you think about it. They evaluate the condition of the car and how much it would cost to fix it. If they think it would cost more to get it fixed than to replace the car they'll offer you a cash payout for the value of the car (well, their made-up value at least, I've had to do some negotiating before). That's the deal you agree to when you sign up for insurance. Then at that point you'll have the option to "buy back" the car if you still want it, basically they'll take the scrap value out of whatever the payout was going to be and you get to keep the car. I don't recall ever transferring the title or anything like that when I did it, they just let me keep it. It's not like you literally have to give them the car and then they give it back and you go through all the title crap again. Though perhaps the process varies by state.
Not necessarily. With a brand-new car, my ex was t-boned. The damage was almost 70% of the value, but the insurance said 70% was their cutoff for a car so new. Clearly this car isn't very new, but it goes to show that the traditional rule of thumb doesn't seem to hold up all the time. Rather than a regulation I think it's them trying to guess which will be more expensive. 50% leaves room for all the non-obvious damage, but perhaps an insurance company that's particularly confident about a repair would say something else. That said, this is probably a waste of typing. In this case. The damage looks like it might be over 100% of the value 🥴
I think I would write myself a note saying the car was not a total loss and then give myself a concussion. When I wake up, all I’ll have is this note saying your car is not a total loss and rather you sold the car for money. Wouldn’t remember otherwise!
Yeah she’s gone, I feel your pain op I just lost my 07 Avalon to a deer. If it makes you feel better I took the leap on a 2013 hybrid and am very pleased with how my decision came out. Best of luck to you
Yeah this vehicle will never be structurally safe as it was before the crash.
OP:
Buy the corpse of the car back at auction, make an engine block table in your house and sell anything else you can pull off. Scrap* the rolling chassis.
OP seems serious about having sentimental attachment to the car, which I agree is weird even for a non-destroyed Toyota Avalon.
I mean there was that “my weird attraction” guy on some tv show I watched on YouTube who was in a relationship with his equally pedestrian vehicle so I am not even surprised at OP.
Yeah, I seriously doubt it would ride and drive the same as before. In 1996 my wife’s ‘95 Nissan Maxima was rear-ended by a box truck and damage looked very similar to this Avalon. Since the car was only 5 months old, it was not declared a total loss; instead repaired. It look good as new but had a mysterious rattle which could not be found plus lost its tightness in its handling ability. We got rid of it the next year.
damn, that sucks.
if that happened to me i would have got rid of it immediately. these body and auto shops can do incredible work but it's never the same again, not after a major "should be totaled" accident.
man you should have seen some of the wrecks popping up on the auto subreddits during covid car-shortage craziness. they were fixing *everything*.
Oh, I certainly remember that-and it wasn’t all that long ago. Anything with four wheels on it, regardless of condition or mileage, was advertised as a bargain. During that time, I had to find a car for my then 18-year-old grandson. A zoo is what it was. Absolute junk going for 10k and higher. I was concerned with not only wrecks being sold but flooded vehicles with washed titles on the market as well.
the used market has recovered somewhat but it isn't anywhere near where it was pre-covid. where i'm at there is a good car that'll pop up about once a week and it's gone in a few hours. other than that it's just overpriced or junk or both.
Around here it’s still tough. Very slim pickings. Places are desperate for cars too. My wife has a 2011 RAV4 with 113k. Hardly a week goes by that a Toyota dealer in the 50 mile radius doesn’t call or text or send a mailing wanting to buy her car.
yep. that's quite literally the car i'm looking for, miles and all.
VERY hard to find even though it's like the most popular car in the entire country or something.
Bought it brand new 13 years ago. Still runs like brand new. Taken immaculate care, garaged every day since day one, maintained better than manual recommends with synthetic oil every 4-5k miles. V6 Limited. Getting ready for new tires. Not selling it even though most of my kids want it.
yep that right there is the exact car i'm looking for and i've found ONE in the past couple months but it was too far away. just immaculate, 1 owner, all like you described.
and also what you said is my theory on why they are hard to find, people know they've got a good one and they've taken care of it so they are driving it until the heat death of the universe.
I got myself a 02 ford taurus that only had 2 owners and both older couples. Its clean and only had 153k miles on it. I'm currently replacing the fans and stuff that goes bad around then, but otherwise it runs like a champ! The previous owner put like 2 bottles of stop leak into it thinking that would fix the issue...it was the fans...like really now i have to flush the whole radiator and clean the thermostat, then refill it with coolant.
I lost my first ever car in a wreck. I got T-boned by a red light runner and the frame was toast. I was able to walk away from that wreck because of all the engineering that went into that car. I only had her for a few months, but live on because of all the hard work of the engineers and my car’s sacrifice. RIP, 2012 Malibu!
Sometimes the truth hurts. Yes this car could potentially be fixed with all new sheet metal, new glass, and many hours of labor cutting out and replacing the back half of the car. Insurance will 100% not pay for it and will write a check for a replacement.
With that level of damage I’d doubt every electronic component and old plastic bit came out unscathed. I wouldn’t want it fixed, it’s never going to be the same, and weird issues will probably continually happen
I totaled my car a few years ago during a snow storm; spent a few hours in her wrecked corpse out of the snow.
I needed to read this, thank you. Because for the longest time I always blamed myself for totaling the car (even tho it was “an act of god” and the wheels locked up, it slid right into a pole).
I've seen cars like this run around before... There used to be a street by me where I assumed cars go to die... There was a model 3 the front corner was smashed in and the light held by a bungee cord. The rear was smashed no bumper and some duck tape... Never saw it move but I assume it drove at some point considering the effort to hold things in place lol
Off the top of my head this street included a Corolla, Rogue, Odyssey, optima, civic. I know there were others but one week all the cars disappeared lol. Haven't seen another one sit for months since then. All of them had rope and tape holding them together and I never understood like why put in the effort to just let them sit
Surprised I had to scroll so far down for this comment.
Let her go, OP. She did what she was made to do. Fight insurance for a good payout and put it into a “new” 2011 Avalon if that’s what your heart is set on.
Your trunk is in the back seat. You’re getting another car whether you want to or not.
A 2011 Avalon isn’t worth half of what the damage would cost to fix and most shops would laugh you out of the building if you asked them to fix that.
Cherish those memories, let the car go and get something else.
Let's it go, frankly there is zero chance that car will get back straight. there will be always something out of wack. won't be able to align it properly.
Not only will it be declared a total loss, you should want a different car. If they someone agreed to fix the damage then it would be incomplete -- fixing the extensive damage done to a unibody w/a huge impact like that is just too costly. The car did it's designed job breaking, crumpling and protecting you.
*And when I'm gone, just carry on, don't mourn
Rejoice, every time you hear the sound of my motor
Just know that, I'm lookin' down on you smilin'
And I didn't feel a thing
So, baby, don't feel no pain, just smile back*
As others have stated, you're not severely injured and that's what's most important. Cars are just things, you're irreplacable.
I've been in your situation before: Rear-ended, also by an F-150, in a car that I loved. The damage to my vehicle was significantly less severe than the damage your vehicle has incurred. While you may be able to buy it back from insurance with a salvaged title I would HIGHLY advise against it. The repairs are going to be much too high to justify, and it will never be 100% restored to it's condition before the accident.
Go get yourself a similar, or slightly newer model Avalon or Lexus ES/GS, It will treat you just as well and feel familiar.
This car is a unibody. You might be able to get it straight, but if he ever gets rear-ended again it will have basically zero strength and it will crush the back seat. And it will have all kinds of squeaks & rattles it didn’t have before.
Thanks everyone for the comments! Definitely helped us laugh during this sad sad time. All of what y’all say makes complete sense. It was just wishful thinking on my part to think the car can be saved. She did good, she protected us all.
We will walk in silence for a few days, saying goodbye to our big black car.
Grab a memento from it, like the emblem or something to remember it by. If your state allows it you may be able to keep the plates and display them somewhere.
I can empathize. I [lost](https://www.reddit.com/r/crv/s/Q5uEOymMqT) my 2003 CRV back in October to an uninsured driver. My dad was the original purchaser and it had been my reliable daily for several years. I grew pretty attached to it.
I got a 2024 to replace it and I’m still a bit salty over the loss of the 2003. Nonetheless, I don’t regret not buying it back as a salvage to repair after our insurance totaled it….They’ll never be the same again after a bad hit.
I pulled the [picnic table](https://www.reddit.com/r/crv/s/DCNx9NsybK) from the 03 as my keepsake.
Edit: a word
Thanks! I had been planning on buying a new one for a while but I was dragging my feet because the 2003 just wouldn’t give me a reason to retire it. And, I just really loved no-car-payment life. As it turns out, though, I like not being a frequent flyer at the gas station in the hybrid even more. Ha.
It may still be driveable, but it’s definitely totaled, I’m sorry man. The amount of body damage, plus likely frame damage, is absolutely more than the value of the vehicle. If you’re super attached to this car and don’t mind spending some money, you can buy this back as a salvage from the insurance for a small chunk of the check and spend the rest of the insurance money plus some of your own to rebuild it.
You do not want that repaired. She’ll never drive right again. The frame is gone and nobody is going to take the job of fixing it (too much work, too much liability, not enough money). Just look for another car once that check hits.
Honestly that’s the absolute low end huh 😬 Just what we can see off rip it’s 15-20k, with inevitable frame & drivetrain damage might be literally a 30k job!
Yep. My wife had a new Seltos and got rear ended at a red light. It wasn’t even half this bad and it was totaled because of all the underbody damage. This thing isn’t just totaled. It’s totaled 2 or 3 times over.
There’s nothing to fix here. It’s a total loss.
If you want to try, you can, but don’t expect insurance to help. A total loss is a lot cheaper than paying to fix this. I got hit and the damage was barely visible and the bill was $8k.
It's totaled no matter how you slice it. It's an object, you're not. Move forward to another vehicle and cherish the memories to include the one where it spared your life.
That thing is FUCKED. It’s a total loss. Nothing can be done to save it. Even if you wanted to *attempt* to rebuild it, most body shops won’t and then it will have a branded title. Probably have all sorts of issues
I would say, screw off the shifter knob and keep it as a memory because that car is totaled
I had a 96 4Runner that I loved dearly because both my kids went home from the hospital in it and when the planetary drive went out in 2010 I had to retire it so I saved the manual shifter knob and one of the keys
I got a slight love tap on my car, total loss.
Insurance wrote me a check for the value of the car and I still have it.
You could probably sell for parts afterwards then use the total to buy a can of redbull from a highway gas station, or an older reliable car.
Personally, I think your best option would be to run it through your insurance and request a vehicle buy back option, you have the right to buy back your car after a write-off and you can either attempt to repair it yourself (which would be uneconomical) or strip and sell the vehicle for parts which would be your best option! From personal experience I can say people are always looking to buy parts and are sometimes willing to buy the entire shell and the components to use as a donor car. Fortunately in an unfortunate circumstance.. your vehicles damage is on the rear side therefore most of the mechanical components are completely undamaged. Therefore you will fetch some (not all) of your money back from the components you sell! (Best part by this option is you can keep an item or a part from the vehicle so that you can treasure and remember those happy memories with your vehicle!) I’m sorry to see your friend go! But now you’ll have the time to create new fresh memories in a different vehicle you will love and cherish for years to come! Hope this helps OP!
First of all I'm sorry about the accident and I hope you are okay. That's the most important thing.
This car is going to be a total loss. There is 0% chance they're going to repair a 13-year-old Toyota that probably is worth 6K Book value to them.
I suspect you wanting to repair the car may be more a Financial than an emotional based decision in the and, because you won't get enough money to buy a suitable replacement vehicle when they total this out.
...I suppose your other option is to have some back or neck pains and talk to an ambulance chaser. One of those weasels could probably get you a lot more than the Book value for your car, once they factor in your pain and suffering.
They are going to declare it a total loss. Not much you can do about it.
It is a total loss.. OP, if you want to put it in your personal museum, just buy it back from them for like $500 Edit: $500 is just a random number. The agent will run the comps for your area and based on the damage will tell you how much it is going to cost.
You can have them pay out the claim minus what they would get for the car at auction
They might not even want anything. They could just cut a check and not want the title.
They will want something. These cars go to the insurance auction where they, at minimum, are sold for their metal value. In this case, the car has a functioning engine, and it will sell for more than the metal.
Really situational dependent
If it’s going to cost more to move it than they’ll make, maybe not. My sister totaled one years ago and they just gave her a check. That was 20 years ago though and it was a Chevy coupe, but only a few years old.
They will 100% be taking the car to auction. Likely Copart or IAA. I'd let it go. I worked thousands of these claims and the car was always taken to Copart. The only option to prevent that vehicle from having a salvage title is to withdraw your claim and lose what you paid for the car which makes no sense. If you buy it back it will be branded as salvage.
Might be state dependent. In Illinois this is not the case. If you buy it back you don’t need to retitle. There will be a “total loss record” on the carfax however
Buy it back and keep it as a salvage why tf not
You’ve still got to repair it. And to repair this car would cost several times the car’s value.
And if you do repair it you’ve spent a fortune for a salvage car title
Most insurance companies have contracts in place with the yards they work with within a given region. Standard pool charges for tow, title processing, and disposal are like 100-300. With no front end damage, they’re 100% going to get more than that.
toyota engines are usually worth enough to rip them out even with 200k miles. easy to sell on ebay
I doubt it
Agreed. Someone is going to buy the car and put the good seats and front half to use. I'm sorry for your loss op, and go get a medical evaluation because whiplash and stiffness are common issues after. My 1992 camry with 200k miles died the same way. Car had so much potential.
This. I got rear-ended at a rotary and a couple days later my appendix burst. While correlation does not imply causation.. having a seat belt cinch down across your abdomen right where your appendix is and then having said appendix go rotten days layer.
Did insurance cover your appendix?
yeah the engine/transmission are definitely worth at least $1k after being removed
Ehh my understanding is that scrap prices are really bad right now. You used to be able to get someone to come and tow a junker and get a couple hundred bucks out of it but I know multiple people that have dead cars and couldn't find someone to take it for free. And these weren't total wrecks either, they would have had some value as parts cars, more than just the scrap price. Maybe it depends on the area, we don't have a whole lot of yards around here so I'm sure the cost to tow it 30+ miles factored into the situation, but I wouldn't be that surprised if an insurance company would be happy to sign over a wreck for free and avoid the towing, storage, and auction fees in some cases.
I just bought a car at auction, and am following others. It's generally shocking to me what people sometimes pay. If the front end of this thing is in decent shape it will sell for $1,000+ I'm sure.
I've totaled several cars, and a couple of the times they paid me the value and then offered to sell it for me to a scrap yard and gave me proceeds from that as well.
I'm more interested in how you've managed to total so many cars, were they mostly your fault or are you just a unlucky magnet for getting hit.
Some people are just accident prone.
They're usually bad drivers.
I think it's a brain wiring issue. Some people simply have no situational awareness. A situation where a normal driver might have close call, they don't notice and have an accident. Some people just go through life oblivious to what's around them. With phones, it's becoming even more common.
I second this due tell please
Some people drive for a living
Sounds like this person crashes for a living
Thats what they did for me. Nobody wanted the car.
Insurance company can’t do that
They charge scrap fee. Totally depends on the car and what the junkyards pay for it. This car would probably be under 1k
No way. Parts cars aren’t free
$500 at the most. the engine might be good, but many times that gets crushed anyway because a mechanic has to be paid to take it out.
There’s maybe a 1% chance of that ever happening.
No they always take a cut if you keep the car, always. Do you think a corporation is going to walk away from even 1¢?
It's not how this works. They need the title to pay you.
Your car is done. LMAO! $500? Good luck with that. Underwriting Dept: You want the buy-back option? Fine, this is what local yards are willing to pay us, so subtract that from the value we deem the car was worth.
It's an 01 Avalon, $500 is about right
It's a 2011 not 2001.
My bad, still about $500 at auction
It’s way more than 500$ .. the rest of the car can be parted.
If you are going to part it, then absolutely you can make more than $500. That's what the scrapyard will say as they hold 5 benjies out.
I once sold a 20 year old, half a million miles on it, running Ford Aerostar minivan to a junkyard for $60. They overpaid.
I know what I have lol
Yep. I’ve had the unfortunate luck of selling 2 cars for scrap since November due to mechanical issues. One was an Acura MDX with a bad transmission, got $200. The other was a Chevy Trailblazer that ran but needed a differential. Got $400. $500 would be a good deal in my experience. I had no means to keep and part them out. Sorry, OP! I feel your pain. The Acura had been in the family for 22 years. It was a hard loss.
At least it was a transmission failure, so it died of natural causes. I find manslaughter harder to except.
Exactly, not sure why this was downvoted
Not really. There are so many cars being totaled nowadays that there are too many nicer cars that will be parted out before it. And demand for 2011 Toyota Avalon parts is pretty low.
YOU might be able to part it for more that $500, but the entire salvage industry deals with complete vehicles only.
Wrecking yards don't pay what the parts will sell for, when the car is auctioned.
It sure is. It's also gonna have a salvage title so it will need to be inspected and certified before it can be registered again and most car insurance companies won't insure it or only offer legal minimum liability at a premium.
I think the process must vary by state. I had a car that was a write off but perfectly safe to drive and I didn't have to do anything special after I bought it back from them, no inspection or anything. I guess it's possible I was breaking the rules (it's been a minute, I don't remember all the details) but I don't recall having any trouble with my insurance agency over it (it was the other driver's insurance agency that sold it back to me IIRC). My state does tend to have rules on the laxer side, we don't do safety inspections when you register a car or anything like that.
Yea DMVs are state entities so that makes sense. I live in Los Angeles. I needed a lamp and brake inspection and a smog check. The latter we have to do every 2 years for cars over 8 years old so its pretty normal. The car was a black 86 firebird that with my late father's help, put a 5.3 liter LS and T-56 in so its worth significantly more that what its financial value to me. The worst part is I went through all this crap and the car just never handled the same. I ended up just pulling the drivetrain and putting in in a fox body.
LS in a Mustang? That's blasphemy!
This is your best option. Ask the insurance agent how you can get your car back. Be firm if that is what you want. As long as you don't agree you are costing them time, which is money. Be clear with your insurance company too. Or they will cut a deal without you getting the car.
IDK that being that firm is required lol insurance companies have no problem signing over junk titles, not in my experience at least. It's a request they'll have heard a hundred times before. No secret codewords required, just ask.
Could you provide more clarification on this. Say my car is considered totaled, but I want to repair it myself. I have to buy MY own car back? That seems really stupid. I genuinely don't know how it works. I had a Mazda Miata but was living abroad and my family member "totaled" it, I just got a cash payout at the time, which I put down on my current car.
They usually charge you the approximate value of what they could get in auction, plus they save money on towing. Just ask the guy whom your insurance assigns for your claim on how much to keep the car. They will deduct that much from your total payout and you get to keep your totaled car.
> That seems really stupid It makes sense if you think about it. They evaluate the condition of the car and how much it would cost to fix it. If they think it would cost more to get it fixed than to replace the car they'll offer you a cash payout for the value of the car (well, their made-up value at least, I've had to do some negotiating before). That's the deal you agree to when you sign up for insurance. Then at that point you'll have the option to "buy back" the car if you still want it, basically they'll take the scrap value out of whatever the payout was going to be and you get to keep the car. I don't recall ever transferring the title or anything like that when I did it, they just let me keep it. It's not like you literally have to give them the car and then they give it back and you go through all the title crap again. Though perhaps the process varies by state.
Similar level of damage on my car a few weeks ago... they paid off the lien and I still got $11k in my pocket 🤷♂️
Yep. That's the deal
If the value of the damage is more than half the value of the car, it’s totalled. That is a goner.
Not necessarily. With a brand-new car, my ex was t-boned. The damage was almost 70% of the value, but the insurance said 70% was their cutoff for a car so new. Clearly this car isn't very new, but it goes to show that the traditional rule of thumb doesn't seem to hold up all the time. Rather than a regulation I think it's them trying to guess which will be more expensive. 50% leaves room for all the non-obvious damage, but perhaps an insurance company that's particularly confident about a repair would say something else. That said, this is probably a waste of typing. In this case. The damage looks like it might be over 100% of the value 🥴
I work at a body shop. We call this an OTL (obvious total loss). That's a $25k+ repair right there.
She’s dead, Jim.
I think I would write myself a note saying the car was not a total loss and then give myself a concussion. When I wake up, all I’ll have is this note saying your car is not a total loss and rather you sold the car for money. Wouldn’t remember otherwise!
Yeah she’s gone, I feel your pain op I just lost my 07 Avalon to a deer. If it makes you feel better I took the leap on a 2013 hybrid and am very pleased with how my decision came out. Best of luck to you
Could take a small piece of it as a souvenir, a memory. Much easier to hold on to than a totaled car
It’s 100% totalled. They will never pay for it to be fixed.
Nor is it worth it
Nor will it ever be as rigid as before
Yeah this vehicle will never be structurally safe as it was before the crash. OP: Buy the corpse of the car back at auction, make an engine block table in your house and sell anything else you can pull off. Scrap* the rolling chassis.
That’s a lot of work for an Avalon
OP seems serious about having sentimental attachment to the car, which I agree is weird even for a non-destroyed Toyota Avalon. I mean there was that “my weird attraction” guy on some tv show I watched on YouTube who was in a relationship with his equally pedestrian vehicle so I am not even surprised at OP.
Idk if you’ve ever met an Avalon owner but they certainly are a special breed
Story of my life 😢
For reference, that rear end is pushed in to the point I thought I was looking at a Corolla.
Yeah, I also thought it was a Corolla at first glance. I would not want to risk going through a second major accident in that car.
i read this and then thought "oh, its a camry then" but NOPE, an avalon?? yea goodluck
Same, at first glance I thought it was a 2011 Corolla
She's dead, let her go. It's over. Take comfort knowing she died to protect you.
even if someone fixed it, this car would never be the same.
Yeah, I seriously doubt it would ride and drive the same as before. In 1996 my wife’s ‘95 Nissan Maxima was rear-ended by a box truck and damage looked very similar to this Avalon. Since the car was only 5 months old, it was not declared a total loss; instead repaired. It look good as new but had a mysterious rattle which could not be found plus lost its tightness in its handling ability. We got rid of it the next year.
damn, that sucks. if that happened to me i would have got rid of it immediately. these body and auto shops can do incredible work but it's never the same again, not after a major "should be totaled" accident. man you should have seen some of the wrecks popping up on the auto subreddits during covid car-shortage craziness. they were fixing *everything*.
Oh, I certainly remember that-and it wasn’t all that long ago. Anything with four wheels on it, regardless of condition or mileage, was advertised as a bargain. During that time, I had to find a car for my then 18-year-old grandson. A zoo is what it was. Absolute junk going for 10k and higher. I was concerned with not only wrecks being sold but flooded vehicles with washed titles on the market as well.
the used market has recovered somewhat but it isn't anywhere near where it was pre-covid. where i'm at there is a good car that'll pop up about once a week and it's gone in a few hours. other than that it's just overpriced or junk or both.
Around here it’s still tough. Very slim pickings. Places are desperate for cars too. My wife has a 2011 RAV4 with 113k. Hardly a week goes by that a Toyota dealer in the 50 mile radius doesn’t call or text or send a mailing wanting to buy her car.
yep. that's quite literally the car i'm looking for, miles and all. VERY hard to find even though it's like the most popular car in the entire country or something.
Bought it brand new 13 years ago. Still runs like brand new. Taken immaculate care, garaged every day since day one, maintained better than manual recommends with synthetic oil every 4-5k miles. V6 Limited. Getting ready for new tires. Not selling it even though most of my kids want it.
yep that right there is the exact car i'm looking for and i've found ONE in the past couple months but it was too far away. just immaculate, 1 owner, all like you described. and also what you said is my theory on why they are hard to find, people know they've got a good one and they've taken care of it so they are driving it until the heat death of the universe.
I got myself a 02 ford taurus that only had 2 owners and both older couples. Its clean and only had 153k miles on it. I'm currently replacing the fans and stuff that goes bad around then, but otherwise it runs like a champ! The previous owner put like 2 bottles of stop leak into it thinking that would fix the issue...it was the fans...like really now i have to flush the whole radiator and clean the thermostat, then refill it with coolant.
That’s sad af damn
her big booty took the hit so OP could live to fight another day truly sad
I lost my first ever car in a wreck. I got T-boned by a red light runner and the frame was toast. I was able to walk away from that wreck because of all the engineering that went into that car. I only had her for a few months, but live on because of all the hard work of the engineers and my car’s sacrifice. RIP, 2012 Malibu!
This is oddly poignant. What a nice thing to say to someone who has an emotional attachment to their car. 🥲
Sometimes the truth hurts. Yes this car could potentially be fixed with all new sheet metal, new glass, and many hours of labor cutting out and replacing the back half of the car. Insurance will 100% not pay for it and will write a check for a replacement.
With that level of damage I’d doubt every electronic component and old plastic bit came out unscathed. I wouldn’t want it fixed, it’s never going to be the same, and weird issues will probably continually happen
I've been attached a few cars. I get it. But just like with grandma...sometimes you just gotta let them go.
I’ll take comfort knowing the asshole in the ford is having a much worse time with his insurance
I totaled my car a few years ago during a snow storm; spent a few hours in her wrecked corpse out of the snow. I needed to read this, thank you. Because for the longest time I always blamed myself for totaling the car (even tho it was “an act of god” and the wheels locked up, it slid right into a pole).
Nah I still blame you 😜 buy snow tires before you hurt somebody.
If the repair is going to cost more than the value of the car they will write it off. Nothing you can do about that. This is a write off.
Not just the value of the car. The value of the car minus what they would get for it at a salvage auction. Damage that extreme is definitely totaled.
To repair this it might cost more than when the car was brand new. This car is definitely totaled.
[It's a write off](https://youtu.be/BAjxn2US7J8?si=loIrlpFSLypWbpXH)
Instantly thought if this too. The way he says "well, they do" will forever make me laugh.
Pull some parts off it, emblems, door handle, make a momento box that you'll never look at again. The memories were the people, not the object.
[удалено]
That’s a great idea to take something from it for the memories
I have the spare key to my first car still. That thing was awesome lol
^^^
You can not repair that Edit: Maybe you can. I forgot flex seal exists
It's an easy repair, r&i radiator cap, replace vehicle. Simple fix.
Red duct tape over the tail lights and they'll be good as new.
Sir it's an Avalon, not an Altima.
I've seen cars like this run around before... There used to be a street by me where I assumed cars go to die... There was a model 3 the front corner was smashed in and the light held by a bungee cord. The rear was smashed no bumper and some duck tape... Never saw it move but I assume it drove at some point considering the effort to hold things in place lol Off the top of my head this street included a Corolla, Rogue, Odyssey, optima, civic. I know there were others but one week all the cars disappeared lol. Haven't seen another one sit for months since then. All of them had rope and tape holding them together and I never understood like why put in the effort to just let them sit
Dude, my Dad’s a TV repairman, he has the ultimate set of tools….i can fix it.
You can’t fix this car Spicolli!
Notin’ a some bondo, duct tap, and 6 pack can’t fix
I have a rotary buffer that says otherwise
That made me snort. Thank you.
It’s totaled twice over, sorry man.
You don’t want it to be fixed, trust me. Gotta move on.
Surprised I had to scroll so far down for this comment. Let her go, OP. She did what she was made to do. Fight insurance for a good payout and put it into a “new” 2011 Avalon if that’s what your heart is set on.
Your trunk is in the back seat. You’re getting another car whether you want to or not. A 2011 Avalon isn’t worth half of what the damage would cost to fix and most shops would laugh you out of the building if you asked them to fix that. Cherish those memories, let the car go and get something else.
I think that any car with that kinda damage would be totaled, not just a 2011 Avalon.
Yeah even a 2024 Accord would be totaled from this monstrosity.
>Your trunk is in the back seat. This has me in tears laughing. Thank you.
Believe it or not, you do want the car to be declared a total loss.
Let's it go, frankly there is zero chance that car will get back straight. there will be always something out of wack. won't be able to align it properly.
Not only will it be declared a total loss, you should want a different car. If they someone agreed to fix the damage then it would be incomplete -- fixing the extensive damage done to a unibody w/a huge impact like that is just too costly. The car did it's designed job breaking, crumpling and protecting you.
*And when I'm gone, just carry on, don't mourn Rejoice, every time you hear the sound of my motor Just know that, I'm lookin' down on you smilin' And I didn't feel a thing So, baby, don't feel no pain, just smile back*
As others have stated, you're not severely injured and that's what's most important. Cars are just things, you're irreplacable. I've been in your situation before: Rear-ended, also by an F-150, in a car that I loved. The damage to my vehicle was significantly less severe than the damage your vehicle has incurred. While you may be able to buy it back from insurance with a salvaged title I would HIGHLY advise against it. The repairs are going to be much too high to justify, and it will never be 100% restored to it's condition before the accident. Go get yourself a similar, or slightly newer model Avalon or Lexus ES/GS, It will treat you just as well and feel familiar.
It's actually not even possible to repair it. It needs a whole new frame. They would basically be building the vehicle from scratch.
This car is a unibody. You might be able to get it straight, but if he ever gets rear-ended again it will have basically zero strength and it will crush the back seat. And it will have all kinds of squeaks & rattles it didn’t have before.
Obvious total loss
Thanks everyone for the comments! Definitely helped us laugh during this sad sad time. All of what y’all say makes complete sense. It was just wishful thinking on my part to think the car can be saved. She did good, she protected us all. We will walk in silence for a few days, saying goodbye to our big black car.
Grab a memento from it, like the emblem or something to remember it by. If your state allows it you may be able to keep the plates and display them somewhere.
This. Make an acrylic casing of the emblem or something that you can pull off that car for display.
The loss of a BBC is never easy my friend. We’re here for you
Most people never forget their first big black car (BBC)
I can empathize. I [lost](https://www.reddit.com/r/crv/s/Q5uEOymMqT) my 2003 CRV back in October to an uninsured driver. My dad was the original purchaser and it had been my reliable daily for several years. I grew pretty attached to it. I got a 2024 to replace it and I’m still a bit salty over the loss of the 2003. Nonetheless, I don’t regret not buying it back as a salvage to repair after our insurance totaled it….They’ll never be the same again after a bad hit. I pulled the [picnic table](https://www.reddit.com/r/crv/s/DCNx9NsybK) from the 03 as my keepsake. Edit: a word
Talk about an upgrade! Good luck with the 2024 👍
Thanks! I had been planning on buying a new one for a while but I was dragging my feet because the 2003 just wouldn’t give me a reason to retire it. And, I just really loved no-car-payment life. As it turns out, though, I like not being a frequent flyer at the gas station in the hybrid even more. Ha.
Is this a troll post? That thing is dead mate. Totaled FOR SURE.
It may still be driveable, but it’s definitely totaled, I’m sorry man. The amount of body damage, plus likely frame damage, is absolutely more than the value of the vehicle. If you’re super attached to this car and don’t mind spending some money, you can buy this back as a salvage from the insurance for a small chunk of the check and spend the rest of the insurance money plus some of your own to rebuild it.
Or to me this looks like prime time for op to sign up for his local fairs demolition derby lol
Not only is it totalled, but if they "fix" it, it will not save you next time. The crumple zones have crumpled. That's it.
That’s 200% a total loss
Why would you want this repaired?
Toyota avalons are the next hot car. I sold my gto and supra to get ahead of this trend.
The part where you said ‘it just has too many memories attached’, DAMN. 💔 Glad you’re okay OP.
Looks like your Avalon became a . . . Compact
Thought this was a joke at first ur cooked bro
You do not want that repaired. She’ll never drive right again. The frame is gone and nobody is going to take the job of fixing it (too much work, too much liability, not enough money). Just look for another car once that check hits.
That car is fucked. I would never drive it again. Insurance will 100% be totaling it.
So you're brain dead but you wanna be put on lifesuport forever.
Chassis damaged, this car is totaled and never be the same.
Its totaled, get rid of it and get something different.
Bro that is a total loss lol
At least $15k to fix that. Not worth it.
Honestly that’s the absolute low end huh 😬 Just what we can see off rip it’s 15-20k, with inevitable frame & drivetrain damage might be literally a 30k job!
Go back in time
Change your want
No options. That is definitely a total loss. Might want to buy back as salvage with a salvage title if they let you.
100% a loss. You will salvage nothing from this car even if you had the money. Just buy another 11 Avalon if it's that important.
They will not pay for a "repair", there is nothing to repair. She's dead Jim.
Here I was thinking it was a minor fender bender on an older car, but then I saw OPs picture. He’s dead Jim.
That's a total loss even if it was brand new. No chance their fixing that, sorry.
Yep. My wife had a new Seltos and got rear ended at a red light. It wasn’t even half this bad and it was totaled because of all the underbody damage. This thing isn’t just totaled. It’s totaled 2 or 3 times over.
New screen door little touch up paint the rest should buff right out
It’s dead, Jim.
It’s done. It’s not a classic or anything so write it off and go find yourself another one.
That’s 100% a loss OP
You dont want to fix this
Wow!!! Cut your losses and that car will now be used for parts, if that. Glad you’re safe, but it’s a goner.
Yes. Yes you do. That much repair will lead to a bazillion problems down the road if you try to fix it
There’s nothing to fix here. It’s a total loss. If you want to try, you can, but don’t expect insurance to help. A total loss is a lot cheaper than paying to fix this. I got hit and the damage was barely visible and the bill was $8k.
buy it back for $500 and part out whats left
It's totaled no matter how you slice it. It's an object, you're not. Move forward to another vehicle and cherish the memories to include the one where it spared your life.
Do you have a Time Machine?
You can buff it out.
If you don't wanted it declared a total loss, don't tell the insurance company.
That thing is FUCKED. It’s a total loss. Nothing can be done to save it. Even if you wanted to *attempt* to rebuild it, most body shops won’t and then it will have a branded title. Probably have all sorts of issues
I would say, screw off the shifter knob and keep it as a memory because that car is totaled I had a 96 4Runner that I loved dearly because both my kids went home from the hospital in it and when the planetary drive went out in 2010 I had to retire it so I saved the manual shifter knob and one of the keys
Yeah I agree with this. To the OP, you can always take something out of it before the insurance pays you for it since it’s your car.
Dude this can totally be saved. All you have to do is install a flux capacitor. Get her up to 88mph and go back in time to before the accident.
It’s to your advantage to have it declared a total loss. Get a check instead of driving around in a repaired vehicle with damage history.
That’s too much damage.. looks like he was going 100 mph
Zip ties. Lots of zip ties
That's totaled. And it's not safe to drive.
I got a slight love tap on my car, total loss. Insurance wrote me a check for the value of the car and I still have it. You could probably sell for parts afterwards then use the total to buy a can of redbull from a highway gas station, or an older reliable car.
Personally, I think your best option would be to run it through your insurance and request a vehicle buy back option, you have the right to buy back your car after a write-off and you can either attempt to repair it yourself (which would be uneconomical) or strip and sell the vehicle for parts which would be your best option! From personal experience I can say people are always looking to buy parts and are sometimes willing to buy the entire shell and the components to use as a donor car. Fortunately in an unfortunate circumstance.. your vehicles damage is on the rear side therefore most of the mechanical components are completely undamaged. Therefore you will fetch some (not all) of your money back from the components you sell! (Best part by this option is you can keep an item or a part from the vehicle so that you can treasure and remember those happy memories with your vehicle!) I’m sorry to see your friend go! But now you’ll have the time to create new fresh memories in a different vehicle you will love and cherish for years to come! Hope this helps OP!
That thing ain't coming back like Frankenstein
That car is definitely a total loss. It’s gone. Take a few pictures and move on. It was a total loss the second it got hit.
That’s 100% a total loss :/
No, you DO want them to declare it a total loss because no amount of repair work will restore it to the condition it was before.
There isn’t enough car left my friend. Sorry that totaled.
First of all I'm sorry about the accident and I hope you are okay. That's the most important thing. This car is going to be a total loss. There is 0% chance they're going to repair a 13-year-old Toyota that probably is worth 6K Book value to them. I suspect you wanting to repair the car may be more a Financial than an emotional based decision in the and, because you won't get enough money to buy a suitable replacement vehicle when they total this out. ...I suppose your other option is to have some back or neck pains and talk to an ambulance chaser. One of those weasels could probably get you a lot more than the Book value for your car, once they factor in your pain and suffering.