Auto Insurance Claims: My 2008 Honda Civic Totaled??, 2008 honda civic, preferred shop

Question
I recently purchased a 2008 Honda Civic.  I had the car for 2 weeks and while I was parked at work, it was totally hit. Mine and 4 other cars were hit, mine ending up being the worst of the bunch.  A flat bed truck skidded in the rain and side wiped 2 cards and ending up smashing into the back of my Civic pushing it into the back of a car parked infront me. The end result left the back of my new car smashed in and the front of my car dented aswell.  My bumper is crooked and the hood is slightly bent up.  The back of the car is crushed and there is no more back windshield. I am currently awaitng the police report because it is not ready yet.  They are missing information from antoher car and they wont release the report to anyone until they get the cars info. Well anyway, I am really hoping to just have the car totaled. The damage looks pretty bad, and its a brand new car. I bought the car because I didn't want to have problems with a used one, and now that the front is damaged, it looks like it is leaking fluid and it makes me nervous. Not to mention that it rained on it for 2 hours before I came out of work and saw the damage so the indside smells horrible! I have no idea what type of internal damage was done and I'd really rather just have the car totaled, pay it off and forget about it for a while. How do they determine if the car can be totaled?  I'm also not sure wether I want to go through my insuracne company or his. It was a commercial vehicle that hit me. I filed a claim with my company and they are giving me time to think about what I'd like to do. HELP!! I really just want the car to be gone. How does this work??

Answer
Hi Ashley,
First of all, I strongly urge you to deal through your own insurance company and, assuming that the car is repairable, use one of their 'preferred' auto repair shop.  If you use your own company's preferred shop, it's customary that they guarantee the repairs for as long as you own the car.
If you use the adverse company, they are simply going to write you a check based on your estimates, have you sign a "release of all claims", wave goodbye and close their file.
They are now totally off the hook.  With damage this major, it is not unusual for a shop to find hidden damage once they start removing the visible damaged parts.  If you have signed a release of all claims, you can not turn to the adverse company for additional payment nor turn to your own company.
For a car to be a total loss, the cost of repair plus the salvage value must equal or exceed the fair market value.
When settling a total loss, you are only entitled to fair market value, the sales tax on that amount and reimbursement of the unused portion of your registration fees.  Your car depreciated many thousands of dollars the moment you drove it off the lot.  It is entirely possible, depending on the size of your down payment, that you could be offered an amount that is less than your loan balance.
If the car is a lease and you didn't purchase 'gap' insurance then the odds of you still owing on the totaled car jump to 100%.  There is another alternative that your own insurance company can use if the car is totaled.  It's called 'contract substitution'.  If your own company is a 'preferred company' such as AAA, State Farm, Allstate. Farmers etc.,they should be willing to do this, but sometimes you need to make the suggestion.  Under a contract substitution, the insurance company will purchase the same identical car (as an insurance company, they get a huge discount compared to what you paid), then have your lender change the vehicle identification numbers on the loan.  This is the perfect of all worlds solution, you have a brand new car, the same monthly payments and the same loan balance.  I have participated in these 'contract substitutions' about a dozen times.  It can only be done on a new car that is no more than 3-6 weeks old.
As a recap:  If your car is repairable use your own company and one of their 'preferred' repair shops.  If it's totaled, your company should suggest 'contract substitution' as their first option.  If they don't mention it as the very first option, then you should.
I hope this has been of help, please write again if I can be of more assistance.
Your feedback on my answer will be greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
Bennie
San Francisco Bay Area 10-24-07 9:21 AM PST