Auto Insurance Claims: vehicle buyback from insurance, contributer, collision center

Question
hi, i recently was in an accident and had damage to my front end only. The collision center i took it too said the damage wasn't so bad. Then I got the call saying that it may be considered "totaled," because the dollar amt to fix it was relatively close to over half of the current value on the car. Plus, both airbags had deployed so that's a main contributer to the price. The car itself is still in extremely good condition all around (exterior,interior,engine and transmission)and there is no other body damage to the vehicle. The insurance company pulled the car to their towyard for a 2nd look,but told me the buy back price would be $1700.00,and if i wanted it they would deduct that from my payout. I was wondering if the car would be worth buying back becuase of it's great condition and selling it to a place or company that uses parts from the car? It's just so hard to let go of a good vehicle like that when i know they're probably gonna just auction it off and make some $$ off of it. It's an 02 ford 2 door coupe mustang.

Answer
Hi Shellee,

In most cases you do not want to buy back the salvage. The process would require you to have the vehicle repaired then present it to the state for an inspection. Only then would you be able to have the title transferred back into your name. Even then, the title would always have a "SALVAGE" stamp on which would make the vehicle only worth about half of standard value.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh