Auto Insurance Claims: new car in a rear end collision, diminished value claim, google search

Question
Hi

I have a 2013 camaro with less than 5000 miles and was recently rear-ended.  The insurance company does not want to total it, I will lose a lot of value on the car and not be able to trade it in as a result in the future as carfax will report the damage and thereby lower the value.  Currently the damage is at approx $9100 and there may be more as they were not able to get the car on a rack due to the extensive damage.  I was told that a new car with extensive damage should be totaled because of the loss of value.  I live in NY. Is this true?

Answer
A car is deemed a total loss when the repair cost equals or exceeds the actual cash value (the amount you could sell it for).  Some states have laws that require a car to be totaled if the repair cost exceeds a percentage of the actual cash value.  In Maryland, this is 75%.  You can do a Google search to see if there is law like that in your state.

If the vehicle is repaired, you probably also have a diminished value claim.  This is the difference between the actual cash value after repairs, and what the actual cash value would have been if there was no accident.  You can get an idea as to what this is by asking a few car dealers or checking online guides like  NADA or KBB.