Auto Insurance Claims: How they calculate for totaling, national auto dealers, national auto dealers association

Question
My car was involved in accident with fair amount of damages. My brother in law driving at that time, so i claimed to my insurance, How insurance people calculate whether to be repaired or totaled.  Even if they want to repair can  i request them to total for the same amount of repairs.

Thanks in advance

Raj

Answer
Hello Raj,

From my experience in repairing autos for insurance companies, the insurance company is the one who decides if the vehicle's market value is not exceeded. Insurance companies get fair market value a number of ways. Kelley's Blue book is just one example that they use or the NADA (National Auto Dealers Association) guide. If the vehicle is rare, they may check local regional classifieds for like kind vehicles.
I have never seen the opportunity in which the insured got to determine if the vehicle was totalled.
Now, in some cases I have seen insurance companies let the insured buy the totalled car back to repair it himself.
From my experience except for a few cases, the owner always feels his car is worth more than it really is.
There are many things that come into play. A car from California is worth more than in Illinois because the Illinois car may have rust.
Average mileage is 15K a year. Pre-existing damage is considered.