Car CostFiles

Car Cost Files EP04 — sources and credits

Why can a small crash get your car totaled? Nine ordinary repairs that push an estimate past the total-loss line, especially on older cars. In 2025 a record 23.1% of auto claims in CCC's data ended in a total loss. Data: CCC Crash Course 2026 and its 2026 mid-year update, Mitchell Plugged-In (Q1 and Q2 2026), AAA's 2023 ADAS repair study, IIHS/HLDI loss data, state statutes and regulations, and manufacturer list prices. Sources for every figure are below; single-vehicle examples are labeled as such.

Sources

Total-loss rates, repair costs, vehicle age

State rules

The nine repairs

Where the car goes

How to push back

Notes on the data

State percentages in this video are salvage-title cutoffs set by statute or regulation, not the insurer's total-loss decision. New York's 75% applies to cars up to eight model years old; Oklahoma's rose from 60% to 70% on Nov 1, 2026, for cars up to ten model years old. Roughly twenty states set no percentage; insurers there generally compare repair cost plus salvage value with the car's actual cash value. In most states, insurers can declare a total loss below these lines. Single-vehicle repair bills are examples, not averages. Parts prices are manufacturer list prices; dealers often sell below list. RB Global's per-lot figure is our calculation (2025 automotive gross transaction value ÷ lots) and includes non-salvage vehicles.

Photo credits (Wikimedia Commons; cropped and resized for video)

Other credits

Stock footage: Pixabay (Pixabay Content License) and Mixkit (Mixkit License). Music generated with Suno. Narration: Google Gemini TTS.

This channel explains U.S. insurance loss and repair-cost data. Not insurance, legal or financial advice.