With autu insurance, you are entitled to either  the repair cost or the then-value of the car (immediately prior to accident, given make, model, age, mileage, etc.) if the car was a loss. You are not entitled to both repair and an extra amount to reflect a dimunition in value. So yes, any car, once hit, is worth less in theory, even if fully repaired. In that sense, if the car would have been worth, say, $12,000 and is now saleable for $11,000, even after repairs, the owner has experienced a loss. That loss is not compensible; the insurer's duty is to repair or to pay the value if the car can't be economically repaired; it is not actually to put the insured in as good a position as if there had been no accident.An insurance company could have a more general policy if it choose; you should read your actual insurance policy. But the general rule is as the above.