When Does Insurance Company Write Off A Car? 
This can vary of course , but generally speaking , and insurance company will determine a car to be a `` total loss '' if the amount of money needed to repair the damage exceeds the value of the car . A good rule of thumb is that if say the cost to repair your car is in the neighborhood of 70 % of the `` book value '' of that car , it is more likely that the company will total it . This is because in most cases , all of the possible damage can not be identified until the car starts being torn down . 