A Total Mess By Brian Albright, News Correspondent During the past 10 years, an overall decline in collision insurance claims and a dramatic increase in the number of total loss declarations have had devastating consequences for the collision repair industry.
Between 2000 and 2005, by most estimates the percentage of total loss vehicles doubled, and nearly a fifth (or more, depending on who you ask) of all cars involved in a claim are now declared total losses.
While there appeared to be a decline in totals after 2004, data from Audatex indicates that totals are on the rise again, fueled by the decline in used vehicle prices, increasing raw materials costs, an aging vehicle population and the expense of properly replacing airbags. That trend is expected to continue in 2009. READ MORE
Declining actual values fuel total loss increase By Brian Albright, News Correspondent Total loss calculations typically weigh the cost of repairing a vehicle against its actual cash value (ACV) and its potential salvage price. While the use of airbags, high-strength steels and other safety features, along with an increase in the cost of some OEM parts driven by commodity prices, have contributed to the increase in total losses over the past ten years, rapidly declining cash values are fueling a new wave of totals. READ MORE
Total Audio Total losses and your 25 percent pay cut, listen here
Say goodbye to your car By Tim Sramcik, Editor-in-Chief Suddenly, we’re not talking about one out of five damaged vehicles being totaled. It’s one out of four. That’s one quarter of your potential work being sent to the bone yard.
It also means every vehicle owner who gets in a crash faces a one in four chance of never seeing his or her vehicle again. Think about that.
Those are the kinds of numbers consumers need to see.
Posted 2009-03-11 14:55:17.0
