Repairable or Totaled: How Shops Make the Call

A car can look “not that bad” and still get totaled by insurance, and that disconnect is where stress spikes fast. We sit down at Ozzie's Body Shop to explain what’s really happening when a claim turns into a total loss, why the collision repair shop isn’t the one making that call, and how the math can work against you even when the vehicle is absolutely repairable.

We walk through the core factors insurers use, including Actual Cash Value (ACV), salvage value, and why Colorado’s lack of a total loss threshold can lead to more totals at lower damage levels. We also talk about the part most people miss: ACV offers are often underestimated, and if you’re going through your own policy you may be able to bring in a third-party appraiser to support a higher, more accurate valuation. If you’re dealing with someone else’s insurance, we explain why your rights can be limited and what that means for your negotiation power.

Then we get practical about choices that can save you money or create headaches, like owner retention and the difference between hail damage and a salvage title situation. Finally, we dig into why newer cars can be misleading, including a real-world example where a seemingly small front-end hit revealed hidden structural damage and technology-related costs that pushed repairs into shocking territory.

If you’ve ever wondered whether to repair, replace, or fight the valuation, this is your roadmap. Subscribe for more plain-English collision repair advice, share this with a friend who’s dealing with an insurance claim, and leave a review with your biggest total loss question.

To learn more about Ozzie's Body Shop visit:
https://www.OzziesBodyShop.com
Ozzie's Body Shop 
5280 N. Garfield Ave.
Loveland, Colorado 80538
970-667-7849 

Transcript

Welcome To Ozzy’s Body Shop

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Welcome to Crash Course, the Aussies Body Shop Show, where bent metal, mystery noises, and uh-oh moments meet Northern Colorado's finest collision repair center. Hosted by Megan Mueller, co-owner and CEO of Ozzy's Body Shop, an OEM certified and authorized collision repair facility that's been getting families safely back on the road since 1967. From fender benders to full-on frame repairs. Insurance questions to will this ever look right again? Megan's here to explain it all in plain English with a little grease, a little grace, and a lot of heart. Because around here, the motto's simple to be the best, you gotta be the best. And your car deserves nothing less. Let's pull into the shop and get started.

Who Actually Decides Total Loss

SPEAKER_02 1:02

So today we're gonna dive into a topic with an auto expert about whether we can save a car or not. And I'm sure this resonates with a lot of people like it does with myself, about that time when you had a car incident or an accident and you're worried, not just with your peace of mind, but your wallet and what's gonna happen in the near future with your transportation issues. Welcome. I'm Julie Schwenzer, co-host and producer with Megan Mueller, the co-owner and CEO of Ozzy's Body Shop. Megan, I'm so happy for you to break down some of these topics for us today. You definitely have the experience. So, how do you decide if a vehicle is repairable or total?

SPEAKER_01 1:41

Hey, Julie. Yeah, that's one of the great mysteries for people, right? I've had a lot of vehicle owners, especially lately, that will ask me what my opinion is. And with some people and some vehicle repairs that are needed, I can't even guide them. And it's because of the way that total loss is determined. So as the body shop and as the collision experts, we don't total vehicles. If it's structural, we will maybe recommend that that be the direction that it be taken. If it's just not a smart idea or

Colorado Rules And Salvage Math

SPEAKER_01 2:12

a safe idea to repair a vehicle. However, what we're seeing more of right now is especially here in Colorado, we don't have what's called a total loss threshold by our state statutes. So the way that they're determining it right now is let's just say for even numbers, let's say the vehicle's value, according to the insurance company's way that they do that, is $15,000. Okay. And then let's say that the salvage yard is like, well, we'll buy it right now for $10,000 exactly as it sits. The most they're gonna put towards the repair is gonna be that $5,000 difference. So it's not that the vehicle's not repairable. In fact, you know, I've had some vehicles lately that have totaled it like 30%, especially when it comes to hail. They can take it to the salvage yard, they're just gonna turn around and sell it right away. And so salvage values are at an all-time high. So we're seeing more and more vehicles toll regularly, especially in states like here in Colorado, where we don't have that threshold that has to be met.

SPEAKER_02 3:17

And for me, someone who's a novice with all this information, when you say the percentage, can you explain that? You just mentioned 30%. What about the 70%?

SPEAKER_01 3:28

Yeah. So some states do have an actual threshold that has to be met, to where the insurance companies aren't necessarily able to do what's the most feasible for them. They have to kind of do what might be the best for the vehicle owner or the consumer. In a state like ours, where we don't have that threshold, it's really whatever is just going to be the most financially beneficial to the insurance company that's covering it.

SPEAKER_02 3:55

Oh, yeah, that's hard. So, what do you see? What are some examples that you have when the car came in and it was repairable when it was like an accident with another car?

Getting A Fair Cash Value

SPEAKER_01 4:05

I think right now down at the shop, we've got probably five or six total losses. And I think only one of them actually has like frame damage. The rest of them, it's simply just money, which you know is really unfortunate because people really enjoy their cars. And I really try to advocate for vehicle owners when their vehicle does total. If you, at least in the state of Colorado, if you're going through your own insurance company, typically the way that these companies are estimating what your payout is going to be is by whatever produced their supposed ACV, your actual cash value. And then they'll, you know, add some on for taxes, subtract some for tire wear. They'll do all of that. The thing is that ultimately most of those are underestimated values. And for a lot of vehicle owners, they don't know how to argue for a higher value. So at least when you're going through your own insurance, most of the time you're going to have the right to hire like a third-party appraiser to go ahead and actually estimate that value. But if you're going through somebody else's insurance, you have no rights. It's not your policy.

SPEAKER_02 5:16

So, how much hand holding can you give? I mean, time is also, I'm sure, a concern, of course, because you're very busy there. When you guide someone through this, like you're trying to explain to them, well, if you save the car, if they can, if it is repairable, is it going to be worth it or is it better to try to get a new

Owner Retention And Salvage Titles

SPEAKER_02 5:34

car?

SPEAKER_01 5:34

Yeah, I am so passionate about making sure that vehicle owners just know their options and can make a really informed decision that's best for them. So I always tell people to take, you know, whatever necessary time they need to be able to make an informed decision and then work with them on a lot of people. I just guide them how what I would do if I were in their shoes. We have had a lot more vehicle owners that have been doing what's called owner retaining, but I give them the goods and the bads of that. So, you know, you're gonna get less of a payout from the insurance company if you don't give them your vehicle, if you don't sign it over to them and you keep it. In the state of Colorado, that can be a really good option if it's hail damage, because hail does not make it have to have a salvage title. But if it's, I mean, even just a bunch of scratches down the side, but your vehicle may not be worth very much. And so that's why it totaled. Obviously, still a good thing to go ahead and, you know, a very safe vehicle to still repair. However, you have to look at just a lot of the finances, right? Like, what are you actually getting? What's it gonna cost if you do own or retain it? Is it now gonna have a salvage title? If it does have a salvage title, you're gonna have to get it stamped, restore it from salvage, you're gonna have to take it to the Colorado State Patrol for an inspection. Like, there's just so many steps. And so I always tell vehicle owners, like, uh, I kind of spitball it all at them, like I just did with you. And then I always tell them, like, I know I just unloaded a ton of information on you. I just want you to feel confident that like each step of the way, we'll just walk through each step.

SPEAKER_02 7:15

I appreciate that you are helping your clients be informed, you know, and educated. That's really

Hidden Damage In Modern Cars

SPEAKER_02 7:21

important. So I had another question for you. And I like to say something my mother-in-law says about the newer cars because they have all the bells and whistles that cars didn't used to have. So, what can be misleading about that is that we might not see how much damage is really happening internally because we have so much functionality inside the car. Have you seen more of that where the car doesn't look that bad, but inside, you don't think it's safe to drive.

SPEAKER_01 7:44

Absolutely. You saying that just made me think about this BMW that we have down at the shop right now. Because not only do they have the bells and whistles, but also the crash testing technology that these vehicles are put through over and over and over, they are literally designed to, upon impact, absorb that energy and pass it around the people that are in the vehicle. So the inertia is gonna travel really far. The idea behind that, right, is of course that the safety of the occupants is number one, not how much damage there is to the vehicle. So we have this beautiful new BMW down at the shop right now, and it really didn't look like very much damage. And once we got the bumper off, behind the bumper is a kind of foam pad called an absorber, and then behind that is your impact bar, which actually, you know, bolts directly to your frame. And from the outside, it really just kind of looked like maybe the bumper, you know, potentially the absorber, it might go back that far. Of course, they've got, you know, automatic braking systems. So there's all kinds of sensors and stuff up there. Once we actually got into it, once we removed the bumper, what would have normally been maybe a $6,000 repair, we ended up riding to almost $85,000 yesterday. Wow. I mean, it knocked into the front frame rail. And to replace BMW does let you section that, but to replace that, you have to completely pull the motor. A little thing can just explode with these new vehicles.

SPEAKER_02 9:14

Yeah, it does it make you miss some of the older models that didn't have all of this and it was more straightforward.

SPEAKER_01 9:21

Life was a lot more simple back then. Yeah, you know, the shop's been around since 1967. So we've adapted many, many times with the technology of vehicles. And um, we're one of the few shops that still do restorations, and I have to tell you, those are some of our favorite cars to work on.

SPEAKER_02 9:37

Well, that's that's really interesting, and that's really cool too, that your shop does so many things. So that's

Misconceptions And The Human Side

SPEAKER_02 9:44

good. And then last question for you are there any common misconceptions that you hear when someone does come in and they do think their car is repairable, but it is not.

SPEAKER_01 9:55

Yeah, absolutely. Because if their vehicle, especially like an older vehicle, if it's operational and driving well, they don't understand how just a headlamp and a bumper and a fender would total their vehicle because it doesn't make logical sense. When somebody initially thinks of a totaled vehicle, they think of something that is totaled because it's not safe. Um, and so, you know, I actually just dealt with a wonderful lady yesterday that, you know, I was telling her like this is what's gonna happen. It's an older van, but she doesn't own another vehicle and she wants to keep it. And so, kind of like uh the big spiel I gave you a few minutes ago, it's kind of what I gave her. And I'm like, don't be overwhelmed. Like, we'll just walk through it. We're gonna make sure that your vehicle is safe and you get to have all the say in what we do or what we don't do.

SPEAKER_02 10:46

So yeah, those are great points. And yeah, like you mentioned, I mean, people are very attached. Some of these cars are like, you know, very special to them and cherished by clients. So I'm sure that's another part of it.

SPEAKER_01 10:57

Maybe you also are a therapist too, and you're well, and sometimes it's again, you know, just financial for people because to get a new car right now is is incredibly expensive. And if they've got a car that's operational, they know all the maintenance that's been done on it for all these years, and it's paid off, like they have no desire for another car.

SPEAKER_02 11:21

And you can't blame them. Absolutely. Great points. Well, Megan, thank you for breaking this down so clearly. I think we all have a better picture of what's really going on behind the scenes and how a shop like yours can help us. Thank you. You're welcome.

How To Get Help Fast

SPEAKER_00 11:39

You've been listening to Crash Course, the Ozzy's Body Shop show with Megan Mueller, serving auto owners all across northern Colorado with certified family-owned collision care. If your vehicle's had a rough day, or you just want repairs done right the first time. For more information, visit OzzyBodyShop.com or call 970-667-7849. Ozzy's Body Shop. To be the best, you gotta be the best. On the road and in the repair bay. Until next time, drive safe. And if life dents it, you know where to send it.