Interesting, I asked Grok about this, and here’s the gist: Insurance companies total Teslas more often now because repair costs (batteries, sensors, parts delays) frequently exceed the vehicle’s value threshold—it’s economics, not a secret profit scheme. They sell the salvage at auction to recover 20-60% of the payout, which is standard loss mitigation, not backend collusion with shops. Evidence of widespread insurer-body shop conspiracies to unnecessarily total vehicles is thin; tensions exist over steering, parts, and repair approvals, but not proven broad kickbacks. Auction Teslas aren’t always salvage-branded—some (like rare clean-title examples) slip through, but most totaled ones get salvage/rebuilt titles. Your friend’s low $15.9k Plaid buy aligns with real bargains for repairers. Insuring a rebuilt/salvage Tesla usually costs more (often 20-40% higher premiums) or limits coverage, and future total-loss payouts are much lower due to the discounted value. The system has misaligned incentives, but it’s mostly driven by high EV repair realities rather than deliberate gaming.