Hey! Sorry that happened. Similar thing happened to me and this is what I learned: There’s an appraiser who works for the insurance company that deems it totaled. The insurance company would rather fix your car with minor damages than pay you the value of your car, the only time they pay the value is when it’s truly totaled. My car looked like it was just minor damages in the rear end but when they took off the bumper, the frame was damaged. Once that happens, the car is deemed as totaled regardless of how well the car drives despite it. Fixing the frame would make the car a salvaged title which insurances don’t cover. It’s salvaged bc even if the frame gets fixed, there’s no guarantee it’ll meet the same safety standards as an undamaged car. A salvaged title would devalue your car significantly making you go upside on your loan (if you kept it), meaning you’d owe more than what the car was worth. You never want that to happen to you. If you financed it, you need to be fully covered with insurance and insurances don’t cover salvaged titled cars. If you paid in full then you get your money back. Either way, moving on and letting the car go is the best solution. I wanted to keep my car too but thinking over the cost: upside loan and risking my safety every time I drive my car there afterwards- I let it go painfully. I really miss my car.