[extrashaky]

Originally Posted by socal_48

Salvage title means that the repair cost is between 70% to 90% of the value of the car.

No it doesn't. A salvage title simply means the car was totaled by the insurance company. Whether an insurance company totals the car depends on state-by-state statutory requirements AND the insurance company's own discretion.

Some states use the total loss ratio to determine whether a car must be totaled. That's basically the cost of the repairs divided by the actual cash value (market value) of the car, expressed as a percentage. However, that percentage varies from 50% in Iowa to 100% in Colorado and everything in between. Most TLR states are in the 70% to 80% range.

If your state's TLR is 70%, and your repairs cost more than that, the insurance company is legally required to total your car. If it's less than that, the insurance company has the option of repairing the car or totaling it. Sometimes when people get lawyers involved, they can push the insurance company to go ahead and total a car below that threshold, and the insurance company will do it because it will cost them less to do that than to fight in court.

BUT!!!! That doesn't appear to apply here, because OP shows his location as Ohio. Ohio, California and many other states use the total loss formula instead of the total loss ratio. The TLF says the car must be totaled if this is true:

Cost of Repair + Salvage Value > Actual Cash Value

In these states the ratio has very little to do with it because the salvage value is considered. Cars with high salvage values are more likely to be totaled in TLF states than they would be in TLR states. The twins have pretty high salvage values because there aren't that many of them in junk yards. That's one reason we've seen a number of repairable twins totaled with relatively minor damage.

Originally Posted by Turbo95eg6

Sounds like you may need an economics class, I dunno man but seems like you are terrible with balancing your budget and priorities...

An economics class has nothing to do with balancing your budget. Economics is the study of resource allocation on the macro level and how people respond to incentives on the micro level. He could get a doctorate in economics from the University of Chicago and still not know how to budget.

Originally Posted by BlackJesus

I have another question, I currently owe 2.4k left on the car after 7 months of ownership. Will the accident effect my current agreement with the bank? As in car loans.

You still owe the money. The car is still collateral for the loan. If the car is repaired, you'll just keep making your payments the same as you have been. If the car is totaled, part of the payout you'll get from your insurance company will go to the lender to pay off the loan. You'll need to keep making your payments while this is being sorted out.

Where you would have a problem is if you owed more than the car was worth. If that happened, the insurance payout would be less than what you owed, so you would still owe money. If you had GAP insurance on your loan, it would then kick in to pay the difference. If you didn't pay for GAP insurance, the difference would have to come out of your pocket. But you don't have that problem, because there's no way the car was worth less than $2400.

Originally Posted by Toyarzee

Always curious about these situations @BlackJesus - what was the outcome with the uninsured driver? I do hope they received more than a shake of the finger and pat on the butt, esp if you had to file a police report for your insurance.

His insurance company will make a decision whether to sue the other driver to recoup their cost. If they sue, they may also include his deductible in their lawsuit.

BlackJesus, you'll need to find out from your insurance company how they intend to handle that. If they don't sue on your behalf, you can probably sue that other driver in small claims court yourself for your deductible and any out of pocket costs that your insurance company didn't pay. Keep all your receipts for ANY cost associated with this so that you can prove them in court if necessary.