Not to beat a dead horse, but you said exactly what we are saying "...its all about what they appraise". Again, the KIND of damage is 100% meaningless to an insurance company as to whether they decide to 'total' a vehicle, its all about how MUCH it costs to fix not WHAT needs fixing. If a vehicle valued at $40k hits a 3 foot high concrete block on one corner going just 25mph, all the body damage might just be a fender, headlight, and bumper assembly. But mechanically it could have bent the frame, destroyed the suspension on the front on one side and ripped the wheel clean off... I have seen it... and the repairs might only be $4K for the body and $6k for straightening the frame and new ball joints, tie rod ends, sway bar, etc. etc. etc. Thats not going to be 'totaled' but that could drive slightly 'off' for life of the truck. Same speed that $40k vehicle hits the same 3 foot high concrete block head on and airbags deploy.... now you have thousands in airbag replacement, new bumper, new grille, at least one fender, new hood, new radiator, new AC condenser, 2 new headlights, and all the tiny trim pieces that surround the grille and bumper and headlights and fenders plus all the hours to do the body work and paint, disassemble and reassemble, probably on paper for insurance purposes $24k to fix because body work on newer vehicles is insane. So again with the math $40k vehicle needs $24k in work done or an insurance company gives the insured a check for $40k and sells the car at auction for $23k... being net out of pocket just $17k instead of the $24k in repairs.... If the engine (and pulleys in the front, alternator, etc) weren't compromised I would rather have the truck that was 'totaled' and had extensive body work done than the truck that was not 'totaled' and had $9k worth of front end and frame damaged fixed, which you may never know about as Carfax and others list it as "Front end collision, air bags did not deploy" and the seller can claim whatever they want to to as far as what happened.