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Cars Have Changed; Why Haven’t Total-Loss Regulations?

The vehicles we drive today have become amazingly more complex over the last decadeand total-loss regulations need to catch up.

By Greg Horn | Updated on January 09, 2012

The vehicles we drive today have become amazingly more complex over the last decade. Advanced electronics for traction control, anti-lock brakes and engine management are commonplace in vehicles we insure or repair. These computer modules can add thousands to the cost of a repair and may cause vehicles to unnecessarily total merely because a plug-in component is bad.

How many auto-claims managers have received that call about a heavy-hit car after the repairs were finished, only to find when re-setting the vehicle-electronic codes that a plug-in sensor or module was bad and pushed that car over the threshold. In some states, the only remedy is to total out the repaired vehicle, sell it with a salvage title and settle the vehicle as a total loss with the owner—who will likely be pretty steamed after all this time. Is it really right to total out a vehicle because of the cost of a plug-in piece of equipment?

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