# What happens if the insurance company "totals" the car, but you want to keep it?

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-happens-if-the-insurance-company-totals-the-car-but-you-want-to-keep-it/78899>\
**Category:** General Discussion\
**Created:** [April 24, 2013, 6:49am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-happens-if-the-insurance-company-totals-the-car-but-you-want-to-keep-it/78899 "2013-04-24T06:49:38Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![TwinTurbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8baadc/32.png) [@TwinTurbo](https://community.cartalk.com/u/TwinTurbo)\
**Post date:** [November 3, 2017, 7:32pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-happens-if-the-insurance-company-totals-the-car-but-you-want-to-keep-it/78899/21 "2017-11-03T19:32:37Z")

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Why guess, here is the official word from the state-

[https://www.nh.gov/safety/divisions/dmv/title/salvage.htm](https://www.nh.gov/safety/divisions/dmv/title/salvage.htm)

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**Author:** ![gts2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f19dbf/32.png) [@gts2](https://community.cartalk.com/u/gts2)\
**Post date:** [November 3, 2017, 9:55pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-happens-if-the-insurance-company-totals-the-car-but-you-want-to-keep-it/78899/22 "2017-11-03T21:55:12Z")

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Thanks to all for the insights.

I talked to the NH DMV today as well as the Insurance company.  
The insurance company will discuss the details (settlement, buying it back, etc) after their final in person assessment.

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**Author:** ![sgtrock21](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/sgtrock21/32/246_2.png) [@sgtrock21](https://community.cartalk.com/u/sgtrock21)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2017, 4:27pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-happens-if-the-insurance-company-totals-the-car-but-you-want-to-keep-it/78899/23 "2017-11-05T16:27:58Z")

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I had a similar experience. I’m curious about the taxes. What was taxed?

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**Author:** ![the\_same\_mountainbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@the\_same\_mountainbike](https://community.cartalk.com/u/the_same_mountainbike)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2017, 4:31pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-happens-if-the-insurance-company-totals-the-car-but-you-want-to-keep-it/78899/24 "2017-11-05T16:31:14Z")

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> [@sgtrock21](#):
>
> I had a similar experience. I’m curious about the taxes. What was taxed?

You’d need to talk to the tax officials in your own state. States all vary in this area.

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**Author:** ![TwinTurbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8baadc/32.png) [@TwinTurbo](https://community.cartalk.com/u/TwinTurbo)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2017, 11:01pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-happens-if-the-insurance-company-totals-the-car-but-you-want-to-keep-it/78899/25 "2017-11-05T23:01:10Z")

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They included the state sales tax I would pay on the replacement vehicle, assuming I would spend all of the money they paid for the replacement. Iirc, something around 5.8%.

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