$13,000 out of your pocket, or will insurance cover most?

Is the damage structural or cosmetic?

Make, model, year, miles, options?

Is the drivetrain good. or will the $13,000 just make it look pretty, and it's still a POS?

Need a lot more info.

But generally speaking, if I bought a car for $12K, and insurance would write me a check for $13K, and take the carcass, I'd probably use the $13k to buy daughter a beater to get her through school.

More knowledgeable people can chime in, but you start screwing up the frame or unibody, I start noping out.

I was in a similar situation a year ago where the estimate was about 60% of the value. The adjuster was going to try to repair it because he thought he was doing me a favor because the used market is so messed up now. I let him know I'd prefer it to be totaled and he obliged because once it's totalled it's moved to another department and no longer his problem.

Moral of the story, if you want something, ask for it.

Ask them to total it. Don't use Caliber. Use a more reputable shop.

I don't understand why anyone would EVER go to the preferred shop of the insurance company?

Find a good independent shop who will be working for and representing YOUR best interests!

Typically we use around 75% of the current value as a guide to start talking about total loss. However, there are many more factors that are involved. Lots of cars will total way under that value if the insurance company sees good salvage value in the car. Some cars become an insurance total because of a certain item such as if the vehicle needs a frame replacement or floor pan replacement. A lot depends on the insurance company too.

In your case, if Caliber thinks it will cost around 13k to fix the car then I would bet the actual correct repair will easily cost over $15,000.

The statement above by Animal is correct. Caliber works to please the insurance company. They give discounts to the insurance companies and get kickbacks from companies that sell aftermarket parts. So, the money counters at Caliber are driven to push installing aftermarket parts on your car. Granted, your insurance policy almost always says they will repair your car with aftermarket parts, used parts, or the cheapest available, so you're getting what you pay for with your insurance. One of the things I always tell my customers is that I work for you, not the insurance company. Out of all of the parts I buy for collision repairs, less than 1% of them are aftermarket parts. Everything else is OEM parts.

I have a Caliber "re do" at my shop right now. It's not pretty. We are meeting with a Caliber regional manager today to show them the bad repairs and will suggest that Caliber buy the customer's car from them.

Insurance recommended I take my truck to Caliber last year.

I met with them and they looked it over and said they would get me an estimate.

Never heard back from them. Called multiple times. Still couldn't get a reply. Insurance called them. Couldn't get a response.

Took it to Doug at Classic. He and his crew did a great job!