my one friend in new york state had a new challenger [with only 47 miles on it] broad side him in his 64 polara a few years back, and his policy allowed him to keep his car without a buy back.
i know all companies are different, this was just his experience.
It's nice that happened for your friend, but it had nothing to do with his policy. There is no policy out there, anywhere, that says "You may keep your totaled vehicle without any reduction of your settlement amount."
His adjuster, and likely his adjuster's manager, chose to allow him to keep it without charging him for the salvage retention. They probably couldn't find any data to suggest what the salvage was worth, and also likely thought it was "just an old car," and made a business decision to pay out on the total and let him keep the car anyway.
