Cars get written off for lots of reasons that make no sense to most people. On business in Virginia back in the early '90 and let a gentleman staying at our motel join us at breakfast due to limited seating and he's there working for Mercedes NJ HQ. He's there to total and write off an entire car carrier semi of new off the ship Mercedes cars that ran off the road (summer, no rain or snow) and rolled slowly onto its side. He said there was little or no visible damage to any of the Mercedes cars on the trailer but Mercedes was not going to take any chances and was going to total and write off ALL of them without investigation or inspection. He was there to make sure they were crushed and disposed of and to make sure they never were drivable ever again. No parts recycled or salvaged. Kind of like those turbine cars eh?

Mike