When Is A New Car Considered Totalled?

Actually, Entidtil is wrong... but only depending on where you live.

This stuff isn't federal or international law, it's a matter of jurisdictional legislation. That means every state, province, territory and parish makes and enforces its own rules as to what does and does not make for a total loss.

In many jurisdictions, a total loss happens when the cost to repair the damage is more than the total value of the vehicle in repaired / un-damaged condition. In other places, it's a magic number where the vehicle must be declared a total loss if the repair costs exceed XX-percent of the total value. But in either case, it's all a matter of cold hard written law.

New car old car. It doesn't matter. The rules are the same. When the cost of repairs is about 70% or more of "fair market value" (Actual cash value) then the car will be totaled. The 70% number varies a little bit between insurance companies

Note: Answerer Tasha here is absolutely wrong.

When the cost of repairing it approaches the fair market value. But the real answer is it is a total loss only when a qualified insurance adjuster says it is based on an examination and number crunching.

Generally, a car is "totalled" if it is going to cost more to repair it than to replace it.

Any car is considered "totaled" when the price to repair it equals more than the current price of the vehicle itself.