This is a question for my drivers educations.

Not only would the car be totaled, but so would you.

There's way too many variables. Which car gets hit by the other one? Where did the car get hit? If you're in a front-wheel-drive GM car and get hit in the doors by another one going as low as 45 mph, you will likely be killed. If you're hit in the driver's door of a Dodge Shadow by an '88 Chevy Monte Carlo going 35 mph, you will get a bad bump on the head. That really tough car would need a replacement door and related bodywork but it would not have been totaled when it was newer. Not all GM cars are death traps, and not all Chryslers are as tough as the Shadow. It's replacement, the Neon, is an embarrassment in comparison.

As you can see, this is a really complicated question that requires more details. There's even a lot of variables involved in determining what costs will be covered and who determines the value of the car before the crash. With so many unnecessary and expensive computers on today's cars, there can be a lot of unknown damage that goes well beyond paying for simple bodywork. Cars can have as many as 47 computers, many of which cost over $1000.00 and have to be programmed by the dealer.