Enter the current vehicle value and the cost to repair into the calculator to determine the total loss percentage. This calculator can also determine the cash value or repair cost, given the loss percentage and one of the other values.

Total Loss Formula

The following formula is used to calculate the total loss percentage of a damaged car.

TL= RC / ACV *100
  • Where TL% is the total loss percentage (%)
  • RC is the repair cost ($)
  • ACV is the actual cash value ($)

To calculate the totaled car value, divide the repair cost by the total loss percentage.

Total Loss Definition

What is a total loss?

A total loss is defined as the ratio of the repair cost to the actual cash value of a vehicle that is recently been involved in an accident.

This ratio is then used to determine if the vehicle should be considered a total loss or not for insurance purposes. Many insurance companies will set a threshold for the total loss percentage.

Is my car totaled?

A car is considered totaled when the repair cost is greater than the cash value of the damaged car.

Example Problem

How to calculate a total loss?

  1. First, determine the repair cost of the vehicle that has been in an accident.

    For this example, the total repair cost comes out to $6,000.00.

  2. Next, determine the actual cash value of the vehicle.

    In this case, the actual cash value is determined to be $10,000.00.

  3. Finally, calculate the total loss percentage.

    Using the formula above, the total loss percentage is calculated to be:
    TL%= RC / ACV *100
    TL%= 6000 / 10000 *100
    TL%= 60%