If the insurance company covering your claim has found that the cost of repairing your vehicle cost more than the value of your car than the insurer will total out the vehicle. When a car is declared to be a total loss than the insurance company will offer you actual cash value (ACV) for it in order to "make you whole."

There really are not many options if your car is totaled out. You will need to negotiate with the insurance company to make sure you get what you find to be a fair ACV settlement for your vehicle. This means if you believe their offer for your vehicle is low you would have to show that your vehicle was worth more. Usually this is done by getting proof from local car dealers that your car for the age and condition it was in before the accident was worth more than the insurance company is offering.

If you want to try to keep and fix the vehicle yourself than you would need to ask see if you can buy back the vehicle from the insurance company. First you should make sure your state allows a totaled out car to be bought back and what you would have to do to then get your salvaged vehicle back on the streets. It would have a salvaged title in most states and need to usually get a rebuilt title to get back on the road.

If your state allows totaled out vehicles to be bought back than you can discuss this option with the insurance company to see if they allow it. If they do and you own the car, meaning without having a lien holder on it, than typically the insurer will deduct the salvage value of the vehicle from your actual cash value settlement amount so that you are buying back the salvaged vehicle from them. You then could repair the car on your own. Cars with branded (salvage or rebuilt) titles are worth less due to being in an accident and being totaled out. It also can be difficult to get full coverage on a salvaged vehicle.

So your options are limited when your car's repair costs are more than the value of the car. Your insurer will only want to total out the vehicle and will not give you the option of fixing the car for you since it is not economically prudent to do so. If you want to fix the car yourself than you can buy it back by taking the ACV from the insurance company, minus the salvage value of the car, and then pay for the repairs yourself.

If you are without insurance to cover a totaled out vehicle, your options are also limited. Typically you can either pay to repair your car, though you would then be putting more money into the car than it is worth, or you can sell the vehicle to a junk yard for salvage which usually will get you a few hundred dollars.

If your car has been declared a total loss by an insurance company you can speak to the claims adjuster working your claim to find out what your options are per their guidelines and your state's laws.