Colorado may or many not have state laws instructing insurance companies to what percent of a vehicle can be damaged for it to be declared a total loss. To check and see if a CO law exists, you can contact their Division of Insurance.

Without a specific state law as a guideline most insurance companies will determine a vehicle to be a total loss when it is between 51 to 80 percent of its actual worth or basically when the repairs costs are more than the value of the vehicle. If your car is worth $4000 the insurance company can decide to total it out when the repair estimate comes to that $4000 or perhaps less depending on their guidelines and state laws (if they exist regarding this).

If your car is declared a total loss you would receive compensation based on what the insurance company determines the actual cash value (ACV) of the car was before the accident. They calculate this number through various means - such as local sales of like vehicles, NADA and Blue Book, etc.