Repair costs vs car values since 2020

Why a wider gap means more cars are totaled

Most totaled cars could be repaired. They are totaled because the repair costs too much next to the car’s value. In states without a set percentage, insurers generally add the repair estimate to the salvage value and compare the sum with the car’s value before the crash. Our guide to how insurers decide a car is totaled explains the formula and the state thresholds.

Both sides of that test moved, but not together. Repair prices went up 52.8% in six years and body work 40.7%. Used car prices, the market an insurer’s valuation draws on, went up 17.1%. A repair that came in well under a car’s value in 2020 can now come close to it.

Industry claims data point the same way. CCC Intelligent Solutions, a claims software company, reported on March 31, 2026 that the share of claims flagged as total loss had reached 23.1% across all loss categories, a new high in its data. Its mid-year update in October 2026 put the share at 23.5% through the second quarter of 2026, up 0.8 percentage points from a year earlier and up from a 2022 low of 18.2%. CCC wrote that older vehicles, rising repair costs and claim behavior “are changing the economics of repair versus replacement.”

For context, prices across the whole economy (CPI-U, all items) rose 29.6% over the same six years and new vehicle prices 21.7%.

What this means if your car was damaged

• A car that would have been fixed a few years ago may be totaled today. Ask the adjuster for both the repair estimate and the valuation, and which rule was applied.
• Check the value side. Used car prices are 15.4% below their July 2022 peak, so the comparable vehicles in a valuation report should be recent sales of the same trim, mileage and condition. Our guide to reading an insurer’s valuation report shows what to look for.
• If the car is repaired instead, the repair is on its record. A large repair can lower what the car sells for later. That loss is diminished value.
• Price indexes describe the market, not your claim. Insurers, arbitrators and courts make their own decisions. An appraisal is evidence supporting your claim, not a promise of payment.

Method and limits

We used the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), U.S. city average, not seasonally adjusted, published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: motor vehicle maintenance and repair (CUUR0000SETD) and used cars and trucks (CUUR0000SETA02), monthly from October 2020 to October 2026. We divided each month by the October 2020 value and multiplied by 100. Percentage changes compare October 2020 with October 2026. The body work figure (CUUR0000SETD01) compares September 2020 with September 2026 because BLS has not published that item every month in 2026. Context figures are all items (CUUR0000SA0) and new vehicles (CUUR0000SETA01).

Limits: the CPI tracks the prices consumers pay, not what insurers pay per claim, and the repair index includes routine maintenance as well as collision repair. It says nothing about how any one insurer sets its total loss point. BLS did not publish most October 2025 index values because of the 2025 lapse in federal appropriations; the used car index for that month was published, the repair index was not. The CCC figures are CCC’s own claims data, quoted as reported.

Sources

• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI-U motor vehicle maintenance and repair (CUUR0000SETD), October 2020 to October 2026: data.bls.gov/timeseries/CUUR0000SETD
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI-U used cars and trucks (CUUR0000SETA02), October 2020 to October 2026: data.bls.gov/timeseries/CUUR0000SETA02
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI-U motor vehicle body work (CUUR0000SETD01), September 2020 to September 2026: data.bls.gov/timeseries/CUUR0000SETD01
• Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, FRED (same BLS series, used to check our figures), retrieved November 12, 2026: fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CUUR0000SETD
• CCC Intelligent Solutions, “CCC Crash Course 2026 Report Finds Higher Severity and Record Total Loss Frequency”, March 31, 2026: www.cccis.com/news-and-insights/posts/ccc-crash-course-2026-report-finds-higher-severity-and-record-total-loss-frequency
• CCC Intelligent Solutions, “Crash Course 2026 Mid-Year Update”, October 2026: www.cccis.com/news-and-insights/posts/crash-course-2026-mid-year-update