If a modern-day car, like a Challenger, gets hit hard in the rear your insurance company may total it. Why? In the old days, the damaged panels would simply be replaced and, if necessary, the frame straightened. Now, cars use structural adhesives in their assembly. Once the structure moves, the adhesives fracture. They cannot be repaired without completely separating the components, removing the old adhesive, and applying new adhesive. The problem that these components are also welded. Basically, you have continuously bonded joints using glue and resistance spot welds. Every panel that has to be removed to get to the adhesive joints needs to be replaced. If you simply put a car on a frame bench and pull it back into alignment, you will induce more adhesive fracturing causing additional damage. In today's world, pulling is more for re-aligning the structure before replacement.
That makes sense but it sure would be heartbreaking to say bye to your car when most of it seems OK. I guess on the other hand, if the shops can't fix it right, I sure would not want it anymore.
Here are two photos of my wife's 1 year-old Hyundai Elantra that got rear ended by a distracted driver of a Jeep Cherokee. Her car was stopped, along with others, on I-295 due to a tire flying off a tractor trailer. It only had 8,000 miles on it. GEICO totaled it. Fortunately, the car did its job and she was not injured.
Man! That's awful, but also stresses the point about so much of the car still being fine. The 'parts' side in the business world must be booming these days.
The Key is Hard, with the structure of the rear unibody chassis , floating rear end, how the damage transfer and then with the Air Bag's destroying the Dash unlike the older cars.
New cars that require replacement electronics are being declared as "totaled", because they cannot get parts; due to the lockdowns. Recently, a $60k Dodge van with less than 8k miles was declared totaled; due to parts unavailability.
