<prompt> Human: This is a hypothetical So I own a 1990 Volkswagen corrado. It was my first car, my dad bought it for me because cars and motorcycles are the only thing that my father and I have a shared interest in. I have spent recently over 4, 000 on a new engine. Its not even a good engine, nobody wants to work on the fucking thing. Everything I do is for that car. It is my baby. Before I go any further, I know I can buy like 4 Toyota Corollas for that, I dont like them and I dont want to waste my life driving cars that. I just found out I only have about 60 years before I have to get rid of my license. Im actually good with my money, Live fully independent, with a 3-month pay emergency fund. Car parts do not come out the emergency fund unless if its for my daily driver. And I got enough to not dip into the e fund anyway.So Im spending for more on this car then it is worth, I accepted that, its a labor of love. This lead me to just get liability insurance on the car, because any damage done to it can be repaired with my own money, and I dont want to buy my car from the insurance company because they totaled it for a mid level repair. Happened to my sisters Jeep, we think a chop chop told the insurance company it was totaled and it just needed a new bumper and CV joint. And some other minor stuffSo this leads into the question, what happens if someone else hits me and its not my fault. This has happened to me multiple times in my old truck, and thankfully tow hitches are great investments. But what happens if someone elses insurance needs to get involved? Do they have a say if my car is totaled?Assistant: Not really. At best you might be able to keep it with a salvage title, but that really depends on the state. Human: So if someone else hits me Im basically fucked because their insurance company wants to be cheap  <response>: Its not being cheap. Theyre not going to pay out 5,000 to repair a car that appears to be worth about 3.50. But yes. They will total it and you wont have a say. 