When a vehicle is declared a total economic loss — when repair costs exceed the vehicle's replacement value — the vehicle is auctioned through specialized salvage exchanges. Buyers are typically commercial purchasers, workshops, and recyclers.

The residual values achieved directly impact the insurer's claims costs: the higher the residual value, the lower the compensation to the policyholder, the lower the loss ratio. Platform selection is therefore a business-critical decision — one that has rarely been made systematically until now.