People take pride in owning an American truck, but one brand might not hold up as well compared to others. The Chevrolet Silverado is a stout competitor in the segment, but it is considered to be totaled much more frequently than its rivals. 

The Chevy Silverado is the American truck that’s most often totaled 

A group referred to Levine and Wiss put together a list of the top 10 cars with the highest totaled accident rate. Only one truck landed on the list, and it’s American. 

The American truck that gets declared totaled the most is the Chevy Silverado 1500. The Ford Mustang is the car that’s totaled the most. In 2023, 14.60% of accidents involving the Mustang ended up with it being totaled. 

Meanwhile, the Chevy Silverado 1500 landed in third place with 14.50% of accidents resulting in totaled trucks. It has a low amount of accidents with 5,314 wrecks recorded in 2023. 

So, even though it’s not involved in many accidents, most of its wrecks end up with a totaled truck. It has about 15 total loss claims per 100 vehicles. Every single other vehicle on the list is a car. There are no SUVs or other trucks in the top 10. 

The Silverado 1500 ended up in a tie with the Ford Focus. However, the Focus was involved in twice as many wrecks, so it ended up in second place. The Chevy Cruze is in 10th place with 13.90% of totaled models. 

A vehicle is considered to be totaled when an accident causes so much damage that the repair costs are more expensive than the vehicle’s value. 

But how safe is this American truck? The 2023 Silverado has a few concerning safety scores from the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS). 

For example, the structure and safety cage earned a Poor rating in the small overlap crash test. The moderate overlap front test earned a poor rating, and headlights also got a Poor score. 

But it has excellent safety scores in other areas. Being declared totaled might not have a connection to safety scores. However, getting in a wreck could destroy its value.