Racer's Lounge - Possible uni-body damage...

The shop finally got around to getting the door open on my gf's Cougar. According to them, there might be damage to the uni-body. An adjuster from the insurance company (Not her co. Accident was 100% fault of the other guy.) happened to be there at the same time that she stopped by and, of course, he told her they won't total it.

I'm just wondering if I should push for a total now or wait to see if there is actual damage to the uni-body of the car.

I'd push to total now, but she just bought this car in September and it only has 43k miles on it (2000 model yr) and I did all the routine maintenance on it right after she got it.

Here is the car after the idiot hit it:
http://community.webshots.com/album/538788132qoPTLY

Thoughts and/or suggestions?

.....

I dont know what to tell you but when I messed up the uni-body on my Firebird it sure wasnt cheap at all.

I dont know what to tell you but when I messed up the uni-body on my Firebird it sure wasnt cheap at all.
The repair bill is at $5k before any uni-body damage

The repair bill is at $5k before any uni-body damage
Wow. When I messed my car up the total was $4500 and like $2500-$3000 of it was unibody frame bending. Do you know the blue book value of the car?

Wow. When I messed my car up the total was $4500 and like $2500-$3000 of it was unibody frame bending. Do you know the blue book value of the car?
Retail = $9,275

^Well I dont think you would have $4,500 more in just the uni-body. The thing is, body shops can't give you a decent estimate on uni-body work because sometimes they dont know how bad it is until the car is on their lift all apart being worked on. I cant view the picture since I'm at school but if I coudl I could help you more. Its going to be really hard to get them to total the car i would assume but it may not even be worth the fight for it, especially if you guys are pleased with the car and confident the body shop or whoever can do a good job in fixing it.

^Well I dont think you would have $4,500 more in just the uni-body. The thing is, body shops can't give you a decent estimate on uni-body work because sometimes they dont know how bad it is until the car is on their lift all apart being worked on. I cant view the picture since I'm at school but if I coudl I could help you more. Its going to be really hard to get them to total the car i would assume but it may not even be worth the fight for it, especially if you guys are pleased with the car and confident the body shop or whoever can do a good job in fixing it.
I'm also worried about the hit the value of the car takes after this. She planned on selling it after she was done w/college next year. I called the adjuster (not her company obviously since the other guy is 100% at fault) and said we'd like to file a diminished value claim. He told me to go around to car dealers and see how much they will give for the car now and they will take a look at it. :eyes:

^^yea good point u wont get full value since a person interested in buying it can clearly check carfax etc. and see that it had been wrecked. Maybe its actually best to push for total if you think you have the chance to get it.

^^yea good point u wont get full value since a person interested in buying it can clearly check carfax etc. and see that it had been wrecked. Maybe its actually best to push for total if you think you have the chance to get it.
The local market for these cars is horrible right now though. We'd have a shitty time finding a comparable Cougar and these tools will only give her the rental for 7 days to look for a car. That makes it almost impossible when she works and goes to school full-time.