DrMar

I think that some of you are missing the point here. It is very doubtful that the insurance company would have given me much of anything for diminished value if I'd gone ahead with the repairs. The only reason I came out this well is because I did not repair the vehicle.

Here's how it would have gone:

$12,200 initial repairs
2,000 hidden damage and parts price increases
1,540 rental car costs as of last week
1,628 projected rental costs for duration of repair
$17,368 TOTAL OUT OF POCKET REPAIR COST

I would've been lucky to get $3K in diminished value and would have had to fight for it after the car was repaired. All told, it would have cost over $17K to repair a vehicle that would only be worth ~$21K after repairs. Plus, I would've been in the rental car for another month, and taken no joy in getting my old car back knowing how severely it had been damaged. The trunk was shifted over, for crying out loud. Nothing was plumb. Maybe some of you would have been happy with that, but I just wasn't.

I picked up my '07 this afternoon; $100 over invoice. Dealer surprised me with trunk liner and wheel locks, no charge. Sweet...