John,
good luck with it, seems you've been through the run around before, as have I. Twice.
Got rear ended on the fwy in SoCal, even though I have pulled onto the shoulder when I saw the guy coming up, His vehicle body didn't hit my quarter panel, the flat be sticking out did. I had a Subaru wagon that was likely 10 years or so old, but had a motor in it I switched from another one with only 50K miles on it, a new clutch kit when the motor was swapped, new tires and brakes, etc. They wanted to give me a pittance and total it, I fought them and got another grand or so and took the car back. Had a friend repair it and drove it for a lot of years.
The second one was an '84 Subaru wagon, again with new stuff and low mileage. It was in 2000 or so. We lived at about 7k' in the mtns of AZ at the time. Some dude up for skiing pulled out of the gas station at the Safeway and drove right into my car as I was trying to put it back in gear and get away, having just parked and undone my seatbelt. They wanted to give me something like $1200 for it, and total the car. I had to tell them I had more than that in new parts in the last year or so, counting tires, brakes, etc. I had every receipt for it all, including documentation of the oil changes I did every 3K miles. I asked them to tell me where I could find a well maintained 4wd vehicle in the mtns of AZ for $1200, and told them if they thought they could do it, seeing as how it was their client that hit me, then find it for me and we'd make a swap. I got more money out of them eventually and kept the vehicle, drove it another 3 or 4 years hunting all over AZ with it.
I understand Ed's point, from a business standpoint but wish for folks like us that try to take care of their vehicles they had some sort of replacement clause. Every time I take my 2001 Tacoma out on a trip I worry some little "fender bender" will cause the insurance folks to total it for Blue Book value. Where am I going to find a hunting truck like that for what they'll give me?
Again, good luck with it all.
