Auto Insurance Claims: Car should be totaled, neighborhood road, rear hatch

Question
My wife's car was hit by a drunk driver last night in the rear while it was parked by the sidewalk ion our neighborhood road.  The rear hatch of the car ended up in the back seat.  The frame is out of shape and being a 2001 new Beetle this is a unibody.  The adjuster from this guy's insurance has quoted a $4800 repair with salvaged parts.  First off I do not want salvaged parts, second I do not want a unibody vehicle with prior frame damage.  This adjuster seems to be unreasonable to me.  What is my best strategy for communicating these thoughts to the insurance agency or adjuster or bodyshop?  Will I need an attorney?  Thank you in advance I am very impressed with this Q&A forum.

Jesse

Answer
Hi Jesse,

First of all you need to understand that the insurance company will not care one little bit what your thoughts or concerns are. They will do what they think they can get away with to save them as much money as possible.

Since your vehicle is a 2001, they are permitted by law to use salvaged parts. The parts they use will be from a 2001 or newer vehicle. So they are putting back basically the same as was damaged from the same type of vehicle.

The repair estimate written by the insurance company is likely to be on the low side. You need to select a body shop that you feel comfortable with. Do not let the insurance company tell you where to have the repairs done.  You should request that the shop you chose complete a tear down in order to write a more accurate repair estimate. Remember that if the cost to repair the vehicle exceeds about 70% of the vehicle's value, it should be declared a total loss.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh