Auto Insurance Claims: repair estimate - right to a second opinion?, scrap heap, cosmetic repairs

Question
First of all, thank you so much for this site and for everyone who's volunteered time. The answers I've read so far have been really helpful.

Here's the rundown, pretty standard scenario. My parked car was rear-ended causing damage to the trunk and tail light, with some comestic damage to the bumper and side rear panels. (Currently I don't know what, if any, underlying damage there is.) The car is perfectly driveable. I took the car to one of my insurance co's preferred garages for an estimate, which came out slightly higher than my ACV (by a couple hundred dollars).

Naturally the insurance company wants to total it. Which leads me to my questions:

1) Do I have the right to take my car to a different garage for another estimate?

2) Do I have to accept everything that's in the estimate? For example, what if I'd like to exclude all of the purely cosmetic repairs and just focus on the trunk damage? Can I ask them to re-estimate based on just 'necessary' repairs?

The woman at the insurance company basically had a heart attack when I said "re-estimate" and was either unable or unwilling to discuss options with me, which is why I am wondering if I can even do that. But it seems like I should be able to!

I do understand that costs usually go up once the repair shop actually 'opens her up', but I'd like to know all of my options before I consign my car to the scrap heap!

Thanks so much!

Answer
Hi Julie,

A vehicle is generally declared a total loss if the cost of repairs exceeds 75% of the actual cash value (ACV) of the vehicle.  In this case you indicated that the repair cost is more than 100% of the ACV of the vehicle.

Depending on the age of your vehicle and your states regulations, you may be able to keep the vehicle, however it may be more trouble than it's worth.  

As far as getting another opinion, you certainly can do that, but, keep in mind that insurance companies are cheep and will always try to pay as little as possible. They have no incentive to inflate the cost of repairs just to total your car.   

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh