I think my 06 TL is dead.

That alone while ugly should not be terminal, please photo detail the rest of the damage as the insurance co will look at everything together as a package.

If you do not have that kind of insurance I say no way , pull and fix.

You said that was the front, and that might be your problem.  I've seen some fwd cars get hit on one front wheel and not even cause any body damage and have some pretty expensive repairs.

It could potentially be totalled if you want it to be. You've described the whole left side, front and RR quarter needing repaint. With that, I'd demand a full and proper repaint of the whole car. That in itself is easily $4k just for the paint work.

The bodywork in your photo is probably $1500, add another $500 for the left side and probably $1000 for the front.

From how you described the car's movement, your rear beam axle/subframe/wheel bearings/etc are all suspect. Another $1000.

The wheel is visibly damaged, probably the two on the left side, as well... factory wheels are $300+ each.

What are we up to so far? $8500 or so? KBB pegs the value of the car at around $17-20k.

Press for as much repair as you can, and don't forget to mention the depreciated value of the car. With CarFax, that car will never be worth what it was before no matter how well it is repaired.

A few weeks ago I watched a friend of mine take a $3900 settlement on a $2500 1993 Miata (ever wonder where all these Lemons Miatas come from?) that was less-damaged than your car. From 20 feet, you could hardly tell that it had been hit, and it was plenty drivable... but, front and rear bumpers, hood, broken diff mounting ear, and on and on... it all adds up.

Personally, as long as it's the insurance company's dime... I'd prefer not to fix a car with that much damage. Take their money and buy another one that hasn't been wrecked.

I guess part of my worry is that...

a) The car will NEVER be what it was before the hit. Three cars trading paint and doing loops at 50+mph down a freeway leaves a mark.

and

b) This cars value from here on out is pretty well toast. Not to mention we are out a car for an EXTENDED period of time, the car that started the wreck ran but partial plate and good description should help that and she was on the clock which makes this an even more confusing workmans comp issue.

This is all going to be just as clear as mud.

With no face book acct I suppose there isnt anyway to see?

good to hear the wife is well.

for the other person asking about facebook i'm not sure how they do it there but by the sound of it you're likely right and need to be on facebook to scope out the pics. I normally have everything set private but i made an exception for that photo album. sorry

Dunno as of yet but yeah the radiator was leaking some when we pulled off into the e-lane so we hustled it up to the next exit where it let go just as we shut it off. we can pop the hood  from inside the car but cant open it fully due to the lever to release broke off. it pushed the upper core support back a good 3-6 inches.

at worst we'll probably call contact my source at pull-n-pay and get what we have to and leave a body shop to do the magic.

We've decline the bodyshop repair so the van is getting the Lemons/D.I.Y. repair treatment...

so far we are 150 in the hole versus 4 grand the bodyshop wants(minus the 62 for the inspection/estimate fee). we lucked out at pull-n-pay in more ways then we imagined. found a near perfect/identical van with "matching paint"

the only thing that would make it perfect (less the normal wear/tear scratches/scrapes to it) is the bumper is a slightly different design (Dodge had 3-4 designs. what we have and what we got are 2 of the variations). our model has fog lamp cutout pots but no fog lamps installed (if you saw the photos you can tell what I mean) the bumper we snagged is flush (no inserts or cutouts just passages for air to get to the radiator)