Thanks guys. I talked it over with my brother last night, and he said the same thing. If they write it off, take the payout instead, and fix it myself. Seriously, all it needs is a bumper. I can patch up the dent in about an hour. I wanted to get a roll pan anyway, and if they give me the payout, I can do that for under $300.
There's still a chance that they won't write it off, but now I'm hoping they do, so I can take the other route.
Get this, they quoted four hours of labour to fix the dent in the box. Not paint, not clear, just fix the dent.
It turns out Angela read the quote wrong, and it's repair, not replace. Still, when you see the pictures, you'll see there's no way it should cost near that much to fix.
He also pointed out that the shop owner probably knew there was more than a 305 under the hood (it's pretty obvious when you pull up). I guess it's common practice around here to overquote, knowing it will be written off, and that it will be at auction soon.
