As some of you may know, 62 had an accident not too long ago. I got a call from the insurance adjuster yesterday and actually didn't give some bullshit lowball value. She said it was worth $3248, which is reasonable, but still not enough to avoid it being a total loss.

So here's my question. If I do argue with them and get the value above the total loss threshold, do I have to have a body shop do the repairs, or can I do them myself? If I choose to keep the car right now, they will cut me a check for $2407, which will more than cover any repairs if I do it myself. However, I want to get the most value out of this situation as possible. Do you guys think the value of the car will be significantly lower if there is an accident on its carfax?

I'm leaning towards taking the money, but I don't want to exceed the total loss threshold and have to take it somewhere that is going to charge 2500 to replace a bumper, headlight, foglight, and quarterpanel.

EDIT: I forgot to add that, because of it's age, the title would not be branded as a salvaged vehicle, but the accident would still show on a carfax.

In my experience, you'd be hard-pressed to get more out of it than that. Unfortunately, since people here are too lazy/indifferent to update sold threads with actual selling prices, we can only suggest the value of clean runners to be in the $3500+ range. There's really no proof to the contrary, unfortunately. If the carrier is offering you $2400 hard currency and without branding the title, I'd say you're doing alright. Take the money and run.

These are 20 year old cars. Carfax isn't near as damning as apparently lax maintenance practices by the seller. Long term, an accident on a carfax might bring down the value of a show/collector car, but are you keeping this car as a financial investment instrument? Take the money, clean up the car, call it a day.

I figured as much. I'm still going to give them a little of my own research to try to squeeze a couple more bucks out of them, but I'm almost certain I'm gonna take the money and run. The only problem is I am not in Seattle to do the repairs, so either my brother has to do them, or I have to pay someone else to do it.

From my understanding they will brand the title either way if they cut you a check for repairs. I believe the only way to dodge that bullet would be to fix it out of pocket and not turn it in. I'd say with it being a limited edition car a salvage title will hurt the value for sure in the future. Now if its modded and you never plan to sell it I would take their offer and fix it yourself because it won't matter about the title.

You can show them my "members rides" post. It has my appraisal as proof of what these cars can be worth.

And just to be clear, that value was done before the full EVO III tranny and all of the latest ECMlink work and bling work under the hood. (estimated value increase of $2000-$3000).

From the WA dmv website:

Market Value Threshold
The vehicle meets the definition of the “market value threshold” if it:
-Is 6–20 years old.
-Its a passenger vehicle, light-duty truck, or sport utility vehicle (SUV).
and
-Had a retail value of $6,790 or more before being destroyed, damaged, wrecked, or declared a total loss.

Will I receive a rebuilt brand on the car?
If a Certificate of Ownership (title) is being reissued on the car, it may be branded as “WA REBUILT” if it:
-Is 5 years old or newer.
or
-Meets the “market value threshold” criteria.

Car isn't above the market threshold, so it won't get a branded title... at least that's how I understand it.

Terry, I looked at the appraisal, but it is noted that the car had a complete restoration. My car is (well, was) a supremely well kept car, but wasn't a restoration, so I don't know if its really applicable. Thanks though