mrgreenjeans

Did your guy at the shop inspect the transaxle for damage, including torque tube and any resulting impact-pressure to the engine area ?
It does not take much of a rear impact to move the body into the year of the transaxle; the clearance of sheet metal and transmission assembly is not that great.....

Turbodan

fix it, take the salvage title, drive for another 300k miles and 30 years. these cars can be rebuilt...might need a celette rack though. keeping your old favorite car that you grew up in ...priceless

Wisconsin Joe

Some of this depends on what state you are in and what the rules are.
If you decide to keep it and fix it:

What are your rules for getting a car with a salvage title back on the road? Most places require some sort of inspection.

What will your insurance company say about covering a car with a salvage title? Some companies will not pay out on any future damage, arguing that it's already been totalled out and they won't pay twice. Sometimes a 'salvage/rebuild' title, with appropriate inspections will address this.

What are your plans for the future? Salvage or Salvage/rebuild titles will affect the value significantly. If you plan on keeping the car 'forever', that won't matter.

To be honest, I don't think those hassles are worth the money.
If the car can be fixed correctly (and that is an 'if') keeping the salvage brand off the title would be a plus.

Perry 951

As a former adjuster (and a 951 fire survivor that had to do the dance to get appropriate values and a clear title), unless you can get a clear title and have it repaired 100% for the money they are offering, walk away. You will be very hard pressed to find an insurer who will cover it for comprehensive and collision with a salvage title. I can almost guarantee a stated value policy is out of the question unless State Farm agrees to not report the value of repairs.

If you go the clear title/buyback and end up having more damage than initially thought, you're coming out of pocket to repair it. There are no insurance supplements on this kind of deal (where they pay for more repairs as you go). That's what happened with mine. I got a good settlement but found more damage when I tore the car down. By the end of it, I was way upside down, then went crazy on it and did a full mechanical restoration.

Tom R.

I agree with Perry and Tifo. Buy it back to use as a parts car. There are plenty of nice donors out there. Maybe even find a clean NA and swap the turbo parts and drivetrain in. The drivetrain of a NA is easily sellable. Since you are painting anyway, swap the nose and drivetrain, brakes and with 300K put in new shocks. Take the better seats, etc. paint it and enjoy it. Then sell the old shell. You have the expensive add ons like the air pump, bigger spare, etc. so if the car you buy doesn't have them who cares

Todd951968

A friend of mine wrecked his 86' Turbo soon after he first got it. He was unaccustomed to turbo lag and nailed it around a corner at the wrong time. It spun out , whacked the front into a gaurd rail, whipped the car around and hit the back end into the guard rail as well. Insurance company wanted to total it and it was roughly the same estimate to repair ($ 8k or so). He convinced the insurance company not to total it and brand the title. Instead , they gave him the title and the car along with a net payment.

Another example, my dad wrecked his 72' Mercedes 350SL and totaled it. The insurer looked at for sale ads nation-wide to come up with a value, factoring in things like condition, mileage, and damage. They actually cut him a check for much higher than I expected. His was a driver but comparables were priced high so he made out. I would , at a minimum, arm yourself with several ads for similar cars to help establish a higher value.

Good luck.