Having (sadly) had two cars totalled by insurance over the years, and dealing with crooks at insurance companies for a hit and run on my wife's car last year (5 trips to court, 7 days of missed work, and we got an OK repair and the other driver got off with NOTHING on her record..) I can tell you this- the adjuster is going to low ball you like crazy. Expect it- and laugh when he/she does it. Yes, put the door cards in place, pick up the trash on the floor boards and throw it out. When they come to look at it- explain it was going in for a full-body, bare metal respray and you aren't interested in getting screwed so, tell them not to bother. The adjuster is NOT your friend- they are only there to save the insurance company money. After they low ball you, come back with the repair quotes you got on your own and tell them you want to get it fixed. If they say no, and want to total it- same thing, don't take the first offer. Hell, don't take the second or third either- tell them you just put a new engine and trans in it and were going to get it repainted as a full body restoration. Get as much as you can for it- then you can go shopping for another one. When the ins company totalled my flooded corvette they made it sound like they were doing me a favor. Mid-range retail was $18K+. Their first offer? $5800, to "hurry up and get me back on the road." I was so angry I hung up on him. I ended up just getting $9K, because I just couldn't take it anymore and had to get another car. Don't make that mistake. Know what it's selling for (not what the books say) and get that for it. Also- I was rear ended and my insurance went up because the moron that hit me was with the same ins. company I was because they said I was "in the wrong place at the wrong time." Sitting at a red light and rear ended was the wrong place and time? I got another insurance company. And get checked out- neck and back injuries take a while to show up- and they take a long time to fix- and you heard that from a "medical professional," so go get checked out. Best of luck to you- keep us posted!

Well, the adjuster showed up today, looked at my car and said they'd give me $4,000, and consider the car totalled. Considering what I paid for the car, I'm happy with that I paid $1600 for it a couple months ago (but that was also before 100 hours of working on it and spending almost a grand on parts, most of which I haven't yet installed)

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84 300D
84 300SD

SCORE!

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1982 300sd from craigslist $800 greased on one tank with NO CONVERSION in the Hot Texas Sun. (currently dead & awaiting engine damage investigation and/or longblock swap)
new daily: '03 vw 5speed jetta tdi wagon. bagged&chipped

Hey, what are you doing with my car? Dang thing looks exactly like mine minus the damage and my swapped tail lights.

I was about to say that you should get $4000. The car looks like it was in nice condition and it is not completely unreasonable to see a mint 300SD go for $4000. I save all of the receipts for the parts I buy for my vehicles just in case something were to happen. I will use that as justification for why my car is worth more. For the heck of it, what is the cost to buy the car back?

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1991 F250 super-cab 7.3 IDI. (rebuilt by me) Banks Sidewinder turbo, hydroboost brakes, new IP and injectors.
2003 S430 - 107K
1983 300SD - Tanoshii - mostly restored ~400K+.
1983 300SD - Good interior. Engine finally tamed ~250K.
Monark Nozzle Install Video - http://tinyurl.com/ptd2tge