Two weeks ago I was in an accident with my 92 RS. The insurance company valued the car at $6100 (new paint, 1 yr old engine, lots of maintenance, etc). The estimate from the first body shop in Indianapolis was $5700, but the insurance company didn't want to pay to have it fixed for fear of finding additional damage. Now I have the car plus a check for $5500 (value of car minus deductable and scrap value plus cost of tax on buying a new vehicle) and the car. It is wrecked on the front left side. It needs a new front end, drivers side fender, hood, and part of a front left frame rail.

I took the car back home to the shop that just painted it because I trust them to do good work. Their labor rate is a little higher. They quoted around $4000 for labor and paint assuming I find a suitable donor car for all of the parts. I've found a couple options on parts cars - a 91 RS body here in Indianapolis that look good in the pictures for $500 and a complete 92 Z28 (77,000 miles, 305 w/ T-5) wrecked on the passenger side for $1200.

One option is to buy a parts car and pay the shop to fix it. Another is to sell the car - apparently there's been some interest at the body shop. I'm also considering parting the car out. I could sell quite a few engine parts, brand new (1 month) front koni yellows, 3 year old koni yellow rears, LS1 style front brakes, PBR rear brakes, brand new front steering parts (I don't think they were damaged), 18x8.5 chrome iroc style rims, addco sway bars, plus some interior and 5 speed parts.

I'm pretty much on the fence. I'd like to keep the car - it's been my baby for 3+ years and I've put a bunch of time and money into it already. I'm also having second thoughts about keeping it long term and this would be a decent opportunity to move on to something different (I've had my eye on bmw 318ti's) or more reliable. I won't really have a good place or time to work on a car over the next couple of years while I tackle grad school.

What are you guys' suggestions? If I get rid of the car will I regret it forever? (can anyone speak from experience on this one?)

Thanks!

Josh