I'm in Castro Valley. The car is being leased from a Nissan dealership in Milbrae though. This morning I'm paying to have it towed to another Nissan dealership that has a body shop. My thinking being that if their estimate (using NEW rims, doors, etc) is high enough to be flagged as a total, that's good news for me. I'll take the money and start car shopping again. On the other hand, if this new estimate is under the cap I have the right (per the "Auto Body Repair Consumer Bill of Rights") to have the repair work done at the auto body shop of my choosing. If I select to have the work done at the Nissan dealership I protect myself in the event Nissan Motor Acceptance (from which I'm leasing the car) comes after me for anything after I return the car to them when the lease is up in 2006. Sounds like I got it figured out, huh? I don't. I may be contacting an attorney if this second estimate is a total and my insurance company STILL elects to repair the car. Bottom line...I don't feel safe driving around an automobile that has sustained $10k in collision repair costs - especially not frame-work!
If anybody out there has any type of experience in this area I'm open to suggestions.