1993 Saab 9000 CS valuation

[trendar]

My 93 9000CS was hit while parked by an elderly motorist, knocking the rear bumper out, and his insurance company (Geico) says the cost to repair exceeds the value of the car, so they're going to total the car.
They said they're going to look at the typical selling prices in Buylines and classified ads to determine the value of the car, and base the compensation on that.
I'm curious how they'll do that if there aren't any cars available to form a good statistical sample- Apparently they don't have any listing of the average price for one, or possibly this would allow justification of a lower valuation compared to listings from sources like kbb.com. If they find one seller offering a similar car, would that enough for them to claim that to be the value of the car?
I've been through a similar situation before, and it's very frustrating when they come back and say they have listings of car sales at very low prices, but when I asked them to just go and buy equivalent one as a replacement for mine, they couldn't do it.
What would be a fair value for a previousiy-in-excellent-condition 93 9000CS with 135k miles?

[SaabJohan]

Depends also on what engine it has.

I would guess somewhere around $3-4k.

[edonis]

Noo, don't let them total your car...

[trendar]

It has the standard 2.3L four-
That seems to be about the range I've seen, about $3500; still no word from them on it yet.
I would have expected they maintain databases on this type of thing, but instead they're checking classified ads to determine the value, which seems strange.
They won't pay what it takes to fix it; apparently a rear bumper is too costly compared to what they say it's worth. If comprehensive insurance works the same way, it's probably worth checking the valuation of your car periodically to see if it's worth maintaining comp coverage at all-

[psychorallyfreak]

Get the work done and send them the bill with a note that says something along the lines of "if you don't pay this there will be legal reprocussions".
That should work, considering they wouldn't want to go to court.

[trendar]

Forgot to mention, the gent apparently had the minimum liability coverage of $25k, and he managed to take out 5 parked cars, destroying two (not just based on value, either). So I'd probably have to go to small claims with the guy rather than the ins. co.

[Rogue-OP]

he did all that damage with a motor bike?

wtf was he doing?

[trendar]

No, the gent was in a car; still don't know how he managed to take out so many parked cars, especially inside the confines of a parking lot.
Geico's still dragging their heels on resolution, I don't know what they're doing.