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There is not a whole lot you can do to get a "higher" value for your car. But you can do your homework. Go to ALL of the online car value sites: KBB, Edmund's, NADA, etc., and look up your car. Be honest with the mileage (they can check that), and make sure you put in the proper model. If it was an Arc, note it so, if a Linear, Aero, etc. Make notes of the values. Note: I find KBB unrealistically high in their estimates in my part of the country. Where you are, it may be different. BTW - you can't look up the book that the ins. co. uses. But I found that NADA (nadaguides.com) was very, very close to that figure.
I had two 9-5s totaled in two years, and I got a very fair payout for both. I did, however, have to remind them that the first car was an Arc, and thus was about $1,500 higher in value than a Linear, which is what they first quoted me for.
The Insurance company will "total" the car based on only a percentage of the total value of the car. So, if the car is worth, say, $5,000, they may declare it a "total loss" when the repair bill exceeds $4,000 (maybe even less). You still get the $5,000 (less your deductible, if applicable). This is to protect them from last-minute charges that might exceed the total value after they were committed to repair the car.
Always remember, the "total loss" is a financial determination, and has absolutely nothing to do with the reparability of the car.
About the only way you may get more than book value for it is if you recently - as in VERY recently, less than 6 months - modified or upgraded or replaced something significant like the engine. Even that is a gamble, but the worst they'll say is no. Replacing or upgrading wheels is probably not going to get you much, if anything.
As for replacing it, while it is true Saab no longer builds cars, there are still other Saabs out there to buy. There is little reason to not be driving another Saab, if that is what you want to do.
Getting the payout and buying it back is fraught with potential pitfalls. The first is, you will never be able to get comprehensive or collision coverage on your car again. Only liability. Once the insurance co pays you for a total loss, they're not going to do it again. Then there is the repairs. You need to undercut the estimate the adjuster made, which is possible, but at what cost for quality of the repair?
I know many of us develop emotional ties to our Saabs. But at a certain point, it's just a hulk of metal, and common sense must prevail. Better to take a fair payout from the insurance company, and go on the hunt for a comparable Saab on the market that hasn't been wrecked.
_______________________________________
Current:
2002 9-5 Aero Kombi Cosmic Blue
2000 9-5 SE sedan, Imola Red
1990 900S Rose Quartz, Auto
Past:
1999 9-5 LPT Combi
1999 9-5 LPT sedan
2002 9-5 Arc
1990 900 5-speed
1986 900 turbo Convertible
1991 9000 turbo
1980 99 GLi
1986 900 turbo
1986 900 S
1991 900 turbo
1984 900 turbo
1976 99 GL
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(#1140) 
[Profile/Gallery]
(more from Larry West) on Wed, 20 Mar 2013 13:26:13
