Legacy Mom

Hi, Just giving an update. I have been in to see the dr, because I've had neck, lower back pain, and headaches, so thank you for the concern! My husband and kids have only complained of minor aches and pains, though the kid's are still freaked out about it. Anyhow, we met with the mechanic (at the dealer) this weekend, with my dad, and he confirmed what we suspected, that the car will never be as good as it was before the accident. They haven't gotten it apart to be able to determine how much the unibody has been affected, but you can visually see the way the front doors "pop" out infront of the back doors. We took lots of photos, and have contacted a family friend who is a lawyer because when we told the insurance company we wanted a new car, like what we had before we were hit, they said that's not what they do, and even argued that the value wouldn't be less once it's fixed. We talked to the Sales Manager and he said the value would definately be less. He couldn't tell us exactly how much until the repairs are done, but estimated it would be KBB minus the value of the repairs, so probably at least $6-8K less! Augh!

Our 3 month old Legacy Sedan was rear ended by a teenager last weekend, and the impact (she was going at least 50 mph) was severe enough to crunch in the entire back section of the car. My dad, who is an airplane mechanic and also a hobbist auto mechanic (he built his own kit car recently, and drives an Outback) said after looking at the Legacy, that he doubted they'd ever be able to get it fixed to the way it was prior to the accident. The shop is saying they can fix it, and I have no reason to believe that they wouldn't do everything they can to fix it the best they can, but I'm afraid that it'll never be the brand new car that it was before the accident. I guess our main concerns are that something could have been cracked/compromised by the impact somewhere other than the back part of the car, and also that re-painting the car will not be the same as the factory finish. Are these reasonable fears? Any opinions on this? Thanks!