[Zappo]

In certain cases things like emotions and attachments are best left on the shelf. If the car is so badly damaged as to make the surveyor press for the write off then I guess it has to be real bad. Even if your friend gets it repaired after paying a substantial amount (insurance or no insurance) you can be pretty sure that the car will keep giving nagging problems and will have a new issue every month. And then even selling it after spending so much won't fetch you anything very different from what you will get now as a final settlement. I would say it is better to accept the car as Totalled.