i understand where you are coming from, but that is where the "total loss" originates from , right?
the cost to fix the damages exceeds the value of the vehicle
it comes back to what OP is comfortable doing, how skilled he is and, i guess, if he is willing to drive a mechanically sound vehicle with a bunch of body damage (like so often in this hobby, our time is worthless when calculating cost)
there is of course the remote possibility that if the damage is, say 4000 dollars, and we can convince the insurance the vehicle is worth 7000, that they do not total it and instead have it fixed
but that seems unlikely
