Talk with your insurance agent and the body shop. If its just the sheet metal that is banged up and a leaking fuel tank, a good body shop should be able to repair this to like new condition. However, since I can not see the damage, I can not make a judgement. If the damage is extensive, the insurance carrier may decide to to "total" the car and pay you what they determine is the worth of the vehicle. Be careful if they decide to total the vechicle. You might not get enough to replace the car. Make sure that you do. Point out that your time is worth money and that you will have to spend time to find a replacment and the hassle of buying it and licensing it.

I agree that Iced Tea is not so bad. I once had a whole tray of sausage & peppers spill onto the back seat of my car. Cloth seats (I know, pretty dumb to put it there) It was one big, greasy, stained mess! The next morning I got out there with a bottle of Carbona Rug cleaner. It comes in a red bottle with a brush and sponge on top. You shake the bottle, squeeze out the foam onto the sponge/brush top and brush it into the stain. The seat covers were a light gray fabric. As I did that I rubbed the seat with clean towels...lots of towels. It came out like brand new, no stains and no smells. My brother saw the mess and said "you will never get that out." I love a challenge, it was not hard to do and I was done in less than an hour. Tossed the towels into the washer and done. Please try it.

I am totally and irrationally attached to my old car. We just got a "new" one - a 2008 hyundai santa fe, but I am already thinking about what to get next when we sell this one. We got a killer deal on a low mileage used one and could probably even make money if we sold it today (and would make money if we totaled it). I love having a bigger car with a toddler and I love AWD in bad weather but I do not really love the crappy gas mileage so hoping in a couple of years our options are better for a CUV with better fuel economy (some of the models coming out this year look good so we'll see how good they really are and then look for a good deal in a couple of years). But we just put a lot of money (where a "lot" is relative to the value of the car) our 2001 Honda Accord. NOTHING special about it at all but I just love that car. It needed a new CV joint, 4 new tires, an expensive 100k mile service and new brakes. Somewhat recently it had the timing belt done and a new clutch. It runs like new now and even though it's nothing luxurious or sporty and never was, if I am going somewhere by myself and the weather is OK I will always take the old car. To me it's like that perfectly faded, broken in pair of jeans that are just starting to get good after 10 years. yeah there are a couple of frayed edges but oooh so comfortable. DH wanted to sell it when we got the "new" car and go back down to one car again (we have shared a car for the last 10 years or so that he has been working from home) but it's really much harder to do that with a child... and I just could not bear to give up the old car.

Doesn't a valet key also work in the drivers side door, so they can get into the car. I thought they just didn't work in the inside compartments and the trunk. I've never had one. I hope you really like your new car. Just the fact that new cars get that much more milage should be a help to our economy. Would you buy a 2 year old car with 10 less mpg rather then spending more for that great milage? I would (if I had it LOL.)