guys, so I went to what i think one of the best shops around and they quoted me around $2300 to repair the damage. Something I didn't like they said is that they will have to sand part of the hood and paint it along with the bumper to "blend it in", I was like "really?", there's not a single scratch on the hood. Guys, is this common?

Some places have their "way" of doing things. I suggest you go to multiple places and ask where they will blend and "if" it doesn't come out matching, are they willing to respray it. I would avoid touching the hood as it is a large flat piece that reflects a lot of light and it is much easier to spot imperfections.

And $2300 is pretty high. New fender is maybe 400 at most? Bumper looks good. I was expecting 1000-1500 max.

On my last car, to repaint the fender they sprayed partial of the driver door and the hood. Didn't touch the bumper because no damage to it. It's just to blend it.

There are worse things to worry over
 

I'm so sad, I never thought this will happen to me.

I've been waiting for my first sports car my whole life. I finally bought my 2014 SSM Limited and had it for a month when I drove it into the back of an enormous pickup truck on the most notorious avenue in town. Low speed, no airbag deployment, but dang that foot long trailer hitch made a mess of things when it went through my headlight.

That was a month ago. It's been in the best body shop we have (Cadillac dealer), and they have been pouring on the TLC -- the manager had never seen one. He walked around it and gave it a low whistle. Everyone seems eager to restore their first BRZ, to get it RIGHT.

During one visitation, he showed me the structural piece that holds up the nose of the car. It gets welded at the top and bolted on the bottom. He said if this part doesn't just line up perfectly, the frame is twisted. Well, the new part had been welded in place, and I could see that the bolt holes lined up perfectly, no twist in the chassis. He said he would put it on the rack anyway just to be sure.

So, I pick it up tomorrow and I've got butterflies. I fully expect my BRZ to be 100pc new again, and everybody agrees this body shop can do it. So my advice is to get it done, forget the incident, and drive away in the sunshine. That's what I'm going to do.

Oh by the way, my insurance is paying $7500 for the work.

Any pictures of the before/after?

What was the total cost of the repair?

That was the total. They dismantled everything down to perfect parts and built it back up with Subaru OEM. The estimator wrote up about $5500 and the body manager added $1750 after he took it apart and saw what was what. Everyone seemed to agree that the car was not only practically new but special as well, and they took pains to bring it back to original condition.

Sorry, I'm a photographer, but I could hardly look at it. The bumper was in splinters, all the light fixtures were broken, the hood was flattened and buckled into an a-frame, and the right fender was compressed against the door so that I was afraid to try to open it. And yet no damage to anything mechanical -- I drove it home on the highway at speed without a problem. Let the crumple zones crumple to save the engine, legs, etc.

And trust me that it is once again immaculate.

If financially able: Don't report/claim on insurance, buy new - used parts, have color matched, install yourself. I'd go this direction if the cost of parts was less than $1500,you are financially able, and mechanically inclined or know someone who is. No report on carfax, no loss of resale value. Dishonest? Depends how good the color matching is lol. Since their insurance is covering the costs my idea is kind of dumb. Although I've never bought a used car with an accident reported on a carfax either.

The only thing that might be "dishonest," in my view, is replacing damage with used parts. Again, in my view, taking the insurance money and then doing your own repairs, or having them done more cheaply than a "professional job," is perfectly cool. After all, you sustained the loss, and the insurance is there to "make you whole." Nobody has anything to say about what you do with the money. With my accident, the shop went to pains to get only new Subaru parts. I may be sorry when my premiums rocket into the stratosphere, but a small addendum to carfax as to how it was repaired should count for something.

For damage like that fixing it yourself and not getting it on a record would not be dishonest in my opinion. Hell, dealers do it all the time with brand new cars damaged on the lot or in transit.
Now if there is structural or mechanical damage and you hide that then that is a whole different matter.

I had a similar but lighter damage on the fender the second day I picked the BRZ..
And same colour as yours.

Similar thing happened to me on the same fender. I took the best out of the situation and had the garnish on the fenders shaved off and painted for less than what the insurance estimator quoted (around $1600). They had to blend the paint on the door, hood, and bumper to get a better paint match.
Before:
http://i60.tinypic.com/29gg6lj.jpg
http://i57.tinypic.com/23ifhwo.jpg
After:
http://i.imgur.com/zTSgUCy.jpg