i went through this with my STI last summer. i'm also a law school student so here is some words of advice and what i went through.
first and formost ARE YOU OKAY? forget the car, how are you feeling? did you go to the hospital, it sounds like pretty gnarly impact. make sure to get yourself checked out. and if anyhting go to physical therapy.
second, what kind of insurance does he have. the guy that rear ended my STI had minimal state required coverage, so my insurance had to cover the entire fix. and tehn basically my insurance is going after his. (also i was hit buy a drunk, very very drunk driver .32 BAC). if you haven't done so already, lawyer up. can't stress this enough.
now, as for the car. i cannot stress enough to take it to a body shop that YOU are comfortable with. honestly, i ddn't do that with my sti because of a few reasons but looking back i wish i took it to the body shop i wanted. when its at hte shop you need to make it clear to the adjuster AND the shop that you only want OEM parts. the insurance company will try to sell you and make a statement with oem replacement parts...decline at all costs. first of all oem parts are more expensive, so in case you want it totalled that can help you cross the threshhold. secondly oem parts will fit better. period.
as far as people saying the car will never drive the same, that is neither here nor there. it all depends on how it's fixed. my sti drove the same....i was standing still and was blasted at 65mph in the rear (no homo) and it was repaired and drove perfectly fine...however the paint wasn't the same and some of hte body panels werne't perfect so i traded the car in.
anyway right now i'm going through arbitration with his insurance for a UIM ( Under insured motorist) claim.
your car however, i would want totalled. especailly since an airbag went off, and the car is so small you'd need to replace so much to get back to OEM spec, and you dont know if any of hte driveline is damaged for sure. who knows what could have been done to the motor....did the adjuster come and appraise it all? does he know if hte car runs?
i know this sounds bad...but make sure the gets totalled. yes its a new car, and value is quite high but this is not something you want to get back and not be at 100%...
here is what my STI looked like...
http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show...159652&page=14