$12K? The car would be a "total loss" at that price. No insurance would pay for that and anyone who'd cough that out out of pocket is a complete buffoon. I used to work for Al & Eds Autosound when I was a teeny bopper. There is no way $12K worth of damage there. Even at a dealer $5K would be overcharging. I can see realistically $1200 in damage, but not much more.
What that estimate is...is a hit job on Circuit City. Not that they don't deserve it or anything. They knew this guy was going to sue the ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- out of CC and they estimated accordingly. I went to 3 dealers to get an estimate on a single dent caused by a drunk teenager when I was younger. I told them all 3 the story. I got 3 estimates from $2,500 to over $4,000. I presented them to the guy and said I'd take the least amount. He coughed up the $2,500...I went down to a body shop and had the dent repaired and painted for $1,100 and pocketed the rest.
Thats $5K of damage at the most and $7K of "screw you CC" counted in.