It is one of those win some, lose some stories. I was able to get the adjuster's supervisor/trainer to admit the original adjuster did not know what he was writing up (it became a teaching moment for the inexperienced adjuster, at my expense). The generic welded in cheepie-converter magically transformed into a direct fit factory style with a 5-year warranty and OEM oxygen sensors. The damaged muffler would still be a welded kluge of factory stub and aftermarket adapters. The claims person would not even consider my demand for a new muffler with correct interface flanges and seals (it is a FLEX joint!)... I only felt a little unreasonable at that one. Anyway, the final settlement still did not cover half of the stealership estimate for factory replacement of all damage parts. They did gracefully agree to tow the car back to my house.
As of this morning I have ordered the factory OEM cat, muffler, seals, sensors, bolts, bells and whistles to be installed by a trusted mechanic (me) this weekend. The settlement value, my deductible, and hours of TCB web searching will more than likely net out the same as the settlement version installed by Midas. Of course I will now have the next drug-fix for the local crack head kindly awaiting his battery powered sawzall under my factory correct Element.
It is hard not to hate... but I am trying. I hope it was worth it to them.
