well to start with i would liketo say that you can go for repairing the vehicle or can go for total loss. Actually, i too faced a similar problem, in november 2010, i bought Maruti Swift ZXI and in Arpil this year, i had a terrible accident which damaged the vehicle and belief me the damages were heavy e.g. Chasis broken, engine got cracked, Gear box broken, dashboard broken, steering's shape changed into oval and many more damages were there.

I bought it for Rs 6,03,000. After that i went to my maruti dealer and he said when the cost of repairing the vehicle exceeds the amount of insurance then they consider to take the vehicle under total loss and i thought it will be beneficial at that time and i do not reget on my decision and would like to suggest you the same. Rest depends on you. I hope this help and your friend recover fron his loss soon.