Diminished Car Value
 

1 week ago I got rear ended. Very sad day. The bumper got gashed and is missing a 2 inch chunk out of it. Also my rim got scratched. I got an estimate and its about 1k in damage. My question is how is the insurance company going to calculate the diminished car value since the car has now been in an accident? I am trying to get some info so they don't try to rip me off. I did some internet searches but every site wants my personal info. Anyone able to shed some light on the situation for me?

Thanks,

There may not be any diminished value payout for damage that light. I know that $1,000 may seem like a lot to you but that is almost nothing in the car repair world. Generally we have seen payouts of one or two thousand dollars for repairs costing ten or more thousand here so I don't think you will be looking at much if anything. Keep in mind that the your insurance is working for you and will try to get the best they can and will not try to rip you off. It is the other person's insurance that will try to lowball.

I am waiting for their insurance to call me with the lowball offer for the diminished value. My insurance is not involved yet since their insurance is taking care of everything. The dealership is fixing the car and they are paying for it and the rental. Surprisingly I have not had any problems yet. knock on wood. Well besides the mental aspect of knowing my baby was in an accident.

Give the attached a read through. Very informative!


http://www.wikihow.com/Calculate-Diminished-Value

Thanks for the link. Good info on that site.

they wont come out with anything about diminished value when they write you an estimate, you have to file that on your own and it varies state to state how filing a diminished value claim works.

I mentioned it to the agent handling the case. He said that someone will call me about it. I am still waiting for that someone to call. If not I will contact my insurance company and they will get it taken care of. Thanks for the info though.

Yea you will have to keep following up. I tried to do this with another vehicle but the hassle/run around was a bitch and I just decided it was't worth my time

Just for information's sake. This is my story about trade in values and minor reported claims...

I was involved in a minor incident where a piece of plywood was lifted up by another car from the road and then struck my FR-S. The resulting damage was a bumper cover (cut into it), fender liner, slightly scratched wheel and small dent in driver's front fender. All said, about $2800 in damages and about 10 days to 'match' the triple coat paint, Hot Lava.

Turn the clocks forward about two years, and I find out that my professionally repaired car is approx. $2k less than one without a CARFAX accident report of same mileage and condition. Of course when I spoke to my insurance agent about the difference, there was no mention of diminished value, although I all but mentioned these words in my questions.

The only solution I could see would be to pay out of pocket for damages and not to report the accident, although that sounds unsavory to me as an owner and potential buyer. All for about the same diminished value as the repair costs.

YMMV,

Eric G

They do not pay diminished value on comprehensive claims (what yours probably was) or at fault accidents. They only pay when somebody else was at fault, so this is why they didn't offer it to you.


When they repaired my mysterious flying LCA damage they completed the repair and paint in one day. They simply brought in the paint rep right from the start and he got the colour bang on first shot.

they never really "offer" it to anyone you have to file the claim

Yes. I was just using the word "offer" in reference to Mkii's statement.
If dealing with the other insurance company through your own then yours may bring it up but the company that is paying sure as hell are not going to offer you squat.

No diminished value claims in MA. Makes it even more reasonable to flip out at the offending driver :)

How did you get the dealership to fix the car? Which dealership is this??

I am allowed to take my car to wherever I want to have it fixed according to Progressive insurance. I was on the phone with progressive and we 3 wayed the dealership (Lexus of Pembroke Pines does the repairs for Toyota of Hollywood) to schedule the appointment. I am very happy that a Lexus dealer is fixing my car and not Toyota of Hollywood. I was not impressed with the service people at Toyota of Hollywood.

I went to Seidners in the same building of the dealership, because the dealership repairs only go to a certain extent and then stop. I was impressed, but honestly any damages to a car truly is not stock anymore. Technically unless you did not suffer too many damages you may still be admitted in as a member of stock society. Honestly what would be cheaper? A. Sell the resources of the car and have toyota assemble another one with the assembly line or B. Get a mechanic to repair it. I think assembly lines in a mechanics workplace would be neat because lets face it what the fuck is salvaged? I've driven in salvaged cars they are nothing tied together like stock cars, because they are loose and untightened not as good of quality as an assembly line. The assembly line has the perfect quality that nobody can even top. Why not have man build more assembly lines and producing more competition for car companies making the prices cheaper for us to buy cars? Why? Because people want people to die trying, while we let the machine dust. People need to think smarter not work harder. For every 5000 cars man repairs we could build and have an assembly line down the block, which will perfectly repair over 10000 cars perfectly.

[ame]http://youtu.be/lt-udg9zQSE[/ame]

Wat?

Tldr; I would rather have my car assembled/repaired at the dealership/manufacturer than anywhere else.

Because there aren't dealers that half-ass the job as well...

As for the manufacturer, if you can somehow ship your car to Subaru's plant in Ota, Gunma in Japan, then by all means.

thats what I was thinking. lol

Oh Squady you just get better all the time. Assembly line repairs would be the very worst possible solution that could ever be conceived when it comes to car repairs. That $49.99 belt replacement would cost about $800. Just because cars can be built well on an assembly line does not mean that is an effective way to repair them. It works for building simply because the stages are sequenced precisely. How do you sequence repairs when they are not all the exact same issue?
Depending upon the skills of the rebuilder salvage cars can be as good or even better than when they rolled off the line. The reverse also applies and some cars that roll off the line brand new should go straight to the scrap bin since the quality is so bad.

Likewise, but then explain why my car did not come back in the same(perfect) condition it was after it got "repaired"?

I am not even going to bother. I will be wasting my breath (finger muscles) if you don't already understand the concept of damaged/used vs new/unused.

Best calculate it to the diminished value OP

From what I have read online my car probably lost 1500-2k in value from the accident. The insurance company should try to offer me about $500 and the fight begins.

Interesting dichotomy.

A house that is damaged and repaired "properly" does not distract from the value of the house. Many times ... the repair (i.e new roof after hail damage; new water heater; etc.) actually adds value to the house.

A car becomes damaged and is repaired "properly"with OEM panels, new paint, etc ... but now it is worth less. I'm not talking about older collectible cars. Modern cars mostly.

Consider the warranty has been voided and there is no warranty on houses?

Is that a question or statement .. ??

If it's a statement, it's not quite correct ....... some builders do warrant their houses.

If it's a question, yes, some builders do warrant their houses......;)


humfrz

What warranty is voided by a repair?

My doors for example, and I got hit in an accident insurance covered everything but the door part that was opened up has left some interior damage. All in all the car will never be the same, and Its value diminished far more than what the insurance can cover. Perhaps a houses value is always high because of the repairs and damages are nowhere near the demand for a stinkin house. But with a car a dent can decrease the worth of the car by a landslide.

It is nothing really, but this is where they plyed it open. http://i64.tinypic.com/1z4fpr8.jpg

So the warranty was not "voided" the damage is just not covered by it. And it should not be either since warranties are meant for manufacturer's defects not damage or shoddy repairs. If unsatisfied with the repair job you should have just taken it back and had it fixed right. Repaired cars certainly can "be the same" if done properly. Sure it's value is diminished a little bit but it started dropping the minute you drove it off the lot anyway. Keep it 10 years and the value will be the same with or without the accident history. My car will be worth way less then any with a damage history (not a salvage title just damage) based on miles alone so anything you get from the insurance puts you ahead of me.
A car is a throw away, depreciating item and can not be compared to a house in in way.

I've been thinking about that one milestone, and I believe they call it a classic car. A classy FR-S years from now with well around 100k miles, and I would say that is due in around 2031-35(I am at 19.1k miles, take off long road trips and driving it 24/7 in my 1st year and it has only been since Nov, 2014.) Time is precious and this car will never diminish in value ;).

i got 20k for my 2013 fr-s from insurance when i got totalled 3months ago
2013 manual red one, only had like 11k miles

Sounds like you did alright to me.