resell value after an accident
 

I recently involved in an accident where my front bumper got lightly hit. It was only $630 worth of damages to repair; yet it's on the carfax report. I was wonder how much would that affect my resell value after all? let's say my car is worth 20k flat atm assuming there has been zero accident. how about now after above accident? any predictable guess would appreciated.

I don't think such a minor bumper fix will have any impact on resale value as long as the car is unmodified, well maintained, and in good shape. If I were buying the car I wouldn't make any fuss about it.

Any accident will decrease your value. Some firms estimate that the average value lost when a vehicle is in an accident is 33 percent. Dealers will offer anywhere from 10-30 percent less for your car.

For a $20k car, I would expect the car to take longer to sell and maybe worth $18 or $19k instead. Surely, you may find a buyer that does not care, but any savvy buyer knows that an unclean Carfax will affect resale, and should offer you less.

So which is it?

The value lost is directly proportional to the extent of the damage. You do not lose thousands of dollars on a $650 bumper repair.

Neither would I. As long as the numbers match on the important parts, good to go.

Keep some pics of the extent of the damage, the original estimate from the repair shop and the bill. If a seller asks about the carfax, show them the pics, bill, etc. It'll clear up what kind of damage and how little it was and shouldn't affect the resale.



As for the troll that pointed out the 33% decrease, I could see that if it was a rebuilt title, but a bumper replacement is hardly a total loss.

The value of your car actually goes up. The more accidents you have, the more it's worth. If you salvage your car, it actually will double in price, since these cars are more rare. The most valuable car is one that had a car fire, since these are rare low mileage unicorns.

Was it repaired via insurance? You might be entitled to a diminished value claim.

not an accident however i literally got mine on firesale cause of the carfax report for hail damage ( which was repaired, but was massive over 3000)

I am not really planning on ever selling the car, I have a lot of plans for it. so I wasnt really too worried.

Based on previous awards given on here the diminished value on a $650 repair would be around $10. That is if the insurance would even consider it when that low.
We don't even know if the OP was at fault or not so there may be no eligibility even at that low rate.

THS ^

I 100% guarantee that the new buyer will use this as a negotiating point regardless of the minimal damage.

A similar situation happened to me with a previous car.

Someone rear ended me at 25-30mph and the damage was a dented rear bumper (replaced) and a slightly bent exhaust (replaced). The damage was about $1k with the majority going toward the bumper (so, call it $750).

When selling it I had a copy of the police report, the insurance repair, the repair report, images before and after of pretty much any and all angles. In the end of the day, it doesn't matter. People WILL use that as a tactic, but depending on your urgency to sell you can just wait it out...or not.

Exactly. No one's forcing the sale. I'd just kindly decline the offer. A reasonable person will come along.

Yeah consumer's pretty boned if they handle it themselves. Different states, different laws, its always worth asking about. I've been able to recoup the entire value of the repair as diminished value but YMMV. I'm also comfortable with our legal system, that helps a lot.


In my case, a neighbor backed into my car doing $6000 of damage, collapsed a door and bent the frame of my "IT equipment hauler" golf. I had it on camera from 3 different angles and allowed them to perjure themselves with a police officer before I showed the officer my footage. My case was strong.

I've also had luck with having my insurance company (USAA) handle things, and they deal with everything with the opposing insurance company for me. USAA's requirements for body work are much more stringent than most, so if I have a choice, I'd like things repaired to USAA's standards.