Poll #2 Diminished Value Claim

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

That is sort of my point. In 1972 if you took your 1970 Road Runner (I had one I paid $800 for in 77 by the way) to a collector and asked what it was going to be worth in 43 years they would laugh at you. There is no way to predict what cars will go up in value or what effect an unknown level of damage would have on the value. I had many cars back in the 70s that would now be worth big bucks and they were not always the ones that I would have expected to be..

Exactly...it's just impossible to tell now what will be then for any mass produced vehicle. My high school parking lot in 1977 was filled with 10 year old muscle cars that were all in the $800 to $1,200 range when bought by the kid driving them. If all those cars were fast forwarded to today as they say you would think my high school was in Beverly Hills given the value of the "classic cars" in the parking lot.


Heck even the piece of crap 1964 Dodge Polara I bought for $300 and drove to high school shows up on classic car lists/auctions now for $20,000 (good running survivor, which mine would have been) to $75,000 (restored). Don't get me wrong, I loved that car but it wasn't really anything special.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by trdeedFRS310

Thank you everyone for the inputs
My point here is that regardless of extent of damage, once it was involved with an accident whether minor or major, it must have some kinda diminished value as buyers will not pay the full market price and the dealers will not pay full trade in value My damage is minor but now its going to have accident carfax history as well as paint meter reactive body panel....

So, if the damage is minor you do as so many have said and take it to 3 places and get it appraised. Remember it has depreciated anyway so looking for full value is not even remotely reasonable. You probably lost $6K the second you drove it off the lot. The insurance companies have formulas they use to calculate diminished value and none of them include asking a bunch of guys that have no clue what the level of damage is, what the going rate for your car is in your area is, how many kilometers it already has or any other facts what they think it is worth.
I know you think you have a special collectors car but it isn't so have fun in court.
I am out.

[trdeedFRS310]

Ill keep this thread updated so that whoever in similar situation can learn how to approach for diminished value claim as it is claimants' rights to collect it and if we dont, we will take a huge loss when selling our cars ....

[trdeedFRS310]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

So, if the damage is minor you do as so many have said and take it to 3 places and get it appraised. Remember it has depreciated anyway so looking for full value is not even remotely reasonable. You probably lost $6K the second you drove it off the lot. The insurance companies have formulas they use to calculate diminished value and none of them include asking a bunch of guys that have no clue what the level of damage is, what the going rate for your car is in your area is, how many kilometers it already has or any other facts what they think it is worth.
I know you think you have a special collectors car but it isn't so have fun in court.
I am out.

Its called 17c caculation that statefarm created which is favorable for insurance company so they were sued and georgia court banned them to use that calculation

Diminished value is the differences in value comparing before and after the accident

[cycleboy]

If you truly bought it as collectible, it should've gone home on a truck, straight onto jack stands, covered up, and in a temp/humidity controlled garage. It would only be started from time to time to keep it working and the fluids would get replaced every so often.

Then, come back circa 2065 and see if it is worth something.

Look at the '60's cars that are going for big bucks now. All original, low miles, fully documented. They are expensive because they are rare. Most of them got modded and people drove the shit out of them.

[soulreapersteve]

Luckily for me, I plan on driving this car until it becomes a rust bucket. So no worries on what it's value is years from now.