Nissan 370Z Forum - car depreciation after a collision

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sell/trade in the car the moment it's out of the repair shop. chances are the documents are still 'pending' and wont show up. :D hahaha. my wife's pos corolla smelled paint when i traded that pos in after $5K+ repair. got a super trade-in value. woohoo~

I went to Carmax and they offered me $21,000 for my 40th. They told me it was $4000 less than what it would have been without any accidents. The accident I was in didn't even cause frame damage. Just replacement of the hood, bumper, and passenger front fender. And No, I did not sell them my car. I almost laughed when they offered just $21,000.

wow... $21k crazy. i'd keep your 40th too. :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by torpedo2k (Post 915884)

I recently went through a diminished value claim in Georgia. By Georgia law the insurance company has to pay diminished value. Check the law in your state. The hard part about the entire process is that there is no real formula to calculate DV. There are two types of DV- repair related related and inherent. Repair related is easy to calculate. You look at the quality of the repair and make a claim based on that the repair. Inherent is much harder. Its based on a persons perception that the vehicle has been in a wreck. Georgia law says something to the effect - damage whether real or perceived does have an effect on resale value and should be considered. I hired an expert that came out and did a full assessment and said that my claim should be ~$2500. The insurance company countered with ~$600. It took six months of back and forth and eventually I hired a lawyer to send a demand letter. I had to settle for $1600.
I have quite a few sample demand letters I would be glad to share. Just message me.

If you don't mind me asking how much did it run you to hire an expert appraiser to come out and look at your car?

Carfax is good and bad. Are you buying or selling? If you claim your gonna take a hit on your insurance and trade in values. Who cares if your insurance gives diminishing value. You pay the same in the long run anyway. If you can fix a car out of pocket then its obviously a small mishap thats not worth worry about. Or a plus because the next owner has a better paint job. (As long as you dont salvage a total lost car and take advantage of the buyer).

as long as it's not salvaged and was repaired properly, it should maintain most of it's pre-accident resale value.

$325. He was very professional. Used a paint meter over the entire car and justified his appraisal over about eight pages of documentation. It gives you ammunition to go after the insurance company. In my case it wasn't as big a deal. I just wanted to prove a point to the company that I wasn't going to rollover. If it were 5k+ worth of damage it is probably worth it depending on how big of a jerk the claim rep you are dealing with.

Quote:

Originally Posted by shoopajae10 (Post 917056)

If you don't mind me asking how much did it run you to hire an expert appraiser to come out and look at your car?

Quote:

Originally Posted by torpedo2k (Post 917174)

I see.. thanks for the info.

The claims agent I was dealing with was a PITA. Also, very rude and unprofessional. Due to my experience with him and many other associates and how Progressive handles their business, I will never use their insurance If I'm on the market for one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by spearfish25 (Post 771473)

I'm going through a diminished value claim on my wife's altima right now. There are a number of hoops to jump through. A couple of the stipulations are 1) you're not at fault and 2) damages/repairs cost >$2,000. There are a few others which I don't recall at the moment.

yeah i went thru one last year and it was a pain. its one of the most well kept secrets in the insurance industry. don't ask they ain't saying........

I inquired with my insurance company about deminished value, they said that it only applies if you pay for the additional coverage. I found that state law doesn't allow for diminished value claims where I live. There are a few other states that don't allow for these claims too. It might have to do with the fact that Michigan is a No-Fault state.

Link with some info not all specific to Michigan.....
http://www.carinsurance.com/kb/content33391.aspx

How Diminished Value Works....
http://www.carinsurance.com/kb/content10766.aspx