JStump Posted December 10, 2013 Report Share Posted December 10, 2013 (edited) So I got rear ended by some floppy haired 16 year old a few weeks ago in my 3 month old car! I got it back from the body shop last week and now I am trying to get diminished value out of the insurance company. The insurance guy is going to stop by my work sometime this week to look at the car and I want to be ready when he gets there. I went to 2 dealers, a ford dealer and a chevy dealer and had them both give me trade in estimates to compare to KBB. The ford dealer said it is now worth $18,500 and the chevy dealer said $17,500. KBB trade in value on this car with 6,500 miles and in perfect condition is $20,000 and I may have told them to low ball me a little bit I will be showing these estimates to the guy in hopes of meeting in the middle of those 2 numbers at $2,000. Has anyone ever filed for diminished value and if so, what do I need to do to make sure I get the most money and he doesn't offer me $300 or something? He told me he goes off the value of similar cars in similar accidents in the area but this car has only been out for a year and I doubt there are many wrecked yet so I have a feeling he is going to be a dick. Here is a pic of the damage, it cost $4,200 to fix! Edited December 10, 2013 by JStump Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmwnut Posted December 11, 2013 Report Share Posted December 11, 2013 sorry but as soon as you left the lot with that FORD It lost value getover it It will never be worth what you think Cars are a bad investment 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Butters Posted December 11, 2013 Report Share Posted December 11, 2013 He still has a right to diminishing value because a car that's been wrecked isn't worth as much as one that hasn't. It's not a matter of depreciation or the cars market value, it's about the value of a car before and after an accident that wasn't his fault... If someone kicked your bike over, wouldn't you want compensated for the damage? If I was looking at bikes and one was pristine and the other has been involved in an accident, I wouldn't pay the same price for both. That's why people pay for insurance. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gump Posted December 11, 2013 Report Share Posted December 11, 2013 Let us know what you end getting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OsuMj Posted December 11, 2013 Report Share Posted December 11, 2013 aww, i love the ST. good car choice I have no advice for you. sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonik Posted December 11, 2013 Report Share Posted December 11, 2013 You posted your license plate on the internets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAC Posted December 11, 2013 Report Share Posted December 11, 2013 (edited) I have personally been through this. Late last year, I had a pristine '05 Mustang GT with less than 40k miles get rear ended. Took about eight months the get everything handled. I got made whole but there were some extenuating circumstances and, in general, it wasn't a slam dunk.Your case may be easier, since your car is nearly new, but in general, the insurance adjusters aren't very competent when it comes to this and there is no standard way to get this done as there is with other claim elements.If your dealer estimates are signed and they will attest to the diminished value difference, you may be in luck. If not then that and KBB will probably do no good. My experience is that dealers will not sign due to liability. You may need to hire an independent appraiser to get this done. Look up some on the 'net. I hired one after some extensive research but I was not impressed -- so I can't help you there. Don't use the insurer's appraiser, since they will be motivated to lowball the value loss.Not all DV claims are the same anyway. If there was structural damage, that's important. That is, if a unibody panel of any kind needed repaired or replaced, then the CarFax or AutoCheck report will be especially damaging. Be sure that is well documented.One side benefit of the appraisal is that a good one will give you their take on the quality of the repairs as well. Again, any structural stuff should be done right and all measurements done and documented by the repair shop. Note to others in this situation: DO NOT use the insurer's recommended body shop!Good luck. Edited December 11, 2013 by DAC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JStump Posted December 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2013 (edited) One estimate is signed, the other is not. But both estimates have the persons name on them. The adjuster is actually like 10 minutes away so I'll see what he says about it. And I had a 3rd party do the repairs, not the insurances shop. This guy has done a few cars for my family and was the one who painted my Daytona 600 when a douche nozzle backed into it so I trust their work. Also, how long does it take for carfax to be updated? As of Monday there was no history of my car since it left the dealer. Last known record was at 187 miles. Edited December 11, 2013 by JStump Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JStump Posted December 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2013 Well I gave him the estimates and he took some pictures, now I guess I wait a week for him to look at other dealers and what they are asking for similar cars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JStump Posted December 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2013 (edited) aww, i love the ST. good car choice I have no advice for you. sorry. Thanks! I love this car, it's so much fun and still sips gas like a normal econo car Edited December 11, 2013 by JStump Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madcat6183 Posted December 12, 2013 Report Share Posted December 12, 2013 Actually, never even heard of this but VERY interested. Wife rear ended someone while texting, yep she was. And did about 6500 worth of damage to her 2012 Escape, which we had barely owned 12 months, and would like to know where this goes. We had to change insurance companies after all of this anyways, but interested to see if we can lower her rate even more because of that. Thing is when we switched her license was clear, no points, if they run it again guessing it will have the points on it. Either way, keep us updated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JStump Posted December 12, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2013 You can not claim diminished value in an at fault claim, only if someone else hits you or you hit a deer or something. Sounds like her accident would not qualify, it would however work for the person she hit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madcat6183 Posted December 13, 2013 Report Share Posted December 13, 2013 You can not claim diminished value in an at fault claim, only if someone else hits you or you hit a deer or something. Sounds like her accident would not qualify, it would however work for the person she hit.Thanks for clarifying that boss, still really interested in the outcome though, just for knowledge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2talltim Posted December 13, 2013 Report Share Posted December 13, 2013 You posted your license plate on the internets.Why do people worry about this? I drive my truck every day where thousands of people can see my plate. Why dose it matter if a few interwebs nerds see it too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JStump Posted December 13, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2013 (edited) Why do people worry about this? I drive my truck every day where thousands of people can see my plate. Why dose it matter if a few interwebs nerds see it too? This^ And I looked up NADA and Edmunds prices for my car today which are actually $21k so I am going to see if I can get $3000 out of the deal but I may be pushing it. That would be my down payment I put in so that would be awesome. Ohio supposedly has a good track record for siding with the car owner in court so if it comes down to it I will take them to small claims court where the limit is $3000 anyway. Edited December 13, 2013 by JStump Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carwhore Posted December 14, 2013 Report Share Posted December 14, 2013 it also will depend on how the carfax shows. it may show any of the following, minor, moderate, severe, disabling damage, vehicle towed. Obviously minor doesn't hurt the value much if any the rest will. I tend to steer clear of cars with a bad carfax. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JStump Posted December 14, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2013 (edited) it also will depend on how the carfax shows. it may show any of the following, minor, moderate, severe, disabling damage, vehicle towed. Obviously minor doesn't hurt the value much if any the rest will. I tend to steer clear of cars with a bad carfax.As of right now it shows nothing, not even the first service I had done 2 months ago. How often is the carfax updated? I called the body shop and they said they do not report anything to carfax. Is that typically who reports these things or is it the insurance company that does? Did I luck out since they are not reporting it? Edited December 14, 2013 by JStump Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jporter12 Posted December 14, 2013 Report Share Posted December 14, 2013 As of right now it shows nothing, not even the first service I had done 2 months ago. How often is the carfax updated? I called the body shop and they said they do not report anything to carfax. Is that typically who reports these things or is it the insurance company that does? Did I luck out since they are not reporting it? Here's what Carfax says about where they get their info: http://www.carfax.com/about/data_sources.cfx According to this, they may never get the info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JStump Posted December 15, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2013 Anyone with a membership wanna run my car fax for me? I just did the free thing and it says 4 records, which is more than the one I have says. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zx3vfr Posted December 15, 2013 Report Share Posted December 15, 2013 Loll lol you think a 23,000$ ford is worth 20,000$ 3 month later bwahahahaha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JStump Posted December 15, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2013 (edited) Loll lol you think a 23,000$ ford is worth 20,000$ 3 month later bwahahahaha.its not me, it's NADA, KBB, and Edmunds. It was more than $23,000 so yes I think it's worth $21,000 now. Edited December 15, 2013 by JStump Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohdaho Posted December 18, 2013 Report Share Posted December 18, 2013 My sis got into the same situation with a brand new Audi Q5. No more than a month later someone hits and runs. Car was fixed, she got a trade-in quote after repairs from the original dealer, and now is getting some of the diminished value back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JStump Posted December 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2013 Well the guy came back today with "Geicos research has shown no diminished value on similar cars currently on the market" so looks like I am going to small claims court. The reasoning was "if it is repaired properly, there should not be any loss in value" which I then replied several different ways because he wasn't getting the fucking gist of what I was saying, but basically said "if I were to sell this car TOMORROW, no one would pay KBB, NADA or Edmunds pricing for it just for the simple fact it has been in an accident. It can be repaired perfectly but it is still going I have a blemished record to which no one would pay full price for". Fucking insurance scam artists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jporter12 Posted December 21, 2013 Report Share Posted December 21, 2013 My opinion: I think you're just being greedy. It looks to me like it was just a couple bolt on body panels that got painted and put on your car. With how new the car is, I'm sure they were factory Ford parts. The variance in those panels from the originals is probably no more than what came from the factory. If it had been more extensive damage, causing welded in pieces and panels to need replacing, THEN you might have something to go on. Stuff like this does, and insurance companies having to go to court over this crap is not helping keep everyone's rates down! Do you think that if they lose they're going to get all the money back from YOU? NO! A portion of everyone's premiums pay for their legal team that will be taking care of this for them. They will probably be paying their legal team more than you are wanting. /my opinion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JStump Posted December 21, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2013 (edited) My opinion: I think you're just being greedy. It looks to me like it was just a couple bolt on body panels that got painted and put on your car. With how new the car is, I'm sure they were factory Ford parts. The variance in those panels from the originals is probably no more than what came from the factory. If it had been more extensive damage, causing welded in pieces and panels to need replacing, THEN you might have something to go on. Stuff like this does, and insurance companies having to go to court over this crap is not helping keep everyone's rates down! Do you think that if they lose they're going to get all the money back from YOU? NO! A portion of everyone's premiums pay for their legal team that will be taking care of this for them. They will probably be paying their legal team more than you are wanting. /my opinionIt did have frame damage, and it's my right to be made whole for the loss in value I suffered from some dumb ass punk teenager. That's why we have insurance. I did not do this when I got t boned in my sentra because I didn't know about it, but when I went to trade it in the dealer took the offer from $5000 down to $3200 because of the carfax showing the accident. So no, I am not being greedy. Edited December 21, 2013 by JStump 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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