Well this past Friday night a 1998 Chevy S10 cut me off in a left turn and did some damage to my car. The fender was crunched, bumper was scraped/torn and the headlight was scratched/broken up. The insurance guy came over and took a look at sunday. He said it was about $2200 in damage. I am wondering since they will be replacing the fender and bumper if I should seek diminished value money. I'm in the Dallas/Forth Worth area in Texas. I am insured with Progressive.

Bryan

 

i would certainly try! I had a repaint of one side due to someone hitting my GMC Typhoon and i was pissed... they offered nothing for the depreciation. I did make sure the body shop did a perfect job and I took pics of it before they fixed it so the next buyer would be comfortable with it.

Goodluck!

Scot

 

You should certainly try as it's always difficult to match the paint. My mother-in-laws Impala got rear ended. Damage was $4000. I negotiated with ins. company (GMAC) and got $900 for diminished value.

 

I don't know about "negotiating" a diminished value claim. I had my 98 lude rear-ended and the THEIR insurance agancy paid for everything and also diminished value but the diminished value is not negotiated. From my experiece, you have to find a company that specializes in estimating diminished value due to accident. The insurance agency said that i had to find a company and give them a detailed report of what the company estimated i lost due to the accident. I did as instructed but had to pay the company for estimating the diminished value ($150 or so i believe). Anyways it is worth a shot to request it from your insurance company. I would give you the name of the company i used but i forgot since it has been some years since then. Good luck.

 

Diminished value? Really?
In 1990, I hit a moose with my '88 Prelude 4WS. It suffered about $9,000 in damage and was repaired locally. I asked my next door neighbor, the owner of Valley Motor Honda, if it would be worth less at trade. He saw the vehicle when it was towed to my house. No, he said, I'd get full trade in.

I got a new hood, new roof, new front and rear glass for the cabin, repaired right front fender, repaired rear quarter, new radio and radio antenna. In the end, it was 100% repaired. Two years later I traded it for my '93 Prelude VTEC and got full trade in value.

I doubt that there's any real diminished value to speak of with your $2,200 repair. I'd just be sure the repair is up to snuff. THAT is the key.

Oh yeah. Valley Motor Honda sold it to a friend of mine who, twelve years later, still drives it every day and loves it. It looks great. I do not believe the value was diminished.

 

Here is a simple question to determine if think you should get diminished value. All things being equal, would you pay less for a car that you knew was in an bad accident? Where panels of the car were replaced? If you can say that you would pay the same then i guess there is no diminished value, but if you are like me and "most" dealerships, then you would go heck yeah, this car's been in an accident, i would pay this much less.. the amount you find yourself saying you would pay less is the diminised value. The hard part is finding a company that agrees with you and an insurance adjuster that is sympathetic. good luck with your claim

 

There clearly *is* diminished value if a car has been in a significant accident, but getting it from the insurance company is another matter. A recent Georgia Supreme Court ruling granted diminished value after a class action suit, but most insurance companies will either play dumb or flat out deny any diminished value claims.

You might try taking the guy who hit you to small claims court.

Virtually every delaership trade-in form will ask if the car has been in an accident, and they absolutely will give you less if it has...

 

Very well said. Two other points. You won't get diminished value from YOUR insurance co. if it's a collision or comphrensive claim. You will only have a chance if it's a liability against the OTHER driver. Also the amount of dimished value and whether you get it at all depends on the amount of damage.

Yes, many insurance companies will play dumb and try not to pay but all you really need to do is to get an "expert" (such as a dealership sales mgr.) to give you a written statement or, if need be, testify in court that the car is worth less after the accident (after repairs) than it was before.

If you keep the car for 5-6 years and then trade it in with 60,000 miles on the odo, it may well make no difference that it's been in a minor accident. But that's not the point and it's not the law. The question is, is it worth less immediately after the repairs than it was before the accident, because you MIGHT sell it or trade it right away.

 

In addition, note that manufacturers/dealers always claim that their certified used vehicles have never been in an accident... yet another premium to having a pristine car.