Depreciation after an accident

Not sure where to post this, so if this is the wrong place mods please move.

As I said in my 1st post here, I was rear ended by a kid a couple weeks ago. My Taco is in the Toyota auto body shop as we speak, supposed to get it back this coming Monday.

If I ever went to sell the truck, and the potential buyer looked it up on CARFAX, it's going to show it was in an accident. I've never used CARFAX before, so I don't know if it gives details of the damage, such as what was repaired, replaced, or just repainted. Also don't know if it shows what the repairs cost.

In any case, it's going to affect the resale value of the truck.

My question: Who should I talk to about how much the depreciation amount is? I've asked several people, got answers from "your insurance company, the guy that hit yous insurance company...all the way to call a lawyer".

Has anyone her been through this? Did you have to sue the guilty persons insurance company in court, or was it as easy as the two insurance companies working it out?

'ppreciate any help

 

I'm not really sure what you're asking.....

The insurance companies aren't gonna do anything about the 'depreciation' value..... They're only concern is to get your truck fixed OR reimburse you the value of the truck when its totaled. They don't care about resale value.

You really can't sue anyone for the depreciation value - as that's a wide open variable and depends on the overall value of the truck before the accident (which is unknown) and the value of the truck when you wanna sell it (which is also an unknown to everyone else but you).

What exactly are you looking to do?

 

Interesting you say the insurance companies won't do anything about depreciation, as the kid who hit me's insurance company (State Farm) rep said to me (without me mentioning it) "we like to wait 30 days to make sure there are no medical issues that pop up later, and then we can talk about missed time at work and vehicle depreciation values".

That's what got me wondering who does what talking to who.

I'd assume they'd use the KBB value of the vehicle before it was in an accident, then the KBB value when (if) I went to sell it. Of course, to do the second part now would require a crystal ball...

What I'm looking to do is, I know the truck has now been de-valued because of the accident. Not fair to me to take that loss when (if) I sell it. So I want some comp...not claiming some BS injuries, didn't take but one trip to the hospital, not trying to scam anyone, just want what's mine is all.

 

Yeah the insurance companies responsibility is to get the damages fixed as best a body shop can do the work. Of course the truck will never be in the same condition again. This has happened to me before, when I traded in my old frontier a few years ago. They docked $500 because they could tell a portion of the truck had been repainted. It wasn't even in an accident, something fell on the hood and it was repaired and repainted. Of course the dealer has to assume it was in a wreck if they notice some of the body had been repainted.

You should take my advice and drive that thing across the border and walk across, call up your insurance company and tell them somebody stole it.

 

LOL but I like her too much! Maybe after her odo crosses the 150K mark...

 

Here's an article from Bankrate in regards to Diminished Value which talks about your situation. http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/insurance/20031201a1.asp

Personally have not been in this situation. My accident was my fault (black ice) & there was not much I could do about it except enjoy the short harrowing ride & fix the cosmetics afterwards. I will saw the paint on the front bumper is way better than the factory job which was chipping fwiw & my insurance co. USAA made the claim go very smooth & easy.

Glad that you were not hurt in the accident & got yourself checked out. Sounds like the insurance company for the kid is on top of making sure everything is covered. Good luck.

 

Thanks xedge

Now, the quest for Florida's laws on the subject...there's a lawyer office right at the end of the strip mall I work in, time for a visit.

 

I've had several accidents (none of which were my fault) and none of the cases did they ever consider depreciation. Maybe Florida is different....but in PA, there's never been any situations where depreciation value was taken into consideration. Medical & time missed from work is different and should be covered somehow but there are various different laws regarding those situations.

Did you have an adjuster get an estimate on repairs yet? The truck isn't totaled?

 

The lawyer at the end of the mall where I work is a criminal defense one and says he knows nothing about car wrecks. Back to the search for one that does.

The kid hit me with a 2007 Sequoia, his front bumper went under my rear bumper. IIRC the back end of my truck raised up when he hit me. My trailer hitch took the brunt of it, it's bent, the tailgate is bent, the RR tail light is busted out, the bumper was mangled and it drove the bed into the back of the cab, but it was where it belonged when I looked at it. Toyota says they put it on the racks and there is no frame damage at all. Leaves me wondering how the bed hit the cab....maybe it just drove forward and then sprung back. Anyways, $3100 for everything fixed.

His truck though, a 38,000 dollar one, is totaled. Everything above his front bumper got pushed way, way back.

 

Don't sign anything yet!! Tell them you want 2k more for the depreciation because of the accident...let them sweat it out. Might take a 1 year or more..but you'll get something in the end.

 

Should I ask really high, like maybe 5K, and then "settle" for 2k? That would make things right with me, from what I'm reading it's probably in the right range.

 

Sure, according to you the truck isn't the same right? And the other guys vehicle was totaled. After a crash like that it won't be and you'll have problems down the road. Things that were wrecked but not found until years later. Life of parts were just cut in half, etc, etc. Bed isn't even? box doesn't line up right..look it over you'll be able to pick it apart.

 

Oh yeah, you can believe I'll be doing that, before it leaves Toyota! I'll be bringing my digital camera with me too.

Which is now on TUESDAY instead of MONDAY, dammit.

What I meant by "right with me" is the monetary amount...not that I believe the truck is now perfect again.

 

I think its normal for the cab to move forward in a rear end accident. My 97 was hit at a stop light square in the trailer hitch. Back bumper was bent down. I thought that was the only damage until the adjuster looked at it and showed me the 2 dents where the bed had hit the cab. The truck was almost new when that happened and I drove it another 160,000 trouble free miles before the rust got it. If the body shop does a good repair, I don't think it will effect the resale value.

 

Any body work will effect resale value. A potential buyer will not want to take a risk on a truck that's had body work. He'd much rather buy a non-accident vehicle. It's a tar baby, drop it off across the border. You're not gonna enjoy that truck anymore.

 

Good to hear oldtacomaguy, thanks.

 

Well in order to get some monetary amount something needs to be wrong...and then you settle. If your saying its fine, its sorta against the whole arguement to get some $$.

if you look over any truck you can find stuff wrong..even on the lot. So what you have to do is say that those "things" are now there that weren't before. If you don't do this...say good bye to collecting anything.

This is how i handled an accident in my old Titan that a guy slammed into me with no brakes with, lets just say I was "taken" care of after 1.5 years of waiting and phone calls explaining what happened a few times, and what was still wrong with the truck.

 

Hmmm I think I'm muddying the waters here...sorry, I'm super tired today.

I'll see if I can put my thoughts clearer:

I'll go to pick it up (IF they ever FINISH IT it), and inspect and take pictures of anything that doesn't look right. If there is something I find that they agree is because of the accident, they can fix it and adjust the bill to the insurance company.

I"ll pay VERY close attention to what I am signing, I will sign something to the effect of "I agree the repairs were done to my satisfaction", but I will not sign anything saying the truck is as good as before the wreck.

I'll then find a lawyer, and talk with him / her about Florida's take on depreciation. If there are laws saying I'm entitled to it, I'll call my insurance company and ask how to proceed, or hire him to make up the paperwork only and submit it to the kid's insurance company.

I'll also ask what the time limit to find defects is in Florida.

If there are laws saying I'm not entitled to it, I'll get advice from the lawyer on if there are ways to recover it somehow anyways, and hire him if he will work on a paid-only-if-win basis.

Thanks folks...you're helping me see both sides, from the "the truck is now junk" to the "it's fine after 160K miles".

 

I got carfax when I was recently looking for a car for my wife. She had backed into a pole less than a month after we got our taco. There wasn't a mention of the accident on carfax. Apparently not every body shop reports work to carfax.
I was lucky though, I talked to the insurance and the body shop and made sure the back bumper and the passenger side rear quarter were replaced with factory parts and at or better than paint.

 

I still think you're fighting a lost cause here.....
After the truck is repaired and you sign the papers, that's it.....there are no other papers that agree/disagree on depreciation.
Again - unless Florida is different....but I can't imagine how or why.

You'll have better luck faking an injury and finding a lawyer to take the case.