Diminishing value help !

why do you care about this. if they don't know then it won't hurt you.

 

So the adjuster from tinder wants to meet. Hopefully the value does go up

 

just make sure the autobody shop uses Geniune Toyota parts to repair it, lots of shops use aftermarket pieces to save the Insurance costs

 

~$2k. Look at my profile for photos.

 

Diminished value is the hit on the value you take when your car is in an accident and appears as having been in an accident on Carfax.

This happened to my wifes Volvo, an idiot hit her when he was changing lanes. Luckily he had insurance but it was the "high risk insurance for idiot drivers" type of coverage. We took her car to the best and most expensive autobody place that was known for repairing european and high end exotic cars. I was going to get it fixed right.

I went back and forth with this morons insurance company and my first zinger I let loose on the agent (after he started being a a**hole) was "you guys are the dummies that insured this high risk moron".

It took a month for the repair because my auto guy insisted on doing it right, which meant no bondo and a new imported quarter panel. Some of the insurance bean counters showed up a couple of times to talk him into doing it cheaper but we stuck to our guns.

We got a loaner car for the whole month. The whole repair cost around $5000 and when I went for diminished value it was $500 back to me. I handled this myself but if it would have gotten impossible to deal with I would have brought my insurance agent into it. Insurance agents are supposed to advocate on your behalf, but if you can handle it without your insurance company being involved, you might be better off.

If you get your insurance agent involved and then all they want to do is settle for an outcome you are not happy with, THEN get an attorney involved.

 

This must have been a rare exotic Volvo to go through all that for $500. Sounds like a big waste of time but more power to you.

 

Your truck's value is diminishing daily. Even undamaged.

Diminished value is the thing you want to ask about.

If you are a very short term vehicle owner, you may want to pursue that, based on near term resale.

If you are a long term owner, like 10-20 years, no buyer in that market will give a hoot about this bender.

Since I like to dazzle my buyers with documentation, I'd take pictures of it as is, in process of repair, and post repair. Keep those photos with the body shop documentation on parts used, etc. That way the buyer will know how bad it wasn't if Carfax even exists that far in the future.

 

Her accident was actually a fender bender of sorts where she got rear ended by getting "clipped" as the guy changed lanes. Kind of a crazy situation but the damage went to the passenger rear quarter panel. Luckily it was a low speed accident and she wasn't hurt.

It was the first time I ever fought a little for diminished return, and it was only after someone brought it up in conversation a couple of months prior to accident.

It amounts to only around 10% of the damage claim, but if it was a $10,000 to $20,000 accident it can be significant.

BTW our car was the most pedestrian one at the repair lot. We still have it and it's about to hit the 200,000 mile mark. Up keep is a pain though...there's always a bulb or two that needs replaced somewhere on the car and I've had two engine mounts replaced on it. Also the instument cluster panel is quirky, as in it goes out randomly for no reason.