Diminished Value Claim Help

I fully expect to get told to pound sand, dude was on his phone texting and could have been way worse if he didnt swerve to try and miss us, regardless, just trying to see if we can get anything. Did you try to make a claim as well and was denied?

 

We are both nurses / nurse practitioners, we werent sore and not trying to scam any money just want to be compensated for the dude texting and driving and then plowing into our stopped 4 month old car.

 

Ceramic coatings usually cost $100 or less for a bottle. It's the other materials, prep work/labor that make it expensive. I suppose if you have a receipt to back it up you could try submitting it with the diminished value claim. I've never done one, as I've thankfully never had a large enough loss to justify the hassle. My understanding is you'd hire an diminished claim specialist, they do an appraisal and small report and give it to you to submit to the at fault insurance party. If the insurance doesn't cough or you disagree then you'd have to take it to small claims. If/when you win hopefully they'll pay up. Otherwise you may need to write a demand letter and take them back too court for the money.

Basically, it's a real hassle and the payouts are usually smaller than expected.

 

I didn't mean it to sound like you need to scam them. You guys know that injuries can show up later.

When you bring up the value claim if they give push back just simply ask how long you have to file an injury claim.

Remember the insurance companies don't care about you and want to pay you as little as possible no matter what. Playing hardball with them is fine, in most cases it's the only way you will get anywhere.

 

Ya starting to think its not worth the hassle. I'll have to see what the "diminished value calculator" looks like but at least want the coating fixed.

 

You could always go though your insurance and let them handle everything. Your insurance will pay for everything then go after them for reimbursement(called subrogation). It's very common and less headache for you. I've done it each time I've been involved with an accident non of which were my fault. Even got all my deductibles back. Also, if you have a receipt with letterhead from the person that ceramic coated the car you can submit that to your insurance too and they will recover that. Your paying your insurance for this purpose as well. If it's not your fault your premium will not go up.

 

Yep we are using our insurance (State Farm) since it was a Limo Van company that hit us and they have some weird indemnity company.

 

I have State farm too, and it was painless each time. Just takes a long time to process.

Edit: Also, it was pretty sweet after several months when things were settled I got a $500 check in the mail. I was like, "what the hell is this?!?" Then I remembered they said I would get a check for my deductible back.

 

we got hit on the front drivers side (almost head on) by an F150, we were sitting completely still in a turn lane and he came over a small hill and in an attempt to get around traffic wanted to drive in the turn lane to the stop light that was well behind us. The police cited him at fault, one witness said he was at fault, he lied and said we were pulling in the lane at the same time. The insurance companies "arbitrated" and said they would each take fault for their own driver. I got a lawyer. it was 17k worth of damage on a rav4. it happened in october of 2017 and still hasn't been settled. (covid delayed it a lot)

 

Good DV info here: https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/if-a-tree-falls-in-a-forest.1186264/

My DV experience: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gx...getting-the-first-scratch-on-your-new-gx.html

 

People should remember that a dash cam is a dual edged sword. It can prove you were liable just as easily as it can prove someone else was. Or, depending on the position of the cam relative to the incident, it may prove nothing at all. And here in FL it's not like you have a choice whether or not to use the footage depending on what it shows. If a police officer notices you have a dash cam he/she can impound it if they feel it contains critical evidence and the evidence may be destroyed if the cam remains in your possession. They store the cam until they get a warrant for the recording.

 

My explanation on a different thread... https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/diminished-value-help.743037/page-3#post-26456163

 

http://www.collisionsafetyconsultants.com/

 

I had a similar situation with my son's 4-Runner a few years back. The person that hit his car had State Farm. They required an "official" appraisal value of the car before and after the crash. I tool the car to Toyota dealer and they provided me with both numbers. Submitted that to State Farm, and they paid.

 

Maybe get an estimate from the ceramic coating company for half a car and turn it in to insurance . I would definitely want them to pay to have it redone .

 

What does the price of 5-10 Tacoma's have to do with the OP's damaged RAV4 Hybrid??

OP, once repaired you could try taking your wifes RAV4 to say a CarMax lot and ask for a cash purchase price quote, I'm guessing somewhere there will be an amount deducted for accident-repair history. You could try the same at the dealership you purchased the Rav4 from, ask them for a price and have them spell out the accident-repair deduction in the price they are offering for the vehicle.

Hiring an independent vehicle appraiser is probably not worth what they will charge for the appraisal. Also we are talking about a Rav4, don't get your hopes up that any diminished value payout from the other parties insurance is going to be any higher than 3 digits. The newness of your wife's car is helpful but its still a Rav4 with no collector history behind the model.

 

True but neither is a Tacoma and actually RAV4 Hybrids, especially her XSE are in just as high of demand as Tacomas are right now, believe it or not, was a nightmare finding one for MSRP in the summer.

 

Awesome, thank you this was helpful.