Got rear ended yesterday. Need diminished value advice

We went though this recently. Talked to the dealership where we bought the car (and have bought several from). The sales manager agreed to write a letter stating the value was diminished due to the accident. Many dealers can't certify a used car if it has had a significant accident. Without certification = worth less.

And regarding CARFAX - many insurance companies don't even report to it (it's not mandatory). So keep that in mind when buying a used car. A clean CARFAX doesn't mean the car hasn't been in an accident!

 

Good information. Thank you.

 

I just went through this. A lady made a left turn in front of me and I T-boned her. It did $15000 damage to my 2012 Tacoma. She was charged with fault. Insurance refused to total it. They also refused to pay any diminished value. Bottom line it took me 9 months to finally settle. Your in NC, me too. If your not injured, lawyers wont have anything to do with you. The good news is that I found a guy in Charlotte that within a few weeks of contacting him, got a more than fair settlement for me. I live about 100 miles from there but it was worth every minute and every penny he charged me. He makes a living out of diminished value claims.
I just joined this forum and dont know how to send a private message or I would give you his name and number. Once I figure it out I will give you his contact info. Trust me, its worth your time to talk to him.

 

Toyota is a tough vehicle to get an insurance total out of.

 

I'm sorry...hug.. I know I would be fuckin crushed, just like ugh waited this whole time for my precious and then your you to fuck it up with your POS busted ass old F-150. I would been to the guy like I'm not even mad but...

 

Just click "Start A Conversation" under his name, yeah Diminished value claims are shitty at best. I got rear ended at 40mph (I was at a standstill) in my wife's sentra in Hawaii, initial estimate to her car was like 6k total after all said and done was 12k, we begged USAA to total it because it's still not right. Bodyshop was shady as fuck too and got caught charging for parts that weren't replaced and shit, USAA didn't seem to worried about it though which really sucked, so her car is not worth jack really anymore. Also you can see where they did a shitty color match (bright yellow) and did an awful fade so it's obviously been wrecked. Just sucks because it was a top of the line sentra (barely used) and after it was a 50% repaired sentra with half it's value lost within the first year. Good luck to ya and sorry for your loss!

 

Sorry, was off the radar for a while.

No... just like not wearing a seatbelt, I would use it as a negotiation point when attempting to settle the injury claim but it would have no bearing on how I evaluate the injury claim. Of course, when we handle the vehicle repair or the total loss settlement, those modifications are going to be considered in respect to how much is owed.

 

I buy wrecked Toyota trucks and put them back together. There is no such thing as diminished value for Tacoma's. These fuckin things have a line of people waiting to buy the things.

You need to ask yourself 1 question.

Are you going to be driving this truck for 10 years? If yes, you will not see a dime difference in resale price regardless of the Carfax report. If one person tries to low ball you because of that small damage and repair, tell them to pound sand. There will be 5 more people that want to buy the truck.

We all know the stupid high price these used trucks go for.

If you are one of these people that change vehicles every 2 years, then you don't need advice on diminished value. You have enough money where it won't matter.

 

Even if you plan to keep the truck another 10 years and you wreck it again in a month, what will it be worth then? The insurance companies will certainly not give you full value for the vehicle because of the previous wreck.
There certainly is diminished value for Toyotas. The diminished value for my 2012 Tacoma after the repair was $14000 and I proved it. It took a while and quite allot of fighting with the insurance companies but I was able to recover this amount. Thats why I am now driving 2016.

 

$14K DV claim ? haha... not sure how you proved that, I've never EVER seen a DV claim that was about half the value of the vehicle, that's insane. How could your truck possible diminish in value by half after an accident unless it was never repaired (tongue in cheek, it has to be repaired in order to file the DV claim). And why do you say insurance companIES, was there more than one at fault driver and their companies split your claim ?

 

I used the repair shop that the insurance company told me to use. The repair cost was over 15000. I then tried to sell/trade the truck and couldn't because of the previous accident and the fact that the frame was repaired. I then proved that the frame was not repaired correctly and could not be repaired correctly without replacing the frame. They then totaled the vehicle. I used an independent appraiser, invoked the appraiser clause, went to arbitration and got the actual value for the truck. I say companies because the at fault party's insurance company refused to settle, at which point my insurance company settled, subrogation.

 

Then you mispoke. You did not get $14K for a diminished value claim. You got that money for a total loss settlement. And it wasn't insurance companies that paid it was one and the recouped from the other but that's a minor point.

 

If you fix it then wreck it right away, I don't think DV will apply. Not really a good comparison.

 

True. It really boils down to the fact that the way I saw it, my truck was worth (in my opinion) about 26000 before the accident. It cost 15000 to repair. The highest offer I got for it after the accident was 14000. I settled for 30000. I really couldn't care less which insurance company lost out. The accident was not my fault, I just wanted to be made whole. I understand that the business model for insurance companies is to collect premiums and deny claims. They could have spent allot less money if they would have just done the right thing to begin with.

 

Fine, but don't confuse the subject at hand which is Diminished Value claims by stating you got a very large DV claim when in fact you did not.

And you know nothing about what insurance companies do so stop spreading bullshit. From day one, I was trained to evaluate and handle claims FAIRLY, to pay what we owe, not a dollar more or a dollar less.

But sure, it's a complicated business so sometimes, claims are not handled as well as they could be but it's not an attempt to cheat you out of money but I know that makes you feel better to think so.

 

You do realize that no vehicle is a good investment, correct. We all lose money. Cars are not an asset.

I'm just not going to lose sleep over a fender bender. I got other stuff that is more important.

 

I didn't mean this to turn into a debate. mtsrunner was asking for advice. I gave him contact information for a guy that got me the money I was trying to get for a diminished value claim. Call it what you will.

 

Well, if you don't know what you're talking about, it's not very good advice. You misspoke so many times in a few posts, I lost count.

And his situation is much different than yours, he just needs to talk to the adjuster handling his claim and go from there, it's not rocket science.

 

Cam37 I just saw your post. I didn't mean to offend. I didn't realize you worked for an insurance company. Your right, I don't know the intricacies of the insurance industry. I just call it like I see it. No hard feelings.

 

No hard feelings at all. I just try to make sure there's no misinformation passed on when someone asks for insurance related help, that's all.