So I was rear ended a couple weeks ago. The damage was about 9k of body work. They did not total it. I should have it back in a day or too.

On of my buddys was telling me that I can try claiming depreciated value. Due to the fact that it was not my fault and I will never beable to get what it's wort now if I ever sell it.

Has anyone ever done this? I know the law varies by state and from what I have found people in Texas have Recieved money if they were not at fault.

The damage.

Grill guard
Front bumper
Front left fender
Rear bumper
Tailgate
Right Side of the bed
Back of the cab had to be painted
Some of the front end ad to be replaced too.

I was on the Highway and traffic stopped. The Girl behind me didn't stop in time and she tried to go around me on the right. She hit me in the rear causing my truck to hit the devider wall.

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/15303222@N05/5178765582/http://www.flickr.com/photos/15303222@N05/5178765582/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/15303222@N05/, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/15303222@N05/5178764558/http://www.flickr.com/photos/15303222@N05/5178764558/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/15303222@N05/, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/15303222@N05/5178157469/http://www.flickr.com/photos/15303222@N05/5178157469/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/15303222@N05/, on Flickr

 

they are a pain to get. my moms 2010 mercedes c class was backed into with 2000 miles on the odo. we have been through hell and back trying to get a depreciated value. you have to suggest the difference you will get, then the insurance company will offer you like 25% of that figure, we had to summon people to court and all kinds of crazy stuff. but pursuing it would be worth if if you got money out of it.

 

austin traffic at its finest... i hate driving in town most of the time because of all the idiots driving like crazy and not paying attention.

 

go see a lawyer that specializes in this. they will tell you for no charge what they can get. then if they recover they will take a percentage. good luck doing that on your own

 

I second this...

 

was there any body damage to the rear of the cab? or was it just painted for scratches? if you had damage to the cab on any of the pillars (A,B,or C), that can be argued as structural damage because if the truck were to ever flip over, the cab no longer has the ability to support the weight that it did from the factory.

 

So ... ... concensus here is there are no body shops that 'repair" damage, just those that "hide" damage and any vehicle that's hit is "scrap" for practical puposes?



My Forester had what was estimated at $4400 damage to RF corner, I fixed it and replaced all those bent parts with new ones and the paint is perhaps a hair better than the factory Subaru paint if you look really close, blend is perfect, just smoother. No loss in value, it's worth it's book.

My last poice car hit a 200 pound deer at 65 and did $7,028 in damage counting the air bag sensors and CM and steering column which has a charge in it, so youi get to replace it on any deployment. No structual damage, fixed trhe fender, hood unhurt, new stuff otherwise. Again, same guy painting blended perfect and we did the dcals just so. Only way you'ld know it was hit was if I told you. Paint is holding up well, that was November 2006 when it was nearly new, it has about 120K on it now. Looks good. If it were a private owned car, if it was mine, no way I'ld say it was worth less because the repair was right.

I did have an '80 Plymouth Gran Fury police car which I rubbed the right side against a guard rail oncethat just skimmed it, no structural damage, bids in 1982 when I did it were $660, $590, and a guy low balled it for $300 cause he wanted the job. You could tell it to when lights hit it on the side at night, not a good repair, so yeah, had it been a private car it suffered value loss .... but that was because it was a "not good" repair, but it was cheap and it served it's purpose for a state agency self insured.

My point is if it's repaired correctly, there is no depreciation. If the repair is shody, then just like a vehicle that's ill maintained or just trashed with garbage and puke and spilled beer, then you have a depreciation.

Good luck though ....

 

i think it will show up as depreciated as it will show up when they run a carfax report against the vin # that the vehicle was in an accident

 

yeah. not necessarily the fact that the truck would be any way different from a non-wrecked truck after being repaired. but just seeing this would probably scare some buyers unless it was much cheaper than the alternative...

 

Here’s how the whole “depreciated value” thing works. When most folks look for a used car, they want one that’s been well cared for and if possible, never have been in a wreck. Why don’t they want one that’s been in a wreck? Obviously, because a repaired vehicle (in most cases) is not as good as one that never needed to be repaired. There are exceptions here. I could see where certain types of repairs (bumper covers, glass, and certain suspension components) can be repaired or replaced after a crash and the car literally is as good as new.

But let’s look at a more serious crash. Let’s say your unibody car gets hit in the right rear and wrinkles up that whole corner of the car. It’s going to need all sorts of structural repair including the straightening of some pieces and the cutting off and replacing of others before it goes to paint. There’s lots of cutting and welding going on here. None of which goes on in a well controlled environment like you find at the factory.

Now as a quick aside, take a piece of aluminum foil from a fresh roll. Nice huh? Now wrinkle it up. Now try to straighten it out – so it’s exactly the way it was when it first came off the roll. Not so easy huh? And you were working with a single piece of foil. You vehicle is made up of multiple pieces of metal, plastic and other materials. Get my drift here? Simply stated, the body shop processes of welding and bonding everything back together are simply not as well controlled as the factory processes were. You might actually end up with something stronger. On the other hand, you might end up with something significantly weaker.

Now we come to paint – which not only makes a car look good, it’s also rather critical to corrosion resistance. I can absolutely, 100% guarantee you that no body shop anywhere in the world can duplicate the factory finish in terms of appearance, hardness, corrosion resistance, etc. Sure, many can make a vehicle look good, but corrosion resistance? Never happen. So if you happen to live in an area where salt happens to come into play, I can guarantee you the repaired area will not hold up as well to corrosion as the factory areas.

Finally, let’s get back to your insurance company. They promised you that they’d repair your car, right? Well, it’s the definition of “repaired” that you’ll find a good deal of wiggle room in. Every insurance company out there is trying to spend as little money as they can repairing your car. They know that 98% of the people out there know absolutely nothing about collision repair and as long as the car looks good when it’s returned, they’re happy. Most folks are just happy to get their car back and really don’t look at the repairs at all. (They hate folks like me.)

Now let’s fast forward to when you trade your “repaired” car in. What do you think happens to the trade in value if the car has been wrecked and repaired? That’s right, it’s automatically worth less. It doesn’t seem to matter (much) whether the repair was first rate and the car is actually pretty close to original condition or not, it’s automatically worth less. Why do you think everybody wants a Carfax report? BTW, how do you think Carfax finds out your vehicle was crashed & repaired in the first place? The insurance companies report it to them!

So this is where “diminished value” comes in. What you need to do is make sure that you got all of the money owed to you in making restitution for your wreck. What you’re doing when you demand it of your insurance company is getting back – up front – what you will inevitably loose later when you trade it in. Are they going to fight you? Hell yes. Did they themselves virtually guarantee you’d get less for your car when they reported the damage to Carfax? Yupper. Nice racket huh?

 

Like i said, good luck!

I just have never seen evidence of anyone getting it or of even suffering from it with a properly repaired vehicle.

If y'all are letting some fly by night johnny come lately half *** patch it up or you take a big insurance check and fix it yourself half way to put money in the bank, shame on you expecting deminished value payoffs.

I did once have a 1985 Thunderbird get some hail damage, insurance guy showed up, wrote me a check for a proper repair, I put the check in the bank and drove the car another 20 years. It was very minor but insurance man had no problems 'cause he said it's value was deminished if I didn't get it fixed. I told him I knew that, but that I thought the factory paint looked better than what I'ld get then locally.

I suffered deminished value because I never got it fixed, and it was my choice. It looks good today, I sold it last year to a friends mother, but that 1985 factory blue paint looks good still.

 

I hit a guy that pulled out in front of me back in '07. Did $10,700 damage to my truck. The front was wiped out along with the drivers side bed. I was shocked that it wasn't totalled. I'm glad it wasn't because its paid for.

It got flatbedded to the dealer bodyshop. They repaired it perfectly. No body filler, everything got replaced. Can't tell it was wrecked.

After it was all said and done the guys insurance company sent me a check for diminished value in the amount of $700 bucks.

Although repaired perfectly the value of my truck is permanently diminished. If anyone ever did a VIN search that accident will always be there.

 

Thanks for the replys guys. I found a local guy who charges $200 for a certified appraisal. That comes with a detailed report with pictures. He said he has never had any complaints from his customers. I know a guy who had a regular appraisal done and he got what he needed. Said he was a nice older guy.

I just gotta come up with the $200. With x-mas and just dropping $1000 into my sludged engine it's a little tight right now.

 

before i put out the 200 bucks for the appraisal i would go see a lawyer. what good is the appraisal if you cannot do anything with it. what it comes down to, thru no fault of your own your truck was damaged. no matter how good the body shop you have damage. when you go to sell or trade most dealers have you sign that there has been or has not been damage. at that point you take a hit on the value.