Diminished Value... what to do.

[HTN]

I'm at a cross road and not really sure what actions to take.
The accident occurred while my wife was driving our 93 ZTT. This car was in excellent condition w/ 60K miles prior to the accident . A commercial vehicle was at fault. Damage was on rear qt panel and rear bumper. No frame damage. Total repair was $1400.00
Next step for me is to pay for an appraisal and present to the other guy's Ins. co. At this point they do not agree on any DV payout.
Thoughts????

 

[jonas1jp]

Re: Dimenished Value... what to do.

We received a little over $5k from State Farm for diminished value when my wife's 06 IS 250 was rear-ended on the freeway. We had Lexus appraise it. They wouldn't give us a hard and fast figure on what the value was, but did state on Lexus letterhead that the vehicle would be worth anywhere from 15% - 20% less after the accident. They left it to us to pull all the values of the car (KBB, NADA, Edmunds). Mind you, this was in 2009 and the vehicle had maybe 21,000 miles on it. You can very easily make the argument that yours is a collector car that is now worth less than one similarly equipped without an accident on the CARFAX. State Farm was very understanding in our situation, but they were also the insurance carrier for both parties involved in the accident. I wish you the best of luck, my friend.

Joe

 

[SilverStone05]

Re: Dimenished Value... what to do.

We received a little over $5k from State Farm for diminished value when my wife's 06 IS 250 was rear-ended on the freeway. We had Lexus appraise it. They wouldn't give us a hard and fast figure on what the value was, but did state on Lexus letterhead that the vehicle would be worth anywhere from 15% - 20% less after the accident. They left it to us to pull all the values of the car (KBB, NADA, Edmunds). Mind you, this was in 2009 and the vehicle had maybe 21,000 miles on it. You can very easily make the argument that yours is a collector car that is now worth less than one similarly equipped without an accident on the CARFAX. State Farm was very understanding in our situation, but they were also the insurance carrier for both parties involved in the accident. I wish you the best of luck, my friend.

Joe

Yep-

I obtained an appraisal from the Infiniti dealership when my G35c was rear ended. Actually, I wrote the letter, came up with the educated value myself, and simply had the General Manager sign the document. Sent it in the insurance company. They didn't give me the full value, but close enough.

 

[pgilliam1]

Re: Dimenished Value... what to do.

That's gonna be a tough one on a 1993. I had some luck with DV with a BMW motorcycle, but it was new and bikes are a whole-nother story. Making the case for a "collectors car" is going to be a long shot depending on how many were made.
Good Luck!

 

[HTN]

Re: Dimenished Value... what to do.

Thanks guys.
I'm on the same line of thoughts. It's not easy to find a good example of a
Z32 TT nowadays. A formal appraisal will run approx $300. Never really thought of paying a dealership for the evaluation. How much should I pay the dealer for such evaluation?

 

[Cairo94507]

Re: Dimenished Value... what to do.

I wish you luck; $1,400 is very minor damage these days. Play hardball with them and see if they can come up with a couple grand.

 

[jonas1jp]

Re: Dimenished Value... what to do.

Thanks guys.
I'm on the same line of thoughts. It's not easy to find a good example of a
Z32 TT nowadays. A formal appraisal will run approx $300. Never really thought of paying a dealership for the evaluation. How much should I pay the dealer for such evaluation?

We had the Lexus serviced at the dealer. That same dealer wrote the letter for no charge. Just call the Nissan dealer and ask them. They certainly won't charge you for asking the question.

 

[nsxtasy]

If the damage is minor - and $1400 is certainly minor - then there is not going to be any diminished value.

Take the $1400, get it fixed, and move on.

 

[jonas1jp]

Re: Dimenished Value... what to do.

If the damage is minor - and $1400 is certainly minor - then there is not going to be any diminished value.

Take the $1400, get it fixed, and move on.

He may have a difficult time with it simply because of the age of the car. It's not new, but not a classic either. But, the whole idea behind diminished value is if you have two identical cars sitting next to one another, and one has a CARFAX ding (or simply an admitted new fender, bumper, etc.), the buyer will most likely choose the one that has the clean history. His diminished value may be minimal, but it still exists.

 

[SilverStone05]

Re: Dimenished Value... what to do.

He may have a difficult time with it simply because of the age of the car. It's not new, but not a classic either. But, the whole idea behind diminished value is if you have two identical cars sitting next to one another, and one has a CARFAX ding (or simply an admitted new fender, bumper, etc.), the buyer will most likely choose the one that has the clean history. His diminished value may be minimal, but it still exists.

Agreed 100%.

The simple fact that an accident is reported on Carfax instantly reduces the value of the vehicle in reference to other similar cars without an accident report.

 

[mickeylex]

Re: Dimenished Value... what to do.

Unfortunately it's going to take a lot of your time to get a DV payout on that car. Depends on what your time is worth. They will string you along and if you are persistent there is a small chance they will offer you a few hundred dollars to try to make you go away. I would expect no more than $600 from them on DV.

 

[OneRedNSX]

My wife's mustang just got hit today so I have a feeling that I am going to get to go through this as well Be sure to let us know how you do!

 

[HTN]

Onerednsx... sorry to hear. Hope she is ok.
Update: We finally settled at $1050.00 after a few months of emails back and forth. I prob could've gotten more, but not really the type to milk for every penny. Thank you all for your help.

 

[TomCat]

Onerednsx... sorry to hear. Hope she is ok.
Update: We finally settled at $1050.00 after a few months of emails back and forth. I prob could've gotten more, but not really the type to milk for every penny. Thank you all for your help.

Where in Florida are you? I have property in Pensacola.
I too have a 300ZX-TT, Are you on twinturbo.net?

 

[jonas1jp]

Glad you got something out of it. Hope the body shop does some fine work, and makes her look better than new.

 

[HTN]

Where in Florida are you? I have property in Pensacola.
I too have a 300ZX-TT, Are you on twinturbo.net?

I am in Tampa/Land o Lakes. Grew up in Pcola and family is still there.
Not on tt.net.

Body shop is owned by a friend and he did a fantastic job. After all this, I should prob. go with stated value on the X.

 

[TomCat]

I am in Tampa/Land o Lakes. Grew up in Pcola and family is still there.
Not on tt.net.

Body shop is owned by a friend and he did a fantastic job. After all this, I should prob. go with stated value on the X.

Agreed on insurance.
I'm from Jax, school in G'ville, Perdido Key while flying (Navy).
My ZX is down also getting body work/paint...from age/mileage (350,000).

 

[oscar_driver]

Onerednsx... sorry to hear. Hope she is ok.
Update: We finally settled at $1050.00 after a few months of emails back and forth. I prob could've gotten more, but not really the type to milk for every penny. Thank you all for your help.

BTW, I want to thank you because I believe you were the first to point to me this right that is worth fighting for!

I am glad they somehow cover some of your diminished value loss.

Oscar

 

[HTN]

Agreed on insurance.
I'm from Jax, school in G'ville, Perdido Key while flying (Navy).
My ZX is down also getting body work/paint...from age/mileage (350,000).

350K? That is awesome.

Oscar... Pm me if you need more info.