Diminished value?

[gravedgr]

Despite my best efforts, I was rear-ended a couple of weeks ago. :( It was a two-lane road with a lot of construction and frequent, sudden stops. I was able to catch the guy in front of me stopping suddenly, but the car behind me was not able to stop in time.

When I looked up and saw he was not going to be able to stop without hitting me, I tried to pull up alongside the car in front of me. I was only able to get my door alongside his bumper due to a mailbox in the way, but it did reduce the impact to a fairly minor bump.

No injury to me (other than being a little stiff for a couple of days) and the car appears to have no structural damage - it looks like the bumper cover and rear valence/splitter need to be replaced, but no metal parts appear scratched or bent. I'm working with insurance to set up the claim and get an estimate for repairs now (despite the obvious, he admitted 100% fault to the officer). Interestingly, while the police was writing his report, a 4-way accident happened on the same road just 100 feet down from us. :doh:

Anyhow, I've never done a diminished value claim before, but feel I should with the GT350 given its potential value as slightly more than a street car (there are collectors out there, even if its just a normal mustang to lots of us). Any suggestions on how to get the most out of insurance? Any reason I should not pursue this?

Any and all advice is welcome.

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[Ixse]

As far as i know, u will need an attorney for diminished value claim. If you try to do it yourself most insurance companies will brush you off

 

[uabeng]

I've tried and never been successful and I'm not about to hire an attorney. If it's not on the carfax it didn't happen.

 

[RyanSterling1966]

As far as i know, u will need an attorney for diminished value claim. If you try to do it yourself most insurance companies will brush you off

This is absolutely 100% correct and it is absolute garbage. Given the letter of the law they are supposed to make you whole to the moment right before the accident occurred. A vehicle with less value is NOT WHOLE.

2- months after I got my car before the Shelby I was rear-ended by a real life stereo type. Fart can Civic trying to merge onto the 405 at like 80 during rush hour traffic. He looks up from what I assume was a manifold pressure warning and BOOM GIANT BLACK JEEP.

Anyways, it hurt me to the tune of probably 3k when I sold it.

 

[enzo101]

Took a whole year and a few hundred dollars but I got back 5k. Biggest pain in the ass ever.

 

[FP350S]

Trying to find the bright side...maybe the gap slop can be fixed upon repair.

 

[Schredder]

I got hit left front fender head on . Guy was doing 45. Did 33k worth of damage. Been waiting 6 months to get it back. Looked at it a week ago. You can see the body is twisted And no one wants to admit the car is and should have been totaled. Nothing like making payments on a car you can't drive , And I don't want that piece of shit back. It's had a double airbag deployment . It's worthless. So I have to have an attorney. And who know's when and if I will ever be made whole. It has really ruined the whole ownership experience. To the others who don't know. If you were in an accident you will be punished for it when you sell or trade it. Go to your local ford dealership and tell them you want to trade it in. You will see when they offer you an insult. They told me my car was worth 30k . It only has 2,200 miles on it

 

[SVTinAR]

It's my understanding that besides fighting the insurance company, state laws/regulations that affect dimensioned value vary from state to state too. So you may need to talk with a lawyer or maybe a local classic car appraiser and see what they know about this where you live. A well-connected car appraiser is often required to testify in court as a witness on classic or special interest vehicle damages and values and often know there way around this subject.

 

[swedensky]

Give Petty Details a call. They helped me with diminished value on my RS5. They will write a demand letter for you to submit, and are good with responding to the insurance company. They will basically send you what you need to say yourself so you don’t have to hire an attorney.

 

[BlkGT3]

It depends on state laws and the guilty parties Ins Co. When I got sideswiped to the tune of $23k, that was without any suspension damage, Auto Owners paid me $8,500 in dimished value!! All it took was some documentation of current value after damage, CarMax appraisal, and undamaged value from KBB.

Peter

 

[ttn27]

Talk to this company, collisionsclaims.com, located in your same state.
They deal with diminished value claims. The laws for DV claims are different depending on the states.

 

[tdzee]

Yes, get it. No lawyer needed in Georgia. It is a law here. I have made several claims with my insurance company (sadly) but I have to ask for it. They have to give it to you, but you might have to ask for it (weird, I know). Good luck.

 

[gravedgr]

Thanks for the help everyone. If anyone has access to auction prices and could share the current price for a 2017 non-R, I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[BlkGT3]

Thanks for the help everyone. If anyone has access to auction prices and could share the current price for a 2017 non-R, I would greatly appreciate it.

Check with your selling dealer. That is where I got my info.

Peter

 

[Shabooty]

Despite my best efforts, I was rear-ended a couple of weeks ago. :( It was a two-lane road with a lot of construction and frequent, sudden stops. I was able to catch the guy in front of me stopping suddenly, but the car behind me was not able to stop in time.

When I looked up and saw he was not going to be able to stop without hitting me, I tried to pull up alongside the car in front of me. I was only able to get my door alongside his bumper due to a mailbox in the way, but it did reduce the impact to a fairly minor bump.

No injury to me (other than being a little stiff for a couple of days) and the car appears to have no structural damage - it looks like the bumper cover and rear valence/splitter need to be replaced, but no metal parts appear scratched or bent. I'm working with insurance to set up the claim and get an estimate for repairs now (despite the obvious, he admitted 100% fault to the officer). Interestingly, while the police was writing his report, a 4-way accident happened on the same road just 100 feet down from us. :doh:

Anyhow, I've never done a diminished value claim before, but feel I should with the GT350 given its potential value as slightly more than a street car (there are collectors out there, even if its just a normal mustang to lots of us). Any suggestions on how to get the most out of insurance? Any reason I should not pursue this?

Any and all advice is welcome.

This is what I had to do, if it helps then cool. I was hit on the front driver side. I had almost $31k in damages. My insurance is State Farm. The other guy ran. Someone followed and got his plate # and called it in, but there was some bull shit about since it was a one sided account (me telling it from my point of view), the police didn't go after the other guy. Even though on the police report they put him at fault. Either way, I got the vehicle repaired, and while that was happening I hired a third party appraiser. They valued the car after damages and repair, State Farm gave me $600. I fought w/ them for a couple of weeks so I hired an attorney. It cost me like $70 so it's not much. From what I see from other people in similar situations, you fight and fight and literally as soon as the insurance company gets a letter from an attorney, the situation changes and they're more willing to play ball. So they hired a third party guy. Their estimate was a bit lower than mine, but my guy took into consideration the wheels being damaged. I had all 4 wheels replaced b/c they were scratched lol. Now obviously, wheels are wear and tear so you can't diminish the value of a vehicle b/c of that. So we agreed on $8,200. I took it, sold my car and bought a Raptor and now I'm just sad everyday lol.

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