Hey guys...Unfortunately, a lady in the parking deck forgot to look behind her when backing up (see pictures below) Well, I got my car back last week and just got my diminished value check from the insurance company. IT WAS ONLY $595!!! I mean, wtf...I lost way more money than that off the resale value. I'm not sure if anyone has had the unfortunate displeasure of going through this or not, but if you have, I need some advice. The insurance company would not divulge any information regarding certified appraisers or processes. They pretty much told me once I get a number, call them back. If any of you have had to go through this, I could use some advice on names / numbers of people to call. If this is the wrong section of the forum, I apologize....
Oh, btw, they had to replace both door shells and the runner, as well as do some repairs to the rear quarter-panel... Total Cost of Repair: $3,351.81
Your only chance will be to request more money from the insurnace company. Honestly though, you will probably not get much more money than that. Especially if the damage was only $3300. I would check carfax and see if it shows up on a report. If it shows up as a major accident, I would try to get more money from the insurance company.
try independent appraisal done. Also tell the appraiser that your STI is limited production, which will lose more proportion of value due to accident. If the appraisal comes out more than the current check + appraisal fee, why not??
I'd be careful with trusting carfax. They base the diminished value on the original estimate. My original estimate was for 6000 on a 10100 dollar value. Therefore it wasn't totalled and I only got an 800 dollar diminished value check. But as far as I know the accident never showed up on carfax. Even though they wound up paying out over 12000 dollars.
An indepent appraiser will cost you more money than what you will most likely get out of the diminished value. Your damage to the car was only $3300.....You honestly will not get much more than what they already sent you. you can call and try to talk to the adjuster and plea your case, but in all honestly, they don't have to give you a dime. Your only other choice would be to go after the lady and try to sue her in small claims court. Again, probably more trouble than it is worth.
Wow... My car was valued/appraised at $14K with $7k worth of left side body damage from a similar accident. My check was for $154.89! It's not reported on Carfax either.
They only cost $1-300...not that much considering I should get more than that back... And the big problem here isn't the value of the damage...it's the loss in potential resale value, which is the only thing the diminished value is based on. Are you telling me that if you were originally going to buy my car for (...say...) $32,595, you would now buy it for $32,000 knowing it's been in an accident? Pick a number...subtract it from that $32,595, and that should be the dollar amount on the diminished value. BTW, the day I got in the accident, I printed out every Limited I could find for sale in the U.S. at that particular day (about a month ago)...the average price is between $30-35k. That little '767/800' adds quite a bit to the value...
I have delt with this before... First off I truly feel your pain but that is notJor damage and the car is over a year old. I was in an accident less than three months after purchasing my STi new which the total cost of repair was 14k... I got a check for less than 3k I would bet that your damages will NOT show on a car fax Best of luck and glad you got her back :wavey:
Is it fixed yet? I would recommend talking with Jeff at ArtCraft. He seems to enjoy fighting with insurance on behalf of the customer
That is how things would work in a prefect world. Unfortunately insurance companies are out to make a profit. The real question you have to ask yourself is how much more do you think you can get and how hard you have to work to get the extra money? Not to burst your bubble... I agree that having a Limited will give you a higher resale value, but mostly to small segment of the buyers (AKA Subaru Enthusiasts). I want one because it has the sweet low profile spoiler (I am not a fan of the big wing, but hey that is personal taste). I am not trying to demean your Limited STi in any way. I am just a nerdy engineer and wanted to look at what data I could find. I went to autotrader because you can look at the whole country and it figures out average price of all your result hits for you. So I have two data sets to compare: Set 1: "All 07 Sti's" I just looked up every 07 STi for sale on Autotrader. There were ~135 for sale at this very moment, some of them being Limited. Highest Price: $37,900 (an STi Limited with Moonroof and 12k miles) Lowest Price:$16,900 (Not sure why this is so cheap...scam?) Average Price:$30,760 Set 2: "All 07 Limited STi's" If you search for all 07 STi Limited on Autotrader you only find 28 cars. Highest Price: $37,900 (Same car as above) Lowest Price: $21,450 (actually just a WRX) Average Price: $30,850 Let me start by saying, both data sets are flawed and this is a very elementary way to find data. Some are hits are scams, some hits are normal WRXs that still came up in my search criteria. I don't want to take the time to sort data sets. Both data sets have these inconsistencies, but since the 'Limited' Data set has less cars in it (28 compared to 135), an incorrect WRX that slips into the data set will lower the average price of the entire 'Limited' set more than the 'All STi' set. The fact of the matter is though average prices of both sets are right on top of each other. $30,760 compared to $30,850? That is a difference of 0.3%!! I think when you are talking about an entire market, and not just STi enthusiasts I think the 767/800 really effects the resale value only marginally. Like I said before this is not mean spirited... I am just curious.
I have been down this road and my neighbor is going through this right now. He spent $350 on an independent appraiser and went the whole nine yards...Basically it boils down to the fact that the insurance company DOES NOT have to give you a dime for diminished value. Do I think it is fair, no....but that is the hard truth. If it was the insurance company you have your policy through, you have a better chance of getting more money out of them. If not, they will give you the run around and ultimately tell you if you want anymopre money you will have to sue the owner of the vehicle. I am by no means trying to argue with you about this. I am just telling you what I went through and what my neighbor is going through now.
^^^ yeah...this situation does nothing but suck... I submit requests to independent appraisers today, they're supposed to call me later this week...we'll see what they have to say. I'm not too optimistic, though, it just sucks I have to go through this sh*t when some stupid lady hit me. It would be different if it was my fault...
no, a freaking evo...base line. She backed up and already started turning (and somehow never saw me) and the corner of her bump caught and just slid down my car...I guess she forgot the brake was on the left side.
dayum that sucks. Same thing is going on with me. The insurance company only wanted to give me like $250 for diminishing value. it sucks. but good luck. sorry about the car also.
lol, no, that was just where I pulled in when the cops showed up. The cause would be the lady who forgot to look behind her when her car was in reverse...
Have you gone after her insurance company? (ammending my stupid quetion was it your insurance or hers that sent you the pathetic check)? I am trying to learn a little from this thread since Atlanta is so treacherous with the traffic and it seems like a matter of when, not if, you will have an accident.
My insurance had nothing to do with it...once she was found at fault, Geico took over completely and my company (State Farm) just dropped back. Geico was also the company that sent me the check, though I hear that State Farm generally sends even less. I tried to work through Geico, but got the fat wall. They pretty much told me that unless I had new numbers, the discussion was over. I've submitted claims to two companies thus far and am waiting to hear back from them. I'll keep everyone posted on how it turns out.
*UPDATE* I just got my appraisal back from Autoloss.com. They look at the repair estimates and take into account just about every detail from replacing panels to have to repaint. I feel they've done a fairly thorough job with everything. They took six different market values from certified used dealerships that were selling limiteds and showed how the loss of a 'certified' rating as well as carfax reports have greatly diminished my value. They drew up the legal papers and are dealing with Geico directly. They even went as far as to send me a list of faq's the insurance company might ask me if they contact me. They appraised my loss at $7,400.00. :banana: If I get half that, I'll be happy. :sx: However, after talking with them, they make it sound like I'll get the majority of that. I'll keep everyone posted, but keep this in mind in case this unfortunate event happens to you. *Edit* - They charge $360, just in case any one was wondering
Deb did this with her accident and the diminished value company was not able to get her 1c more than what the insurance company was offering. I really wish I had seen this before you spent the cash...we've been dealing with this for like 5 months now and safeway will not budge. Deb's company said about her only option was small claims...which here in GA is magistrate court. They will estimate WAY high, I think the true value is somewhere in the middle. What we found is that when we took it to dealerships for a trade in estimate, it WAS diminished around $2000 from the accident. This is a far cry away from the $6400 the diminished value guys said it had lost...but still quite a bit more than the $600 safeway offered. But good luck to you with it!! It will be a lengthy process.
sucks it had to happen to ya, glad it wasn't a hit and run. Best of luck to ya in getting it settled and fixed.