Diminished Value (accident today)

[Fordified1]

Why responders are being so heated and rude is beyond me, but it’s pure ignorance on their part.
You absolutely have a diminished value claim. You’ll need a professional appraiser with diminished value experience to appraise the vehicle after the repairs are made and before you are completely settled with the offenders insurance company. It is much more common than many think (ignorance). Your vehicle’s value has definitely been diminished and my experience is the insurance company will probably not balk on the additional money settlement.
My wife was sideswiped in a parking lot also, and at the end, after her car was fixed, we had an appraiser write up the diminished value claim which we presented and promptly received a diminished value check from the other insurance company with no fuss. I would start by asking your ford dealership if they have an in house appraier or one they recommend.

To speculate value of the claim would be just guessing. Let the professional appraiser do that.

Sponsored

 

[Rich406]

Dealer will use any reason to beat you to death on a tradein. My f150 raptor was in a small accident, there was minimal damage to the truck, mainly a small scratch in the running board.

a police report was filed, and carfax listed “functional damage”. this essentially means the vehicle was damage but still functional. All the while I had no idea that carfax listed this.

Fast forward a couple years and I’m working a deal on a new vehicle. Deal is set, or so I thought until I received a call from my salesperson asking what the accident was. Next thing I know the dealer reduced their offer by 5k.

Same thing happened on my next raptor. Side swipe resulted in a scratched wheel. Pretty much same scenario, this one cost about 3k off the offer as far as I can tell.

 

[nolimits]

I have had a few different experiences that I can categorize as follows:

1. I was 16-18 and wrecked a Nissan Sentra and Chevy Camaro. Values were low, $7500 or less. No DV claim and too young & dumb to even know about it. Sentra I paid cash and carried liability only and did all mechanical repairs with minor body work. Camaro I rear ended a car. Had full coverage but had a $2,500 deductible which meant I also did repairs and replaced body panels. Uncle helped me straighten frame. I used a body shop to paint. I sold/traded both cars with no real effect of DV. This was before CarFax was popular.

2. Wrecked a 2010 Nissan Titan twice, about 18-24 months apart. Neither was my fault. Insurance paid and I used a shop where I had connections and they did the repairs right. I fought the insurance company for DV and lost. Later when I tried to sell/trade it was a nightmare. I kept the truck for 2-3 years after the last repair. I stand by it drove great and I had no qualms with it other than wanting a newer and different vehicle. Everyone seemed to pull a CarFax. Lost several private sales as a result. Some low balled to the point it was almost comical. Dealers didn’t want it on trade either and hit me crazy low. Finally got rid of it with help from a family member who owned a small dealership and was partners with a large Dodge dealer. Without the favor I would have taken a bath.

3. Most recent was a 2021 Sierra AT4. Minor fender bender. My fault. My DV request was denied. Damage was minor and performed by the most reputable shop in town. It looked and drove right afterwards and I believe they did good work. I traded to an out of state dealer mainly because the car I was buying was rare and didn’t have ADM’s. Also they hit my trade so high it wasn’t worthwhile to hassle with a private sale. They pulled a CarFax and was aware of the “minor damage” reported. It didn’t change their offer as they pulled the report prior to making their offer (which I negotiated up about $2k). I think I was damn lucky. The truck & features was very desirable and prices were still whacky with low inventory.

My takeaway from my experiences is I’ve seen how DV can wreak havoc. I agree your damage is minor. It’s less about that and more about the negative marks on CarFax who is super popular and most people use. Even if you repair beyond new, it taints the PERCEPTION of the potential buyer, rather dealer or private sale. Sure, you can and should show photos and make them get warm fuzzies but most will take your story with a grain of salt as you are a seller and have bias.

If I’m being honest as a buyer I prefer to avoid previously wrecked cars if possible. If that isn’t feasible then I use the prior history as leverage to lower the price. Reasoning is simple. I’m taking a risk and I need rewarded to do so. If I don’t get that reward/discount price then I have little incentive to buy.

As such, I’d push the insurance company for a DV claim. Unless you hit weird market timing like I did with my old AT4 you will probably experience smaller dollars when you sell for reasons already noted above. Good luck with insurance, they suck donkey balls.

 

[indio22]

Unfortunately wifes bronco was sideswiped today(other driver at fault), a dent between taillight and hardtop (assuming that was at fault drivers mirror), rear fender flare was ripped off, mirror was destroyed and other scuffs etc down side.

Figure I’d start this thread in order to update the progress of asking/getting diminished value.

Has anyone received DV on a bronco? What was damage total and how much DV did you receive?

Recently when buying my 6 year old used sports car, I ruled out any having documented prior damage. The particular vehicle was know for people abusing them, so I wanted much as possible to avoid past abuse/accidents. I was rewarded in my search and paid a bit extra for a very nice car owned by a woman who just drove it to work.

So yeah, accidents can impact value and number of persons willing to even buy your car, and I would not be happy taking that hit. I'm all in with you on trying to at least get some DV money. That said, I'm likely keeping my somewhat unicorn $28K Bronco a long time, such that resale might never be an issue.

 

[userdude]

Buyer after taking a looooong look at my off roaded Bronco: "So, Carfax says it was in an accident few years ago?" lol

Get DV if you can. Doesn't seem like you're too worried if it don't happen.

 

[ZeoBandit]

You probably won't have to worry about diminished value. The repair shop won't be able to get repair parts in a timely manner, so the insurance company will just total it.

I kid...I hope.

 

[BroncMO]

1. DV will depend on your state. I assume you’re in a state that has DV.

2. I had to have a bumper replaced, parking sensor module, and brackets on 2022 Wrangler after another wrangler ripped the bumper corner off in a parking garage. $1,100 in work. $450 in DV.

 

[ramblinwreck]

On my wife’s explorer I managed to get USAA to agree to paying me the difference between excellent condition and poor condition value after she had a major no fault accident. Iirc it was around $3k. Their original offer was like $150.

 

[jay1122]

Those uneducated people trying to push OP out of DV is kind of funny to me.

OP you should do a VIN history search later and see if your vehicle history comes back with accident history.

As far as DV, it is real. And you are entitled to it if the accident is not your fault. I got $5K(Asked for $8k) DV payout from a $11K repair.

The process is that after repair, you find a diminished value appraiser to prepare a DV report. costs a couple hundred dollars. It will give you a $$ value. Submit the report and demand letter to the 3rd party insurance and negotiate a payout. Some insurance will be generous and pay you. Some will negotiate a lower amount with you. Some will play hardball and reject. The DV appraiser can help you if they play hardball. You can easily google "Diminished value appraisal services" to find a DV appraiser.

You could also do the comparison yourself and submit a demand letter on your own. It is just not as professional as an appraiser prepared report with credential. I have done it and got $$ before. But it is because I know the insurance company has a DV department that will work with you on DV payout. Some smaller insurance firms are super hard ball and stingy.

 

[LarryZiegler]

I didn’t say it was an investment. So in your scenario we just walk away, continue being happy and get screwed by dealer/buyer when and if we go to trade-in or sale based on their perceived value of a vehicle that now shows as being in a accident…that makes zero sense. So when you go buy a car you choose the one that was in a accident over the one that wasn’t for the same price?

You should think, none of us here as far as I know created car fax, diminished value, insurance etc…but we have to live with it and to tell me to eat a potential loss and be happy is kinda ignorant.

Not all collision centers report to CarFax. A few years ago my dad did $17,000 of damage to his 1 yr old Honda Accord. The body shop never reported the damage. On my current 2021 Ford Bronco, the local dealer that has provided servicing and recalls also does not report to CarFax. The only item showing up on a current CarFax is the original sale that was made at a long distance Ford dealer.

Sponsored