Diminished Value claim

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82jumper

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Need some advise on a diminished value claim.

While approaching another truck head on around 9am in the morning at about 25mph he decided to turn left at last second in front of me and despite my getting on brakes hard (I heard ABS working) and trying to turn away, I was not able to avoid hitting him. I tried attaching two photos, but am pretty new to this so won't be surprised if there is a problem with them.

Despite the damage I had, I couldn't get too pissed off at the other guy, he is a 83 year old retired Marine (I am Army vet) who just seems generally confused. It would have been like getting mad at your grandfather. Medically we were both fine. I braced pretty good before impact and don't believe I even hit my airbag.

He stated flat out to me, and the responding cop, that he was in a hurry to make a Dr appt and he never looked and just turned. He was cited by the cop and determined to be fully at fault.

So as far as damage, my steering wheel airbag deployed (only one to do so) and as you can see I have significant damage to my right front, grill and hood. So far his insurance, Geico, has been pretty good, they are my insurance too but this one is all on him.

They towed it immediately to my Ford dealer and Geico's adjuster initially pegged repairs at $14,000. Once the dealer had a chance to strip it down and fully assess & confirm all the damage its now up to $20,000 and will probably go a little higher when all said & done. Dealer confirmed main frame is not bent which is the biggie, otherwise its a lot of new parts (too many to list here), some paint, and a 20" Rigid light bar I had in the lower grill which they gave me no hassle on replacing.

I did discuss with adjuster if it was coming close to a total given amount of repairs and obviously significant salvage value, but he said no, which I am ok with. During this discussion he did say he felt it was worth $47,000 before the accident which is in range I figured it to be for a 2013 SCAB, with every option but sunroof, 29,000 miles, LineX bed spray, bed cover, and no other prior damage. Frankly $47k is reasonable as I paid $46k for it new in Dec 2012 so it held amazing value.

Now assuming its properly repaired, which I believe it can be, the question becomes, and where I need advise; what is its post repair value? Think of it this way if you had two trucks you could buy just like mine, one with no accident history at all, and one that had been accident with $20,000+ in repairs, how much less would you pay for the one that had been in a accident?

To top it all off in NC where I live its a legal requirement to disclose on the title at transfer if the vehicle has had repairs greater than 25% of its value at any time. Which I would do anyway to potential buyer, just because its right thing to do.

The Geico adjuster and I discussed, and he has put it in for a diminished value claim, which cannot be done until all the repairs are complete, but I am trying to get start on my research now figuring this is there the battle will be.

My plan is to have it fixed, drive it for another year or two and then trade for a Gen2 once the initial hysteria (pricing) has died down.

Any advise, or personal experience you can share, is appreciated, and no condolences necessary, it happens.

Thanks in advance.
 

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Wfo

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Bummer man! I was just rear ended last Friday, not nearly as much damage on my 14 screw. I'm still pissed. I'm worried it will show on carfax and devalue my truck. ****** drivers SUCK!!!!!
 
D

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I've been through it but its a struggle.

I was lucky enough that my brother owned a used car lot. I had the GM write me a letter as if I was trading it in to them. On the letter it stated due to the vehicle having an accident that will show on Carfax to their potential buyers that they could only offer such said amount being x amount lower than market, blah, blah. You get the point. Actually I wrote the letter and the GM just signed it.

It was on their letterhead and I sent a copy to the insurance. I also used an online service but if you can get a lawyer to submit it, that would be better.

Insurance still balked about it and we settled on half of what I wanted so claim high.
 

JD 500

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They don't show on their website what it cost. What did it cost you?

It depends and I think it's based off the original estimate.
Mine was a sub 10k original estimate, and the report was 495.
 
D

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It depends and I think it's based off the original estimate.
Mine was a sub 10k original estimate, and the report was 495.

Ouch, with no absolute guarantee that the insurance company will pay it. Mine was years ago and they had a flat rate of $99 but they are no longer in business, go figure. But at that price, I would definitely include that amount in the DV claim. Good luck on your claim, hope you get close to your full amount.
 

Enigma94

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I'd guess if your truck valued at $47k before the accident you'd be lucky to get 20-25k in 2 years on a trade in. If you were to put it on the market right after repairs were done I'd say 35k would be the starting point. I know accidents severely limit your market, on a already limited market truck so you'd probably be looking at selling to somebody who wants a raptor but is fund limited or somebody who wants a raptor to beat on in the desert without worrying about destroying a 50k truck. So your price has to be low enough to meet those 2 criteria.

The good thing is you have pics of the damage. I would take as many as possible along the whole process to document for future prospective buyers, it will really help in a private sale. As far as a DV claim I'd say anything over 10k would be fair.
 
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82jumper

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Thanks for the advise, I really don't know where to peg post repair value so your thoughts are helpful.

Kind of changing my thought a bit and thinking hard about having the repairing dealer give me a trade value on an order for a new 2017 Raptor and comparing that to sales/trades of undamaged rigs. Might be good argument with insurance co when the dealer that did the detailed evaluation and all the repair work says it's only worth $X

I have been taking pictures all along so have good log of repairs.

Looks like will be couple more weeks before repairs are complete.




I'd guess if your truck valued at $47k before the accident you'd be lucky to get 20-25k in 2 years on a trade in. If you were to put it on the market right after repairs were done I'd say 35k would be the starting point. I know accidents severely limit your market, on a already limited market truck so you'd probably be looking at selling to somebody who wants a raptor but is fund limited or somebody who wants a raptor to beat on in the desert without worrying about destroying a 50k truck. So your price has to be low enough to meet those 2 criteria.

The good thing is you have pics of the damage. I would take as many as possible along the whole process to document for future prospective buyers, it will really help in a private sale. As far as a DV claim I'd say anything over 10k would be fair.


---------- Post added at 10:06 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:04 PM ----------

Thanks. Been researching a few diminished value appraisers here in NC for exact same sort of report. Please let me know how it goes for you!


I Hired these guys to generate a DV report. Haven't got it yet, nor am I done with the process so I can't tell you how well it works.

Diminished Value | Auto Appraisal & Valuation | Auto Damage Experts

Good luck !

PS PM me if you have any other questions.
 
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