first off everyone is ok. The Z was stopped in rush hour traffic. A 2000 dodge ram not paying attention slammed into the rear at 35mph. The Z took it better than the dodge! His bumper was pulled down,grill totaled, hood smashed. Neither vehicles airbags deployed. He had Geico and they are treating me excellent. They are accepting FULL responsibility! I called a flat bed wrecker and had it towed to the Chevrolet dealer. Geico set me up with a standard rental car. When I told them the Z is a $50,000 car, and a standard size was unacceptable. They stepped it up to a Premium(Toyota Avalon). and said no problem. The Chevrolet dealer said they cannot dissasemble the car till the Geico rep shows up. So the extent of damage is unknown yet. I plan on telling the Geico rep I want to file a diminished value claim. My question to everyone is this. "How much has this accident depreciated the car?" Please no smart alec answers. I want to come up with a resonable dollar amount from the corvette experts. Even though I am confident Chevrolet will fix it right. I still will have to disclose it was rearended at resale, which will hurt the value in my opinion. This is a 04 with 20,000miles.

 

Not being a smart a$$ at all, but cars are only worth what people are willing to pay, despite what Kelly Blue Book, or whoever, has to say. I personally wouldn't buy a Z06 that has been in a accident, so I would ask for more than you are probably thinking.

On another note....glad no one was hurt and it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

 

You stand little chance of getting diminished value unless it is required in your state (do any states require this consideration?)

You do however stand a chance of getting money for "pain and suffering"

From experience with Geico, this is the way they will want to go, that way they are not setting a precedent for diminished value claims.

Usually they will give $1500 - $2000, which is about half of the value your Z will have lost.

The only differences between yours and my experience is that
a) I was driving an Acura at the time I was rearended
b) My claim was under Geico for uninsured motorist, since the other driver was uninsured. This gave me less leverage
c) I had a personal injury claim for an aggravated old injury to my back.
d) My trunk was smashed in about 2 feet farther that yours.

They paid for the repairs to the car, then about 6 months later after I finished seeing a chiroractor (wreck aggravated an old injury), they paid him and gave me about $2000 extra for P&S. They wouldn't even speak to me about Dminished value.

I realize that P&S was related to the injury claim, but I never mentioned it, only diminished value, so I was surprised that they offered it.

 

This is a good question, as I was in an accident as well (my fault my insurance co.)
I have wondered this as well........in terms of what is the cars value after it's wrecked vs before.

I don't believe diminished value is a state to state thing, I believe it can apply anywhere, it's just that most people don't look into it or know about it.
Here is a quote from a forum member who post this on the thread about my accident:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...post1563293189

 

You don't have to disclose anything about prior accidents to a vehicle in a sale. If the buyer asked specifically if its ever been in a accident then you have to word it carefully how you answer cause he can come back at you on it if you lie if he so desires. Ive sold a vehicle that had a frame replacement done on it and whole back half replaced at 18K total from an accident and the buyer never asked me about any prior accidents on it so I didn't mention it. They want to know about past history they can run a Carfax on it themselves...BUT Carfax doesn't always list all accidents on a vehicle. Ive run a Carfax before on a few knowing they were in accidents and nothing showed up 8 months after even though they were in body shop with both having over 10k damages.

 

First, Carfax as mentioned will know if police were called to the scene and wrote a report.

Second, I would look in autotrader or cars.com for local Z's with damage and get an idea of what they actually go for. My guess is $5-8k loss on a private sale if you sell right after repairs. I think your car might have sold for $33k private sale in excellent condition and I can't imagine it going for less than $25k repaired. This would be the ballpark for an '01Z with the same miles in excellent condition.

 

My guess is that there are a lot of people like me that would never buy a wrecked car, even if the repair was flawless. There are just too many low mileage cars out there for the same price.
Just fix it and drive it as long as you can.

 

All that matters is if there is someone that will take "the deal". You can't by an '04 w/ 20k miles that passes state safety inspections and looks and drives nice for $25k. Someone will buy it. Rear end collisions are known not as bad as front collisions. Less chance of frame damage and nothing vital down there--not even the gas tank.

 

I had an accident and they offered me the same for P&S ($2000) so I went ahead and got a Lawyer and then settled for $15,000 with the insurance company.

Never take their first offer, always get a lawyer.

Sorry for 6 months of P&S you got screwed settling for only $2000.

$2000 divided by 6 months is like $33.33 a day and this is not worth any P&S to me.

 

Not true!

My last car I owned for almost 8 years. In that 8 years I got rearended twice, and one Hit and run (caught the driver) and all were accidents that were reported by the Police, Tickets were issued along with Jail time for the hit and run. After the last Accident I sold my car 3 years later. The buyer ran a Carfax on the car and only saw 1 Accident.

I believe he made money off that Carfax guarantee!

I do not believe Carfax at all because this isnt the only car where I personally know where things never made it to the Carfax report.

 

hmm. 35mph!!! u sure it was that fast? looks like it was about 15 mph...

 

Incorrect. First, it's not 'required' in any state. Second, it's RECOGNIZED by most states, but that doesn't answer the question either. The short answer to the question is -- unless it's your own insurance company paying (not the case of the OP), you'll likely get DV. The reason you don't get it if your own insurance company pays is that your policy (which is a contract) will usually limit you to cost to repair OR DV - you won't get both. If the other person's insco is paying, then in almost all states you CAN recover DV.

Here's what I would do (not to be construed as legal advice, since I am a lawyer, but not your lawyer). First, I wouldn't mention it to the Geico claims adjuster up front. Let him give you an estimate on the cost to repair the car and all the details that go into that (OEM vs. aftermarket parts, whole-car repaint vs. partial paint then 'blending', etc.). If you tell the adjuster up front about the DV, he'll try to screw you on the other stuff. Negotiate a price on the other stuff, then BEFORE signing anything, address the DV issue.

BEFORE the dealer starts repairs, hire a DV appraiser. The dealer can probably recommend someone -- will run around $200. This is really the only way to get a legitimate idea of DV. Insurance companies will tell you that it's a 10% rule (10% of the damage estimate). This is not true! In my experience (and I've recovered DV a number of times for myself and others), 20-30% OR MORE. With cars like ours, the numbers tend on the higher side. Without a DV appraisal, you're shooting in the dark. Bottom line, DV is a REAL, QUANTIFIABLE damage which you've suffered NOW. You DO NOT need to sell the car to realize DV. If after you get the DV appraisal and present it to Geico, they try to screw you, then GET A LAWYER, or get one sooner if you desire.

I've got lots of posts on this issue -- do a search under my userID and DV.

 

When I had a diminshed value claim (Not Geico) on a vehicle I no longer own, I was told by the adjuster that I had to hire an outside party to do the diminished value report on my own coin. They estimated the value of my car before the accident by looking up similiar vehicles with the same mileage etc. and estimated the value lost by looking over the vehicle while still in the shop/after repairs were completed and by the final report showing repairs done with total cost. Then I had to submit it with the adjuster which was then reviewed. Hope this helps

 

I am impressed with how it took it. I wish I had pics of his pick-up. You wouldn't believe it! Someone told me before, "carry a disposable camera in your glove box" This is good advice! Because I would like to show what his truck looked like. It would better illustrate the speed.

 

You have to have someone give you a DV appraisal in order to possibly get a DV settlement. If it does show up on Carfax, you definitely have Diminished Value. You will lose interested parties and will only be able to sell to someone looking for a discounted price because of the accident.

Good luck with the repairs. By the looks of the trunk lid and how far the rear bumper is pushed forward towards the rear wheel, I would really be surprised if there isn't rear tub damage, and maybe a tweaked frame rail.

 

 

Mental note...never buy a used car from Briann510....

 

Wow I am really surprised at how much an accident can lower the expected value upon resale. I hit a rabbit a few months ago and it made a slight crack in the front fascia. (about two inches long near the inlets) I got a new nose out of the deal, which I thought was a good thing since the all the rock chips are now gone.

Is an accident as small as running over a rabbit expected to lower the value a few grand??

 

I actually moved this thread because it is regarding a general topic of INSURANCE, and it should be in the C5 General area. Just because it has Z06 in the thread doesn't mean that it is specific to Z06s. Send me a PM, or better yet I'll be sending one to you.
Instead of complaining in the open forum take it to PM next time.

 

i am currently going thur this i had it appraised then hired the law firm of wattel and york thats basicly all they do if you need any info pm
me