How much does a wreck decrease value?
Le Mans Master
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 5,169
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From: Your Sister's Bedroom
Mabey if your getting raked over the coals by the body shop and paying retail for everything. If he sources good used parts (wich are readily available in the for sale section here all the time) He would just be into it for a cople grand... The headlight assembly will most likely be the most expensive part as long as nothing mechanical was damaged.
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Race Director
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From: Saint Albans, WV
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jun 2008
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From: Somerville New Jersey
I am happy to say that I do not have any experiance with this issue and my Vette but my 09 Tahoe was hit, no panels replaced, 2,500.00 in paint, labor, wheel and tire and when I went to trade it in I was hit with a 5k loss in trade in value just due to the accident showing up on Carfax. Well, I still have the Tahoe. 
Drifting
Joined: Oct 2004
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From: Newcastle Oklahoma
Mabey if your getting raked over the coals by the body shop and paying retail for everything. If he sources good used parts (wich are readily available in the for sale section here all the time) He would just be into it for a cople grand... The headlight assembly will most likely be the most expensive part as long as nothing mechanical was damaged.
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St. Jude Donor '06 thru '26
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2007
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From: Milford NH
In a perfect world. Fortunately/buyer,Unfortunately/seller there's Carfax. Two Vettes identical. One had $10K in damage ,sorry buying the other one.
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Burning Brakes
Joined: Apr 2009
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wreck
all that doesnt matter once you report it to your insurance carrier they report to carfax.. once carfax report is on the record your trade in allowance is down. it doesnt matter if you just replaced the fender with no other damage. some dealerships HAVE to wholesale the car. when you get a carfax report it wont say that just the fender was replaced and nothing else. it looks bad either way. it sucks but thats the way it is... i know this because my son just traded in his car. a illegal immigrant hit him from behind and drove off... the insurance paid to get it fixed. the total bill was $1200 even though it was minimal damage he got hit hard when he traded it in... if you have the money and its cheap to fix dont report it. i know some will not like that but if its just a fender etc its not worth the decreased trade in value
Melting Slicks
Joined: Aug 2009
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From: Arlington VA
Le Mans Master
Joined: Feb 2006
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From: SC
Not true! With Car fax out there, everyone knows the history of a used car. Many dealerships provide the car fax free when they sell a car, so they don't want a car with a bad car fax history. High end cars like vettes, even take a bigger hit. People who buy vettes are even more "picky" than the average sedan buyer. You are right about how the car is fixed, a good body shop can make it look like new.....but they can't hide the fact that it was wrecked. Dealerships even use paint/body scanners that will show the paint depth on every body part. So the best body shop can't even hide the fact that the car has been painted, even if the paint matches perfectly!
Le Mans Master
Joined: Feb 2006
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From: SC
Melting Slicks
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 2,098
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From: Dayton Ohio
OP, you definitely want to spend some time surfing the web for diminished value information. A diminished value claim is legitimate, BUT you will have to DOCUMENT your claim carefully before the insurance company will begin to take you seriously. And it's easier to do in some states (Georgia) where the laws are much clearer.
Instructor
Joined: Jul 2010
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I would guess 4000 to 6000 dollars unless you find a buyer who does not care about a wreck if it professionally repaired. The problem is that people can buy cars of similar type and year that are nearly flawless. I just went through this with a car and the discount on a 30 some thousand car was 5000. KH
Intermediate
Joined: Feb 2011
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Second, pro fix better than new? If you have 2 identical vettes and one has been banged up in a wreck, you are actually going to pay the same price because it was professionally fixed?
Race Director
Joined: Oct 2005
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From: Saint Albans, WV
