Not sure what to do. I was on a trip and got into an accident. A kid backed right into me. Here's where it gets weird. Three days later I hit a deer. Forty years of nothing, and now two incidents in one week. The car is in the body shop at the dealer now. The first incident has been determined to be entirely 100% the other drivers fault; they are paying my deductible and the cost of a new fender and bumper. The second accident requires a new fender on the other side, hood, emblems, etc. This is being treated as a separate claim. The first incident is $3000 and the second $10,000. My insurance company does not consider me at fault for the deer. (he's OK; those mule deer are tough).
My question is, do I have any right to request money from the insurance company of the first incident for "diminished value"? Is there such a thing? My car no longer has a clean Carfax. Has anyone ever collected money for diminished value or am I SOL? Thanks in advance.

 

Diminished Value is a tough road. It's triple-tough for a measly $3,000 claim.

The $10,000 deer strike is totally on you, unfortunately, even though technically it isn't your "fault". Can't claim diminished value for something that has no person at-fault.

Yep, your car's history is no longer clean. Things happen, and sometimes it isn't "fair", but we just have to deal with it. Sorry man -- hate to see bad things happen to our cars.

 

For $3K?? Not a hill to die on IMO.
Other way around, maybe.

Take care of your '7, keep it clean & well maintained and baring something unforeseen happening necessitating selling?
Plan keeping & enjoying it long term.
You know what you have, neither repair was serious.
Plan for various upgrades over the next few years, new wheels, fancy brakes etc keeps the experience fresh.
Keep it and Carfax is rendered meaningless.

 

Would be a simple solution for me - just continue to drive it... I always put in excess of 100K on my Vettes.....

 

thanks everybody your input makes a lot of sense.

 

Many people believe things like this often happen in 3s. I would be afraid, very afraid.

 

Probably not worth the effort required for a relatively minor repair. Keep documentation on everything that is done to the car so that if you do eventually sell the car you can show the buyer just what was involved.

 

If you have a radiator fail on a car, and it is fixed properly it does not hurt car value, yet if you have some body damage fixed properly there is "dimished value". When body work is done right, you can't even tell, much like properly repaired mechanicals, yet for some reason body work is viewed differently. CarFax only works for insurance companies and car dealers who use it to low ball trade ins even if fixed properly. Years ago, the appraiser looked the car over and if body damage was repaired properly, you weren't penalized. I now scrutinize filing an auto body claim carefully because of the harm CarFax can cause. Insurance companies routinely post to CF, but if you pay for repairs out of pocket most bodymen wont post it. If you only have a few grand in damage it is sometimes wiser to pay out of pocket due to this new perception of "diminished value". I would highly suggest you review a CarFax report on any car you have. I had my C6 get hit in the door; a punctured door. The door was replaced, $3k in damage, car was driven away with no problem. I checked the CF, and it showed major damage, car undriveable, totally false. I filed a dispute with CF, and upon providing supporting documents, they updated the report. If you have a good relationship with your Chevy dealer or insurance agent they can check it free of charge. CF hurts private owners....... I am not sure why insurance companies feel compelled to post info to CF, this is not a law, and frankly by doing this, they now have clients asking for offset of diminished value, something that didnt exist until CF came into being. It really helps car dealers the most........

 

Believe me, Carfax is a long way from being a "help" to dealers. Carfax entries force dealers to reduce appraisal values because potential customers for the used unit want ridiculous discounts for any entry registered for previous damage. Yes, they do take the unit in for less but also sell the unit for less. Lower trade values simply make it more difficult to make the deal for the consumer to begin with.

The big loser in the process is the consumer who they purport to protect. A clean Carfax increased the value of used vehicles. Often there was no reason for this increase but the simple fact someone missed reporting a repair. As you stated, a $1,000 body repair shouldn't make a difference in value if properly done. As well, title laws already protected the consumer in major cases where the title is branded and disclosed if a salvage title, flood damaged, lemon law, etc.

The only winner in this process has been Carfax themselves who invented their own industry. They have also enabled fly-by-night ambulance chasing attorneys and know nothing amateur appraisers trying to invent their own industry of "diminished value". Ultimately this costs us all in the form of increased insurance costs!

 

I hate to bring the mood down, but I always thought it was only deaths in 3s? Bad stuff in general in 3s too?