Read a few older/different threads about Diminished Value... Since I have so much time to THINK instead of drive while my Vette is in the Body Shop, I thought I'd pose the following question to my Fellow SoCal Vette Owners:

Any War-Stories on DV? Good, Bad, Ugly??? Calif. past cases? Worthwhile??

Thanks!!

 

Assuming you are a claimant and was hit by someone, you will have to file the diminished value claim with the at fault insurance carrier. They will drag this out as long as possible. (I was a insurance adjuster for 5 years and handled these claims) and Im currently a body shop estimator at a high end shop and see this often. You will need to have the car independently appriased. I would recommend Lance Coren the Ferrari Appraiser. He does all exotics and classics for all the major insurance companies and is well trusted/known. Once you have the valuation completed and he (or whatever appraiser you use) can give you a dollar amount for the amount lost off the value due to the accident, the insurance company will cut you a check. This is only after they approve the amount and will likely want to haggle with you on that specific amount.

From personal experience, unless your C5 is a rare car with special options or high end equipment, you likely are not going to get much back. Assuming the shop you took the car to knows what they are doing, the work shouldn't be detectable unless a trained eye is going over the car. Things like smooth paint on the jambs, no masking marks, no overspray, etc are what would be looked at.

Personally, I wouldn't waste the time and energy. You have a better chance getting more money from filing an injury claim if you got hurt than getting money back on a DV claim. Good luck and feel free to ask me any questions.

 

I'm in the middle of a diminished value claim. I can give you details. I will tell you that Lance Coren isn't going to give you the time of day unless you have a truly expensive car (not a Corvette). Ask me how I know. PM me and we can talk. I'm retired Air Force by the way.

San

 

That's odd, I can name off 20 claims on vehicles that I handled that Lance Coren appraised where the car was worth less than $50k. That includes a clapped out 67 c10 pickup truck. Maybe it depends on the insurance carrier handling the claim. Either way, good luck OP.

 

Thanks to both of you for the good info!! I realize it is very complicated now... and my 04 Coupe is just "regular" (although upgraded with some mods and has all factory options)...

But I'm gonna dig a little deeper just for argument's sake....

 

My experience was that my Corvette didn't warrant his time. It was three months old when it was hit, had 1000 miles on it, sustained over $10K in damages and spent two months in the shop. I have a lawyer in Phoenix handling the case.

San

 

My 4 month old GTI was hit last year, and aside from getting the other guys insurance to pay for the repairs I used a online diminished value service that sent out an appraiser and gave me a bunch of form letters. Sent it all in and his insurance State Farm settled for what I asked for (3k), with no hassle or anything. You mileage may vary.

 

My car was tapped at a stop sign. Straight on, low speed, I was **** about the repair at a high-end shop, and all repairs came to about $2,800.

I did receieve a DV claim check of about $1500 via an attorney outfit in FL. It is on you to do the paperwork, but it wasn't too bad. They dealt with the Ins co for the most part.

Don't know if the amount covers the $ lost on resale? (07 C6)

e-mail or PM me if you want to know more

 

Now that I have my Vette back --

(http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-g...reck-pics.html)

I thought I'd dig a little deeper into Diminished Value...

I first tried an online D.V. Calculator (they charge $ 14.95)... It advised that my D.V was about $ 2250....

I then called a local Chevy Dealer and spoke with the Used Car Mgr... He advised that if he is looking at a Corvette that has a CarFax accident history he IMMEDIATELY sets the value about $3k below a comparable Vette with no history!! And--it even gets worse--he said he would not keep the Vette--he'd wholesale it to an independent Dealer... Said he just can't sell anything that "tests positive" with CarFax....

So far it seems that 1) quality of repair means nothing; 2) extent of damage means little; and 3) Diminished Value is REAL!!

I'm dealing with the Insurance Co. for the at-fault party... She says she needs, in writing, expert opinon(s) on the value prior to the accident and also after the repair...

I've had good luck talking to people--but not much luck getting anything in writing...

Oh yeah--almost forgot--the Used Car Mgr. (who was very nice, by the way), said D.V. applies much more to a Vette than other Chevrolet products...

Will advise if anything new occurs... Let me know if you have any ideas.. And thanks to you all--especially the ones I've PM'd or spoken with...

 

Looks like this could get interesting Greg....