2 months old and WACK!

[mbuckcoyote]

Tomorrow I will be having my '11 GT towed off to the body shop for estimates due to a chain reaction accident it was involved in this past thursday. Damage is rather slight considering but quite noticeable. It was rear-ended by a car that was also rear-ended.

The fender cap and valance seem to be the only damaged areas with the left tail pipe/muffler bent. Four cars were invloved and I was the second from the front car which sustainded no damage other than a tap by my front end which destroyed my license plate cover and frame and bent up the license plate no other damage to the front can be seen.

Even thought I will be out nothing for the repairs other than the inconvience of the whole thing, I also thought about the diminished value aspect of a two month old car. In this day and age of instant car crash checks when doing a search for a used vehicle using sights like CarFax, if your vehicle was involved in an accident, no matter how slight, the value has gone down because of this.

As a question, I would like to ask the audience here what percentage of value loss one could expect? 10, 15, 20%? Also, if you have the experience, did you ever put a claim in to be reimbersed for diminished value? In other words, did you seek compensation from the [paying] insurance company for the loss in resale value of your new car because of an accident that was not your fault?

I plan to put this type of claim in on my car and am just looking for those who have gone this route before and were successful. And, what was the percentage of value received? Thanks!

 

[parchisi]

I have no clue, but I would guess that if you're honest and up front with any potential buyer, and tell them that it was involved in an accident, but the damage was slight, then I don't see the value taking much of a hit.

 

[Az Pete]

Simply talk with the paying company. I have had this paid on one car of my daughters when it was brought up to the company. Seemed they would not offer it up front. Not sure how hard you can push with it.

 

[palerider94]

take some pics of the hit. If it ever comes up at resale you can show the extent of the damage. I know what you mean about carfax though. When buying my current 2007 - I woul dnot look at anything that did not have a clean carfax.

 

[auburntiger8685]

I had a similar thing happen to me. I got rear ended when my car was around 2 months old. I got a diminished value check for $1800. So i think the diminished value is determined by the severity of the damage and value of your car. I checked with my insurance company and they thought it was a fair diminished value check. Another thing you may want to look into is go ahead and replace your stock exhaust since it is damaged. Just pay any difference in price.

 

[katmando911]

take some pics of the hit. If it ever comes up at resale you can show the extent of the damage.

This is an excellent idea. Also, keep any receipts and the repair bill/invoice.

 

[mbuckcoyote]

I had a similar thing happen to me. I got rear ended when my car was around 2 months old. I got a diminished value check for $1800. So i think the diminished value is determined by the severity of the damage and value of your car. I checked with my insurance company and they thought it was a fair diminished value check. Another thing you may want to look into is go ahead and replace your stock exhaust since it is damaged. Just pay any difference in price.

This kind of thing is only fair with new cars. As has been said earlier, people looking to buy a used car through places like CarFax are going to use this info to decide to look or not. As for the exhaust, apparently, the exhause just got knocked off the mounts and is OK so, it won't be replaced.

Auburntiger, may I ask who the paying insurance company was? Farmers is the company that would be paying for the diminished value at my end. Thanks

 

[SkyRender]

If the frame wasn't bent, there really is no loss of value.

I know this because I just traded in an '01 Ram to purchase my Mustang. The Ram was also rear ended, but the only damage was to the bumper, tailgate, and exhaust system. The frame was not bent, so my trade-in value was not affected.

 

[Ateup]

I would never bypass a car just because it has a collision report on car fax. That's ridiculous to me, IMO. The vast majority of accidents have little more than cosmetic damage.

 

[ZeroFear]

If your selling it as a 100K mile POS to some kid, then it won't matter too much.

If you take good care of it and then try to sell it as a low mile well cared for car, the value will drop hard since these customers really don't want any stories about crashes or repairs.

Don't listen to the people who say "nah no values drop".

 

[ZeroFear]

I would never bypass a car just because it has a collision report on car fax. That's ridiculous to me, IMO. The vast majority of accidents have little more than cosmetic damage.

Most people about to spend good money would, unless its some ultra rare car thats a 1 off collectors piece. Why would you buy a mustang that has an accident report, when there are 1000000 other ones without?

 

[AvalancheSVT]

if you aren't at fault you can typically get depreciated value compensation. my buddy with a 370Z annivirsary edition got rear ended two weeks after ownership. same thing, got compensation for it.

 

[Ateup]

Most people about to spend good money would, unless its some ultra rare car thats a 1 off collectors piece. Why would you buy a mustang that has an accident report, when there are 1000000 other ones without?

I'm not afraid of them, that's why. And when I'm looking for a car, I'm looking for something specific and that's not 2000 miles away, Not just something that there are a million of out there.

 

[Svtpilot]

I feel your pain Mbuck. My 5 month old '10 got rear ended my some drunk old bitch last night. It sucks. Well I planned on replacing the rear valence with a GT500 one anyway