Hello, New member here, Maybe some of you know if there is a way to determine a depreciation value for a 2012 Prius 3, 52k miles that was in great shape, but rear ended and cost $4500+ for Toyota to repair. The story. This is my daughter car and she was stopped on the interstate due to heavy traffic. A young man in a borrowed mini van topped a hill and rear ended a (also stopped) Toyota Highlander at a high rate of speed, which shoved the Highlander into my daughters Prius causing the damage. The kids (all under 21) in the three accident cars were ok, but the mini van and Highlander are both totalled. Mow my daughter is soon to get her car from Toyota after 6 weeks of being repaired and I am looking for a fair depreciation value or percentage reduction off book value for my daughters car. This was 100% unavoidable for her and now her car will never be worth as much before the wreck. Maybe some of you have had to deal with this? Thanks Russ
So the insurance pays for the repairs and then writes you a check for the depreciated value from the accident?
welcome! and sorry for your trouble. glad everyone is okay. i don't have an answer, but i'll be curious to see what others say. i've heard of 'diminished value' due to accident's, but never seen what insurance company's think about it. all the best!
They should. In the past. My wife has ben in two separate accidents that was not her fault and we received a settlement for $1000 for one and $500 for the other, after the repair of the car. Looking back, neither of these were near enough to offset the reduction in value of the car. Im hoping to get more accurate data so my daughter can avoid being stuck with a car that has lost several grand in value due to it being repaired. Say if she wanted to trade it in at a dealer, they wouldn't offer as much as if it hadn't been repaired due to an accident. Hopefully we both can learn a bit more about this? Im guessing the Insurance company is going to offer very little to nothing. This may force a lawyer to send a letter to the driver AND the owner of the car (the owner was the insurance carrier). By no means am I PRO-SUE happy person. But my daughter didn't do anything to cause this. I just am looking for what is fair to her. Thanks
You can always show the insurance price comparisons between a salvage/repaired titled car vs no accident car. That should be a greater difference than $1000
Thanks to CarFax, the car cannot be sold for the same amount it could before the accident, despite supposedly 'good as new' repairs. I.e. even fully repaired, the crash diminished its value. This represents a loss for which the crashee can go after the crashor and his/her property damage or liability insurance.
Thats the data I will have to estimate AND prove to the insurance company (Maybe I should add labor cost for the research). I know the Carfax is going to have a report from rear end collision for greater than $3000 is what I was told by Toyota. I assume this amount is a threshold amount for something? I don't blame Carfax. In fact I like to know what I am buying by using it, but can also understand your point of view as "repaired as good as new' should be just that. But previously damaged is always previously damaged, and that makes the car less valuable. Thanks
I don't blame CarFax either, they just put a big dent in a common used car seller pattern of fibbing and concealment. And many of us very well know that repair quality often falls short of the claims.
You can try -- not all states/ companies allow. I guess you are trying to get this from the others company? It will depend on the type of damage -- and if the car is actually diminished. Being rear ended is a help ... I bet you will find it's to diminished that much.
I don't know how one state is to another and yes, the driver (or vehicles insurance) is responsible and should provide compensation for the derated value of the "correctly" repaired vehicle. Rear ended or not. The driver at fault has already claimed responsibility of the accident. I agree. The dealer will instantly call out the accident regardless that it was repaired by Toyota and offer a substantial amount less than book value for your car.
