Also, free advice via THE TESLA DIMINISHED VALUE PROJECT | TESLA MOTORS AND AUTOMOBILE DIMINISHED VALUE IN ALL 50 STATES which will probably say 15% back of trade-in value at the time of the accident. Sorry for your tribulations.
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Can diminished value be greater than the cost of the repair?
- Thread starter kingkong5
- Start date
Good (sort of?) news! Talked to the GEICO insurance adjuster now, and brought up my concerns on diminished value. He affirmed that it is right for me to question this, but because I'm not their insured and because the damage is minor at $1,000 they have no intention of reporting the accident details. His concern was that if a police report was made that it would be recorded, but because the damage was in fact minor, we did not file a police report the night of the accident. Thus, I don't have to worry about diminished value as a result of this accident being reported.
I did express concern that, even with his assurance to the contrary, if at a future point there is a blemish on the vehicle history report because they reported it, what would I do about DV then? He says that if/when that happens, call him back if he's still there at GEICO, or bring it up with the company at that time. I guess that's good enough for now.
Thanks again for all the help!
I did express concern that, even with his assurance to the contrary, if at a future point there is a blemish on the vehicle history report because they reported it, what would I do about DV then? He says that if/when that happens, call him back if he's still there at GEICO, or bring it up with the company at that time. I guess that's good enough for now.
Thanks again for all the help!
I'll openly admit that I don't know enough about the DV process to confirm or refute most of what you said, but at a minimum this must be on a state-by-state basis. I have asked the police here in NC whether or not a police report alone can be sufficient to taint a vehicle history report, and the response I got was "no."
Interesting! That definitely goes against some of the impressions I previously had. Thank you for sharing your outcome!
OrbiterTI4
Member
Hope for the best - what GEICO says is true, will not be reported.
Plan for the worst - research the statute of limitations on DV suits in your state, wait until some time after your vehicle is repaired but before reaching the end of your window, purchase your CarFax to confirm the absence of an accident record. In my case, I checked six (6) months after the accident (which had both a police report and a high enough repair value that it would have been reported by the shop and/or insurance) and the accident WAS on the report.
Excellent advice!! The statute of limitations in California for a DV claim is 3 years, so I'll do that.
It usually will not take any longer than 2-3 months for it to show up on a Carfax and sometimes only a month. I would run a Carfax and autocheck report after 3 months. If it shows nothing your all good. Congrats... it’s unfortunate too many people don’t understand or realize this and the impact it can have on the value of their car when they go too sell later. I doubt their insurance would have ever brought it up too you cause obviously they don’t want to spend more money but the reality is, this minor accident could have caused so much stress and money later if you wouldn’t have been proactive and nipped it in the butt. Or just not known better. Glad to hear something so minor won’t be ruining any of your days soon or later.
Just because it doesn't show up on carfax doesn't mean that a potential future buyer of your car won't know about it. It's pretty easy for someone who knows cars to determine that your rear bumper was repaired/repainted. If they are able to determine that, and then see NOTHING on the carfax that would probably cause them to run away even faster. In their mind, they have no idea what sort of damage you are hiding from them at that point
No one will notice a minimal damage like that unless he decided he wanted to paint it himself. As for potential buyers for any Tesla thinking there is an accident or issues, this would happen with every Tesla made since all have issues with window trim being aligned and several other areas which is what car buyers who are experienced like myself when buying a used car. But being that a brand new Tesla will show these things you cannot use those tactics to try to determine if it’s been in accident. The only way to tell would be if the paint doesn’t match properly. But the things I check like the spaces between every seam on the car doesn’t work with how Tesla’s we’re made. They are not perfect like other cars. There are still areas you can check but most won’t signify a prior accident.
When/if I do sell the car, I do not plan to be dodgy about discussing this repair, even if it doesn't show up on the vehicle history report. If I was asked if it's been an accident I will truthfully say yes, it has, and describe the accident. I will have pictures of the minimal damage, and I will have the invoice of the repair work that was done ($1000 to primer and repaint the bumper). I can confidently say that there was not other significant damage, and this repair is akin to fixing a car that has been keyed or backed into a pole, e.g. nothing to worry about. If I am being transparent about it, I don't believe I would suffer a significant amount of diminished value as a result. And if I'm not selling to a private party, then no one really cares or asks, so we're all good too.
You won’t cause anyone buying it doesn’t have to do the same when they go too sale, and will only respect your honesty and be more likely to buy it moving forward since most people would not do the same in your shoes.
And that honestly will only lead to better things to come in life. As they say what goes around comes around. And the people who do good deeds usually have it paid back in life in unexpected ways.
This might not be a popular opinion but if I were you, I would still press for Diminished Value.
Police report or not, the accident caused your car to be repainted and the car is worth less than a car that has not been repainted. The Geico agent did well in protecting his employer from having to pay for the damage but the way I see it, Diminished Value still applies because the car is worth less than an unrepainted car.
OrbiterTI4
Member
I see the decision as weighing two values:
loss on sale of car w/ self-disclosed bumper repair but clean CarFax
vs
loss on sale of car w/ bumper repair and note on CarFax PLUS DV paid by insurance MINUS cost to acquire DV from insurance
For the choice you are advocating (pursue DV), I envision two extremes:
In the best case scenario, insurance pays DV equal to or greater than what the sale loss will be, with no reports/lawyers required to get it. I've personally never heard of this happening.
In the worst case scenario, DV acquired from insurance is negligible (lowball offer, legal fees required to earn reasonable offer, you go to court and lose the case, etc) and sale loss is significant.
Personally, if given the choice, I would go the no-report option, but my personal experiences have given me a negative viewpoint of insurance, such that the less interactions you have, the better.
Since you are in California, you probably already know that you have to notify the DMV of any accident with over $1000 in damage. Even though you are not reporting it, GEIGO is not reporting it, it doesn't mean the guy hit you is not going to report it to DMV. He may have already done so since you are supposed to report it within 10 days after the accident. He will just be doing it to protect himself.
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That is odd. You are correct, I forgot that we have to file an SR-1 if the damage is over $1,000. GEICO is not my insurance, it is the other guy's insurance and I just went to them. So now that you mention it, it does seem odd that they say they won't be alerting DMV and putting it on my vehicle history, if by law they are supposed to.
Tell them the diminished value to your car is caused by having a body panel painted and you are hereby requesting diminished value for your loss. Tell them you will have representation if this matter is not resolved in a reasonable manner.
