Diminished value claim?

[ducktales]

My M3 was rear ended, and after replacing the parts at Tesla, I'm wondering what options I have to recover DV. After all, I don't expect anyone to pay the same amount for a car with a clear carfax vs one without. Can I seek inconvenience as well? (trips back and forth to dealer, not having my HOV stickers for 3 months, time in shop, etc)? I'm in the SF Bay Area.

 

[quitepossibly]

It is extremely difficult to substantiate a DV claim. I believe Georgia is the only state that legislation regarding diminished value.

 

[csto7]

I have gotten DV in Washington. Doesn't hurt to ask, they won't offer.

 

[PNWLeccy]

I got rear ended in WA as well. Had it repaired for about $1200 and was able to get $3k in DV after some back and forth with insurance. Find similar model, year, and mileage as your car with and without an accident to substantiate your claim. It’s a pain in the ass but I think it was worth it in the end.

 

[focher]

I got DV in the Bay Area. Get a firm that does DV evaluations and then submit to their insurance. Refuse to sign a settlement until they pay it.

they’ll argue, but it’s doubtful they fight it. Use small claims court, if necessary.

 

[ElectricGhost]

Get a lawyer. Dont bother with AutoLoss or similar online claims. Those led to a dead end. I'm 18 months into a DV fight and the lawyer moved the amount more than I did in 12 mths, even with 2 reports from online "appraisers". Lawyer will take a cut but the lack of head ache and possibility to get a lot more is worth it.

I'm an engineer and have taken graduate courses in valuations of projects that include tax depreciation. I used KBB estimates, dealer quotes, deprecation estimates, and even tax depreciation tables. I had an appraiser that relied on quotes from dealers too. All of this got me maybe a $500 bump in DV while I spent likely 100 hours fighting, researching and putting this all together. Damage was around $7500. DV estimates were $12k-$25k. Insurance offered me less than $3k for DV after a lot of fighting, $8k with loss of use and DV. They won't even reveal their calculations/analysis. Lawyer has gotten that to $12k and hasn't even filed the court case yet (COVID court shut down).

 

[Silicon Desert]

My M3 was rear ended, and after replacing the parts at Tesla, I'm wondering what options I have to recover DV. After all, I don't expect anyone to pay the same amount for a car with a clear carfax vs one without. Can I seek inconvenience as well? (trips back and forth to dealer, not having my HOV stickers for 3 months, time in shop, etc)? I'm in the SF Bay Area.

I guess it depends on the amount of damage. Hard to determine from the post. I've seen Teslas be in a shop for 3 months with relatively minor damage due to lack of parts availability although that seems to be less of a problem lately.

 

[Left coast]

Get a lawyer. Dont bother with AutoLoss or similar online claims. Those led to a dead end. I'm 18 months into a DV fight and the lawyer moved the amount more than I did in 12 mths, even with 2 reports from online "appraisers". Lawyer will take a cut but the lack of head ache and possibility to get a lot more is worth it.

I'm an engineer and have taken graduate courses in valuations of projects that include tax depreciation. I used KBB estimates, dealer quotes, deprecation estimates, and even tax depreciation tables. I had an appraiser that relied on quotes from dealers too. All of this got me maybe a $500 bump in DV while I spent likely 100 hours fighting, researching and putting this all together. Damage was around $7500. DV estimates were $12k-$25k. Insurance offered me less than $3k for DV after a lot of fighting, $8k with loss of use and DV. They won't even reveal their calculations/analysis. Lawyer has gotten that to $12k and hasn't even filed the court case yet (COVID court shut down).

I got 10% of current market value pretty easily, what were your DV estimates of $12-25 based on? I’m thinking I should’ve asked for more, but 10% seemed reasonable based on my research.

 

[ElectricGhost]

I got 10% of current market value pretty easily, what were your DV estimates of $12-25 based on? I’m thinking I should’ve asked for more, but 10% seemed reasonable based on my research.

I had $7k-$8k in damages To the front and rear. The $12k DV was reflecting that. The $25k was reflecting that the rails under the trunk had to be replaced which is technically frame modification, although the battery frame itself was fine

 

[MyWifeandI]

Here is what I can tell you from experience. If your car didn't suffer any structural damage or air bag deployment it will lose about 15% of it's pre-accident fair market value. tesla diminished value and loss of use claims has more information. By the way, even though your car only $7K-$8K in damage, it might have had structural repairs done. Any unibody part that is replaced constitutes a structurally-damaged car. In that case you are looking at losing up to half of the car's value. Also, to answer previous posters, there is no case law or insurance regulation that says you can't file a third-party diminished value claims in any state. Only Georgia allows car owners to make first-party diminished value claims against their own insurance company.

 

[OrbiterTI4]

My M3 was rear ended, and after replacing the parts at Tesla, I'm wondering what options I have to recover DV. After all, I don't expect anyone to pay the same amount for a car with a clear carfax vs one without. Can I seek inconvenience as well? (trips back and forth to dealer, not having my HOV stickers for 3 months, time in shop, etc)? I'm in the SF Bay Area.

OP, any updates? Curious if the insurance company you were dealing with played fair or not.