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Diminished value claims around Sacramento, CA region

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Hi all,

I have searched through this forum for an answer but I think I'll be more successful making my own post.

My model Y was rear-ended about 2 months ago. The at fault driver was found to be 100% responsible for the accident. I filed a claim as third party through their insurance and my repair was completed as required. The repair cost was approximately $17500.

I'm now pursuing a diminished value claim. I have already acquired an appraisal report from the St Lucie company. They estimate my vehicle has lost approximately $26k in value as a result of the accident. This is way above the small claims court limit, so I almost certainly will need an attorney if I file in a superior court.

I'm still relatively early in the claim process, but they have already low-balled me and I'm sure this process will be dragged out.

Anyone here go through a similar process in the Sacramento region? If you have any advice regarding attorneys in the region, please DM me and let me know! Any tips are appreciated.

Thanks.
 
Get couple quotes from Carvana, Vroom, Carmax indicating accident free and next quote with accident.
That will give you idea if $26k loss is in line.
I feel like $26K is a bit high, but I may be completely wrong.

Also I found it is good if you let insurance know right away that you plan to claim diminished value. Some of them will offer you market value of the car instead of going through repair and sell your vehicle to interested parties. But with overvalued used MYs it may not be even an option.
 
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Thanks for the reply. The amount of 26k was averaged using actual quotes from 6 different car dealers in my area and comparing to the pre-accident estimated value of $67k.

Carvana's offer is 45k. Similar to what these dealerships would offer. The car has apparently lost 30-40% in value due to the accident.
 
So then you have a solid case to support the claim.
First you can tell them that after such an extensive repair you don't want to keep the car and when you tried to trade it you found it lost a lot of value because of the accident.
If they refuse to pay, ask them to provide you a written refusal so you can file a lawsuit against the person who caused the accident.
They will never do it. They are just trying to lowball you and see if you go for it.
Believe me it is cheaper for them to settle and pay you that $26k than go through the court.
 
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So then you have a solid case to support the claim.
First you can tell them that after such an extensive repair you don't want to keep the car and when you tried to trade it you found it lost a lot of value because of the accident.
If they refuse to pay, ask them to provide you a written refusal so you can file a lawsuit against the person who caused the accident.
They will never do it. They are just trying to lowball you and see if you go for it.
Believe me it is cheaper for them to settle and pay you that $26k than go through the court.
I’m in a similar boat right now but with my Y that has less damage. This will be incredibly helpful advice, thank you.
 
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So then you have a solid case to support the claim.
First you can tell them that after such an extensive repair you don't want to keep the car and when you tried to trade it you found it lost a lot of value because of the accident.
If they refuse to pay, ask them to provide you a written refusal so you can file a lawsuit against the person who caused the accident.
They will never do it. They are just trying to lowball you and see if you go for it.
Believe me it is cheaper for them to settle and pay you that $26k than go through the court.
Yeah. I'm pretty sure it's going to go exactly as you said. I'm willing to go all the way to court if needed.

That's why I'm trying to line up an attorney now because I'm pretty sure I'm going to need one.
 
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I'm not sure this helps the OP, but I got rear ended two days ago and it looks like I might face a diminished value claim as well.

I have a 4 month old 2022 MYLR (5 seat with tow) and was hit from behind on a residential street while going 25 MPH. I was about to turn into my driveway and got hit from behind by a Chevy Silverado.

There was about a 6" gash in the MYLR's black facia below the rear bumper cover. One of the red reflectors (passenger side) was broken as well. No apparent damage to the lift gate and it opened/closed fine.

Of course the driver didn't have any insurance or registration with him. I didn't want to let him go without it, so I called the police which may have been a mistake because I assume the accident will now be recorded on CarFax. By the time the officer showed up the driver did produce the documents on his cell phone. He was a contractor working on a new house in the neighborhood and had "broad form" insurance which I learned was liability only and could cover multiple cars.

I called his insurance company and told them I wanted to file a diminished value claim (apparently this is the responsibility for the insurance for the person who hits you). They sent me an app take photos to file my claim, but did not send me info on a diminished value claim even though I was told they would. I called the company (a division of Farmers) twice yesterday and left a text but got no reply.

I sent some photos to my Tesla SC and got a surprisingly reasonable quote of $618 to repair the visible damage (I was worried the bumper cover would have to be replaced too and that would have to be painted and would be much more expensive). However, I later looked more closely inside the cargo area and discovered the bumper cover is about an inch from the interior trim near the collision area. I sent additional photos to Tesla and asked how much extra it would cost to fix that (it could be the bumper cover is pulled out a bit, or the interior trim might be bent in). No reply to that question from Tesla. I also copied the insurance company.

Last night I decided to see how this apparently small accident (subject to change) would affect the value of my MYLR. I first got a Carvana quote with no accident reported and got an offer of $63,167. I then entered the identical info but reported one accident for the car. The Carvana website then asked how much it cost to repair the car after the accident which I thought would help a lot since I only entered the $618. However, I was shocked to see that the Carvana quote now was only $50,807. So apparently, a minor (I hope) fender bender lowered the value of my Tesla by $12,360! I also requested a Vroom quote but have not gotten a reply yet.

Of course now I am second guessing that I reported the accident since I could have instead just paid $618 to get my car repaired (not that I knew the amount at the time). I don't know if a Tesla SC reports body damage to CarFax. I did have a repair done a couple years ago on another car at a local body shop and they did not report it to CarFax.

Anyway, there is much to learn about diminished value and I hope this info can help others should this happen to you. Also, hopefully I will learn more as well as I go through this.

I'm scheduled to bring the car to the Tesla SC next Thursday and we'll see what additional damage there may be. I don't know if I should wait to first hear from the insurance company. I see no way the insurance company can give an estimate until the full amount of damage is determined.

Edited to add that I just received a Vroom quote and it was $66,000 without an accident. Now I'll request a second quote...
 
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I'm not sure this helps the OP, but I got rear ended two days ago and it looks like I might face a diminished value claim as well.

I have a 4 month old 2022 MYLR (5 seat with tow) and was hit from behind on a residential street while going 25 MPH. I was about to turn into my driveway and got hit from behind by a Chevy Silverado.

There was about a 6" gash in the MYLR's black facia below the rear bumper cover. One of the red reflectors (passenger side) was broken as well. No apparent damage to the lift gate and it opened/closed fine.

Of course the driver didn't have any insurance or registration with him. I didn't want to let him go without it, so I called the police which may have been a mistake because I assume the accident will now be recorded on CarFax. By the time the officer showed up the driver did produce the documents on his cell phone. He was a contractor working on a new house in the neighborhood and had "broad form" insurance which I learned was liability only and could cover multiple cars.

I called his insurance company and told them I wanted to file a diminished value claim (apparently this is the responsibility for the insurance for the person who hits you). They sent me an app take photos to file my claim, but did not send me info on a diminished value claim even though I was told they would. I called the company (a division of Farmers) twice yesterday and left a text but got no reply.

I sent some photos to my Tesla SC and got a surprisingly reasonable quote of $618 to repair the visible damage (I was worried the bumper cover would have to be replaced too and that would have to be painted and would be much more expensive). However, I later looked more closely inside the cargo area and discovered the bumper cover is about an inch from the interior trim near the collision area. I sent additional photos to Tesla and asked how much extra it would cost to fix that (it could be the bumper cover is pulled out a bit, or the interior trim might be bent in). No reply to that question from Tesla. I also copied the insurance company.

Last night I decided to see how this apparently small accident (subject to change) would affect the value of my MYLR. I first got a Carvana quote with no accident reported and got an offer of $63,167. I then entered the identical info but reported one accident for the car. The Carvana website then asked how much it cost to repair the car after the accident which I thought would help a lot since I only entered the $618. However, I was shocked to see that the Carvana quote now was only $50,807. So apparently, a minor (I hope) fender bender lowered the value of my Tesla by $12,360! I also requested a Vroom quote but have not gotten a reply yet.

Of course now I am second guessing that I reported the accident since I could have instead just paid $618 to get my car repaired (not that I knew the amount at the time). I don't know if a Tesla SC reports body damage to CarFax. I did have a repair done a couple years ago on another car at a local body shop and they did not report it to CarFax.

Anyway, there is much to learn about diminished value and I hope this info can help others should this happen to you. Also, hopefully I will learn more as well as I go through this.

I'm scheduled to bring the car to the Tesla SC next Thursday and we'll see what additional damage there may be. I don't know if I should wait to first hear from the insurance company. I see no way the insurance company can give an estimate until the full amount of damage is determined.

Edited to add that I just received a Vroom quote and it was $66,000 without an accident. Now I'll request a second quote...
Carvana isn't going to be a good source of an appraised value for this. They auto generate their quotes as we all know and something is off. I did the same - I have a 2021 MYP that was recently hit and had $3k of damage, paid by the other person who hit me.

Carvana offers $45k now for the car, while I've listed it on FB Marketplace and have had a number of local dealers contact me and still offer around $67-69k.

So, you might be able to squeeze a couple thousand out of their insurance since you actually can resell your car for a lot more than the carvana quote.
 
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I'm still waiting for the insurance company to respond to my appraisal report.

Unfortunately, I still haven't been able to find an attorney to consider my case. Apparently, my $26k of alleged diminished value is too low to make it worthwhile.
 
Have you inquired as to whether your insurance company will support you. The party at fault may be represented by their insurance company under their liability coverage or an umbrella policy if they have one.

In claims like this I have always had my insurance company do the repair at one of their authorized repair shops and then subrogate the damages.
 
Have you inquired as to whether your insurance company will support you. The party at fault may be represented by their insurance company under their liability coverage or an umbrella policy if they have one.

In claims like this I have always had my insurance company do the repair at one of their authorized repair shops and then subrogate the damages.

I'm in the process of doing this now for an accident where I was rear ended and the other party took full liability. The only issue I foresee with filing my diminished value and loss of use claims is that we both have GEICO. Any idea what happens here?
 
I would assume that Geico would still handle your diminished value claim, but under the person-at-fault's policy.

Good to have a current diminished value topic because there is a lot to learn here. May I suggest to the OP that the title of the topic be modified by removing "Sacramento" because I think the topic would apply to all in the US.

In trying to get an estimate for the damage to my MYLR, I see another issue Tesla has. First, it's hard to get any detailed answers from my Tesla SC since I have to talk in text and they keep avoiding answering some questions. But it looks like they can only replace parts, and not make repairs such as fixing dents, bent chassis, painting, etc. So while they can repair the clearly visible damage in my case by replacing parts, it's probably not worth my time to go there if they can't do the whole job.

Second, there are only three Tesla authorized collision repair shops in my city (Colorado Springs). I've contacted two so far and this is very different than previous times when I got repair estimates for other cars. In the past I could just drive to a body shop and get a quote right away. With the two Tesla approved shops, I have to make an appointment, even for just an estimate. The problem is the earliest available appointment for one shop is this Friday, but the other shop can't even schedule me until August 23rd. I can only imagine how much longer it will take to get an appointment to actually do the repairs and how long it might take to get the parts.
 
I would assume that Geico would still handle your diminished value claim, but under the person-at-fault's policy.

Good to have a current diminished value topic because there is a lot to learn here. May I suggest to the OP that the title of the topic be modified by removing "Sacramento" because I think the topic would apply to all in the US.

In trying to get an estimate for the damage to my MYLR, I see another issue Tesla has. First, it's hard to get any detailed answers from my Tesla SC since I have to talk in text and they keep avoiding answering some questions. But it looks like they can only replace parts, and not make repairs such as fixing dents, bent chassis, painting, etc. So while they can repair the clearly visible damage in my case by replacing parts, it's probably not worth my time to go there if they can't do the whole job.

Second, there are only three Tesla authorized collision repair shops in my city (Colorado Springs). I've contacted two so far and this is very different than previous times when I got repair estimates for other cars. In the past I could just drive to a body shop and get a quote right away. With the two Tesla approved shops, I have to make an appointment, even for just an estimate. The problem is the earliest available appointment for one shop is this Friday, but the other shop can't even schedule me until August 23rd. I can only imagine how much longer it will take to get an appointment to actually do the repairs and how long it might take to get the parts.

I took my vehicle to a Tesla authorized body shop. In my area, Tesla does not do body work. Quite frankly, not sure I would totally trust Tesla to do this type of work anyway.

At least in my state, you can take your vehicle for repairs wherever you want. Insurance companies cannot tell you where to go. I didn't get any estimates. I just took the car to the closest authorized shop and, fortunately, they happened to be "in-network" with the at-fault insurance. My repair took 2 months. I had a rental car provided by the at-fault insurance.

I have no problem changing the title topic. My intent was to get names of local attorneys who might be able to assist me with my case.
 
I'm in the process of doing this now for an accident where I was rear ended and the other party took full liability. The only issue I foresee with filing my diminished value and loss of use claims is that we both have GEICO. Any idea what happens here?
Yes, you can still claim DV.

Your conflict is technically not with the insurance company, it's with the person who hit you. You are ultimately claiming damages from the at-fault party. And if needed, you would sue the person who hit you, not Geico.

However, as the insurance company, Geico would have to represent the client and pay out any damages. Regardless of whether you are a GEICO customer or not, they are going to do whatever they can to avoid paying out.
 
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Good thread, thank you OP for starting it... I'm in the same boat with other in my family non Tesla vehicle where insurance is trying to low ball me. Anyone can recommend a lawyers firm in Sacramento or California to fight for a better DV?