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Experiences/where to go for appraisals for diminished value claims (CA)?

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Hey all,

So my car is its last stages of repair from the body shop, so I should be getting my car back soon. In the meantime, I am looking for pursing for a diminished value claim, I was wondering what appraisal services people have used before and their experiences with them and diminished value claims from insurance companies.

I live in California, if that helps. Thanks all.
 
I just got my M3 back from the body shop yesterday. Someone had backed into it with a large SUV. $9206 worth of repairs to the front
end. The car actually looks better than new - tighter gaps between frunk lid and fender panels. And it drives as good as ever. I have never heard of a diminished value claim. I assume that's something to pursue if you plan on selling the car. I'm 72 and I'm hoping to keep my M3 until they take away my drivers license, but are there any other reasons to get this sort of information?
 
I just got my M3 back from the body shop yesterday. Someone had backed into it with a large SUV. $9206 worth of repairs to the front
end. The car actually looks better than new - tighter gaps between frunk lid and fender panels. And it drives as good as ever. I have never heard of a diminished value claim. I assume that's something to pursue if you plan on selling the car. I'm 72 and I'm hoping to keep my M3 until they take away my drivers license, but are there any other reasons to get this sort of information?
Oh yeah? Just wait and see what you get for trade-in after the CarFax report shows that it has been in an accident. With the cost of those repairs I wouldn't totally rule out that CarFax would list it as totaled. If you truly keep the car forever it may not matter to you but it may to the OP. Or your heirs.

Ask me how I know this.
 
Oh yeah? Just wait and see what you get for trade-in after the CarFax report shows that it has been in an accident. With the cost of those repairs I wouldn't totally rule out that CarFax would list it as totaled. If you truly keep the car forever it may not matter to you but it may to the OP. Or your heirs.

Ask me how I know this.
Yeah, if you have an accident in your CarFax it knocks a huge chunk off your value. You don't necessarily need to keep the car forever, just long enough that depreciation makes it so that knock on the CarFax makes little difference in the value (probably like 10+ years). But regardless, if you can pursue a diminished value claim, that is just more money in your pocket, to it makes sense if you are willing to put in the time.
 
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So my car is its last stages of repair from the body shop, so I should be getting my car back soon. In the meantime, I am looking for pursing for a diminished value claim, I was wondering what appraisal services people have used before and their experiences with them and diminished value claims from insurance companies.

Insurance companies hate diminished value (DV) claims, and most will resist paying out.
Some have maximum caps on DV payouts (e.g.: 10% of appraised value), many have policies that vary by state.
Be prepared for a fight. Still, there is no reason to leave money on the table when your car has really taken a depreciation hit from having been in an accident.

I just got my M3 back from the body shop yesterday. Someone had backed into it with a large SUV. $9206 worth of repairs to the front end. The car actually looks better than new - tighter gaps between frunk lid and fender panels. And it drives as good as ever. I have never heard of a diminished value claim. I assume that's something to pursue if you plan on selling the car.

DV hit to vehicle value occurs at the time of the accident, and that would be the one and only time to offset some of the value drop by extracting DV cliam from your insurance company.
Cars with accident history automatically get lower valuations (for many reasons), whether you believe that is fair or not. Similar to shopping for a house and finding out that it has had significant flooding or terminate damage repairs.
It is what it is.

More info here:
 
I got T-Boned in my Accord and it wasn't even worth 3k.
After DV and some magic from my lawyer, I got over 7k for it.

If the responsible parties insurance is liable for the claim then I THINK your insurance should chase down that DV for you.
I had a lawyer on the case because there were some minor injuries and he took care of that for me.
 
I got T-Boned in my Accord and it wasn't even worth 3k.
After DV and some magic from my lawyer, I got over 7k for it.

If the responsible parties insurance is liable for the claim then I THINK your insurance should chase down that DV for you.
I had a lawyer on the case because there were some minor injuries and he took care of that for me.
@Ren.OG A truck hit my parked car and sped away. But, I got his nameplate and eventually his insurance details. My insurance (Costco Conect) tells me that I have pursue this directly with the responsible party's insurance (State Farm in this case).
 
I got T-Boned in my Accord and it wasn't even worth 3k.
After DV and some magic from my lawyer, I got over 7k for it.

If the responsible parties insurance is liable for the claim then I THINK your insurance should chase down that DV for you.
I had a lawyer on the case because there were some minor injuries and he took care of that for me.
Would you be willing to share the name of the lawyer you used? I'm in a similar boat and want to find someone that can help!
 
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