I know I’ve seen some recommendations for some places here on diminished value places. I saw one for a place called tigerdv and a few others. Has anyone used these services or just go after the insurance company on your own?
If anyone has tips or success stories I’d love to hear.
Thanks.
It would help to know if this is leased or financed, what brand, in what state, and what insurance company is on the hook for the claim?
Also:
Can’t claim diminished value on leased vehicles, any prior accidents in same vehicle also ruin the diminished value claim……get 3 estimates for diminished value and have them ready when u do the claim with insurance company as guides.
Sorry was a financed Honda CR-V hybrid in NC. Got hit as we were looking for a new car.
DV claims are tough. I’ve had success once a very long time ago when I got in an accident. I think it was only because my timing was fortunate as I sold the car shortly thereafter. The price reflecting a lower price based on non accident comparables. What’s hard to prove is how much it actually has devalued since you really can’t say how much till you actually sell it. At least that was what the insurance company claimed. If you sell it five years from now, an accident car vs a non accident car will obviously have a smaller delta. So why would we give you the difference for current car values is what they say. YMMV.
I already sold the car. Like I said it happened while we were shopping for a new one.
When does looking to buy a new car equate to having sold this car. Using the pronoun WE could also mean you were looking for another car for the other party in the “we” group. If you actually wanted to be more clear you would’ve said “while we were looking for a replacement.” Whatever man. Trying to help but you do you. Good luck.
Why so defensive? I just responded to your post updating with the info that the vehicle has already been sold. I’m thinking you read that wrong.
I had used TigerDV before. He is a bit expensive compared to other auto appraisers. Anyways, my claim was successful only after filing a small claim court case against the other party. Insurance settled it before it went to court. I was following Tigerdv’s instructions during the process. For a friend of mine (I think he used TigerDV too), it went to small claims court and he won the case.
Just to add - what matters at the end of the day is your willingness to go behind this and spending a good amount of time, and patiently going through every step. Appraiser doesn’t matter much unless they offer all the support even if it goes to court.
I see that someone mentioned a specific company which should have gotten him banned. Best advice that I can give you without violating the TOS is to look for an appraiser who obtains the opinions of the sales managers at six dealerships as to how much value would be lost. If you do find them, you’ll be in much better hands than with the appraisal firm that was mentioned or any other one that uses formulas, algorithms, ad comparisons, book value comparisons or other short cuts. Insurers will just keep denying or lowballing you if you don’t produce real-world evidence. You won’t need to sue anybody if the insurer knows that they would lose in court.
Theres nothing against the terms of service for mentioning a company someone has worked with before.
It would be against the tos to promote a company that one works for without registering in the business portal.
If there is an appraiser who can do this, I tend to agree that’s the best way to go. However, when I dealt with insurance, it seemed like they want to try their best to deny this no matter what. But, a bad appraisal means they will have stronger reason to deny.
My case was a bit more interesting. It was the peak of the used market where even the most damaged cars were getting top money. Mine was a brand new model (Santa Fe PHEV) so there was no comparable in the used market. The appraisal I received was using Outlander PHEV as comparable with some dealer listings. Insurance did not like that and insisted on finding a Hyundai, while the appraiser insisted on his method. Insurance came back with some local listings to prove that vehicles are not losing value in the used market. It was a long series of communication that did not go anywhere. The appraiser was asking me not to waste time and asked to go to small claims right away which is what I did later on.
Personally, if there is an appraiser that the insurance will find as reputed and is not worth going to court, that will be great. But, I believe insurance will still try their best not make it an easy claim request.
'Insurance came back with some local listings to prove that vehicles are not losing value in the used market. "
They were comparing asking prices, not sold prices. As we all know, any dealer can ask any price they want regardless of whether the car had a prior accident or ten prior accidents. Later, that dealer will need to lower his asking price to attract buyers but, for now, there it is and the insurer’s appraiser will be sure to use it as evidence.
If there were a database of sold vehicles that methodology would fly but there’s not.
I used DVCheck and highly recommend their services.
I go to work in my 1 year old G63 a few years ago for about an hour then come out to go get some Bojangles. Walk out to my car and see a “Camry dent” in the back right corner of the bumper. Froze for a second and surprisingly was calm.
For a second I was about to leave anyway to get lunch (lol) but then decided the best course was to leave it in place and go to the security desk. Security guy pulls the footage and turns out it was a contractor who backed out across and hit the car. The contractor then gets out of the van, surveys the damage, then moves the van to another part of the parking lot and does not say a word. Fortunately he’s still there. Long story short after about an hour of denying it, he confesses to security that he did hit my car.
I decided not to press charges for a hit and run and honestly I felt sorry for the guy. If I hit a new Gwagen in the parking lot in his shoes I’d probably run too lol.
Anyway damage ended up being $3,300. I call his insurance to request MB-certified body shop, rental car, and diminished value. Adjuster calls me to say I don’t think there will be diminished value here since it’s such minor damage. Mind you this is when cars are at peak value so I tell him we’ll see about that.
I hire DVCheck and he pulls auction data for G63’s that have a clean Carfax and those with accident history, and he reports that there’s a $20,000 loss. I submit this to the insurance company and they offer me $1,000. I refuse and eventually they offer me like $2,500.
Actually in NC it’s the best state to have a diminished value claim because at this point if you do not agree you can send it to arbitration for free. Each party hires somebody to speak on their behalf, so DVCheck worked with the insurance’s chosen diminished value expert.
Before I did this, I told the insurance company look give me $5,000, and I’ll settle before going to arbitration. They refuse, saying very smugly “I’ve never seen a diminished value claim go over the cost of the damage.”
I send it to arbitration and they agree on a final amount - I get a check for $10,000.
I’ve been reading through this thread and I’m confused. Can you not claim diminished value on a leased car?
I’m based in Texas and leasing a 2023 BMW 740i which was in pefect condition. I was sitting in the parking lot of a reataurant on a conference call when a commercial glass/mirror truck tried to back in next to me and hit both my driver’s door an front quarter panel. The dents are deep enough that both pieces need to be replaced, and my paint will have to be blended into the surrounding hood and body panels.
The BMW dealer I’m leasing the 7-series from has a body shop, so that’s where I’m having it repaired, thinking they can’t complain about repairs if their body shop did the work.
Can I not go after the other insurance company for diminished value? I like the car enough that I was thinking about buying it at lease end, but this kind of repair will definitely effect the value and will be reported to Carfax.
Thanks for your input!
Not an insurance person, but I think that’s the point. You don’t own the car. The bank has the diminished value claim, not you. You get to walk away from the car at the end of the lease w/o having to deal w/ the diminished value.
You’re not the owner and I doubt thinking about buying it gives you a leg to stand on.
Is this any different, financially and legally speaking, from being hit by the same truck while you were test driving a car from a dealership?
IANAA