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      01-18-2020, 10:42 PM   #1
cezr201
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Diminished Value F80 M3

My M3 was hit by a drunk driver on the highway around Christmas time.

So far there is $26,000 (Canadian ~$20,000 USD) worth of damage before paint (Front bumper, front fender, driver mirror, driver door, rear driver-side door, side skirt, rear fender, and rear bumper).
The bodyshop has informed me there is structural/frame damage.

I'm not sure why it isn't being written off. I'm also slightly worried about the structural integrity if this were to happen again.

Anyways, as many of you know, any claims but especially structural damage hurt the resale of a performance car greatly. Is there any case here for suing for diminished value? A lawyer friend of mine says I cannot sue until I actually sold the car and absorbed that loss.

Before the accident the car had zero claims, maintained well, 2015 with 37,000 miles. Worth roughly 37-39,000 USD before this.

The thing that sucks the most is I am only 21 years old and I am financing this car. I am very stressed now about being in a fairly bad negative equity position...

Just looking for more thoughts/ideas, thank you to everyone for your time!

TLDR; $20,000 worth of damage on M3 by a drunk driver, possible to sue for diminished value?
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      01-19-2020, 12:03 AM   #2
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Here in the US I believe it varies on a state by state basis whether you can sue for diminished value. So I'd check the laws in your particular region in Canada to see if/when you're able to do so
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      01-19-2020, 12:05 AM   #3
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Pain in the ass.
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      01-19-2020, 12:31 AM   #4
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I hate to be the bearer of bad news but good luck getting anything. You’ll more than likely have to get a lawyer pretty involved in the case and it’s an uphill battle with insurance from day 1.

My brother attempted to file a diminished value claim after his accident (he was not at fault) and after months of battling the lawyer even advised him the juice wasn’t worth the squeeze. I guess these claims go nowhere.

If I was in your shoes I’d simply push for a total loss. $20,000 in damage on a $39,000 is over the 50% repair to value threshold, not to mention any additional costs or issues that very well could arise. I’d imagine you’d have better luck going this route.

Sorry for your misfortune OP - I have no tolerance for drunk drivers.
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      01-19-2020, 02:26 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MNR View Post

My brother attempted to file a diminished value claim after his accident (he was not at fault) and after months of battling the lawyer even advised him the juice wasn't worth the squeeze. I guess these claims go nowhere.
Yeah the attorney gets paid a percentage of the money you're suing for. So finding an attorney that will want to do all that work, when you're only suing for maybe a few thousand dollars, will be pretty difficult
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      01-19-2020, 06:37 AM   #6
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Total; loss is usually at 75% threshold. Diminished value is usually a contractual term, so unless included in coverage you are not likely to recover. Assuming a proper repair, and no salvage title, you are probably looking at a 20% loss in value, or less than 10k. No lawyer will touch that on a contingency. Best bet is a trade in and see how that goes. Also, after all repairs are done I would get a frame inspection to determine if there are any safety issues. If the inspection reveals anything, I will make a supplemental claim.
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      01-19-2020, 10:35 AM   #7
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I've seen cases where a car has been wrecked and after being fixed they sell or trade it in. Sometimes the Carfax doesn't get updated within that time. Not saying to do this or not, just telling you most buyers and dealers just run a Carfax. and don't really lift the car and check it, use a paint meter or even their eyes for that matter

Good luck
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      01-19-2020, 03:07 PM   #8
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I was rear ended (minor) in my car and was able to go after diminished value and was successful. You need to check applicable laws in your area and find a good attorney.
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      01-19-2020, 07:24 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by OUGrad05 View Post
I was rear ended (minor) in my car and was able to go after diminished value and was successful. You need to check applicable laws in your area and find a good attorney.
Happened to me in my old F-150. The great state of Texas and my insurance company were very helpful in the diminished value claim!
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      01-16-2021, 11:43 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by OUGrad05 View Post
I was rear ended (minor) in my car and was able to go after diminished value and was successful. You need to check applicable laws in your area and find a good attorney.
Any advice on doing this?

I want to file a small claim on the $7k damage mine sustained in a parking lot.
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      01-16-2021, 04:47 PM   #11
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I'm in the process now here in NY. $7k worth of damage and $7100 worth of diminished value per an appraisal I had from autoloss.com

The insurance company, Progressive, has actually been very responsive about it.

My appraiser said it'll likely be a 1 to 2 month back and forth, but we'll see.
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      01-16-2021, 04:52 PM   #12
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Easy -$7000 in the US. Been there done that. I would get a diminished value check.
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      01-16-2021, 05:32 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MaX PL View Post
I'm in the process now here in NY. $7k worth of damage and $7100 worth of diminished value per an appraisal I had from autoloss.com

The insurance company, Progressive, has actually been very responsive about it.

My appraiser said it'll likely be a 1 to 2 month back and forth, but we'll see.
say what....

I'm intrigued.

Please explain more.
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      01-16-2021, 10:12 PM   #14
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I had an experience similar to this with my audi. Got rear ended. I had a buyer before the accident, I had to drop the value of the car by $6000 US because of the accident. I had everything documented quite well even notarized letter from several experts attesting to the depreciated value. I also had formal before after appraisals. The other parties ( they were at faults) farmers insurance played games on me and denied the claim at the end. I had to sue to other driver if I wanted to pursue further but this often needs a lawyer here in the states and as mentioned above any lawyer whose word is worth anything will not consider a case like this unless it has top $$$ in it, something like 50K or more. Then they will take it and even then it is 50-50 for a “normal car” unless the car is really a 6 figure exotic. Even if you win the other party’s insurance might appeal and make your life hard.

Based what you say I would hire a good lawyer and try to get them to declare the car a total loss given structural damage and safety. Not sure how the laws in Canada are but liability in insured or third party injury or death as result of driving an unsafe car is something insurance companies here will avoid at all costs. I believe you have a higher chance or success

Good luck and sorry for your accident

Last edited by speedmaster20d; 01-16-2021 at 10:17 PM..
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      01-16-2021, 10:48 PM   #15
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I think the big thing here is whether you are ok.

I would suggest to anyone that's but hit by someone else (or even if caused yourself) to go get checked out. I was working with a lawyer on my accident where I was hit by a truck and caused nearly 30k in damage on my truck. The lawyer helped me a great deal with medical related visits, significant PT and chiropractic, 3 sessions of MRIs, a visit to a cognitive therapist because of hitting my head and there being signs of concussion, visiting an orthopedist because of pain. Lots of visits that were just shy of 100k or so. The thing is that sometimes things may take a while to get close to normal, if they ever do; for those that are younger it might happen quicker than someone at 40+, sad but so. I was doing PT and chiro for 8 or 9 months.

Anyway, in my case Progressive was the insurance company for the other guy and they didn't want to pay diminished value after I had the truck professionally appraised. Dim value was in the neighborhood of 12k, and Prog claimed roughly that because the truck was fixed and repainted red again that they saw no loss in value. Complete BS. The paint using the same as factory, the car fax is a turn off for a vast majority of people, or they expect a deal, you may have rattled that weren't there before, you're more likely to have corrosion or paint peeling down the road, etc.

Anyway, my personal injury attorney worked with me get Prog. to pay the dim value, loss of use, and other fees. They had to bring suit against the driver for Prog to take notice, which I think is pretty much standard practice nowadays. Obviously in the end the lawyer got 1/3, so they walked with another cool 7-8k above the PI portion.

My father in law was hit by an empty dump truck years ago and he never sought care and to this day, 35 years later, he still has ongoing issues. In your case your accident was bad enough to cause frame damage, so I'd bet you have health related issues.

How recent was this accident?
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      01-17-2021, 07:47 AM   #16
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The challenge with a diminished value is the amount changes over time (gets less the longer you wait to sell). The one guy above had proof and WAS selling at the time with offer in hand BEFORE the accident. That's hard to beat.
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      01-17-2021, 09:29 AM   #17
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Get a diminished value appraiser. I spent $300 on one when my wifes X got hit and they got us a nice check. Best part is it was a “owners choice” since lesses were bad in GA and I got to keep it.
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      01-17-2021, 09:33 AM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by doug_999 View Post
The challenge with a diminished value is the amount changes over time (gets less the longer you wait to sell). The one guy above had proof and WAS selling at the time with offer in hand BEFORE the accident. That's hard to beat.
There may be some states that only consider value loss is perceived when sold but not all. For instance in my case I didn't have structural damage and my truck is a dues max diesel with low miles that I put on since new (side from a few test drive miles), so I knew it's towing history, etc. I wouldn't have been able to replace it with anything like it and certainly not new the price of these things just keep going up and up.

Anyway, one generally needs to get a professional appraisal done. They are able to determine values of cars based on subscription based historic information, so while I get your point towards timing being critical, it don't really matter because of the historic info where they can come up with a value at the time of the accident. Then they come up with a value after repairs based on similar information but based on vehicles with accident history.
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      01-17-2021, 11:02 AM   #19
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Hey fellow Canuck.

Goodluck with your car. Between car dealerships and private buyers.. your car in comparison is as marrying a retired broke washed up porn star. No one is going to want it

Drop it off at an indian reserve if you dont get it figured out.
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      01-17-2021, 01:17 PM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by maul3d View Post
Hey fellow Canuck.

Goodluck with your car. Between car dealerships and private buyers.. your car in comparison is as marrying a retired broke washed up porn star. No one is going to want it

Drop it off at an indian reserve if you dont get it figured out.

Ouch!

But yah, I turned down an M4 Vert that I found out had a little more than just cosmetic paint and a fender, and wouldn't even consider one that has had frame damage. That's not to say that others wouldn't. EVERYTHING can be sold for a price, and that drop is what is supposed to be covered as far as diminished value is concerned, as long as where you are recognizes it.
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      01-18-2021, 08:11 AM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by maul3d View Post
Hey fellow Canuck.

Goodluck with your car. Between car dealerships and private buyers.. your car in comparison is as marrying a retired broke washed up porn star. No one is going to want it

Drop it off at an indian reserve if you dont get it figured out.
lol. its been a year since the OP posted and provided no updates so I guess we will never know.
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