Hey all....


A few weeks ago my wife was hit in the right front driving our 2005 E320 CDI to work. She wasn't at-fault, the other insurance company is paying the appx. $8,000 in damages to my car for repair. The SBC brakes worked fine, a Ford Escape cut across her path and neither party could avoid completely in time. Thankfully no one was injured and the bags didn't blow in our car or it would probably have exceeded the 75% valuation for a total.

What really hurts here is the car was literally a cream-puff before this happened. Garage-kept all it's life, not abused or neglected in any way, only 55K miles. I purchased it last June for $18,100 in Virginia with only 42K miles, a virtually perfect low miles diesel E320. Short of lawsuit, there's no way I'd probably recover the diminished valuation on the car as a result of the crash. Has anyone tried this against an insurance company in a crash involving a Benz, and if so what was the outcome and any "gotchas" to watch out for in preparing a case? I know that I'm going to have to obtain a current-value appraisal on the car when the repairs are over with before I can proceed with any sort of action. A very good body shop is performing the repairs with all Mercedes parts, but still a crash is a crash, so says Carfax and Autocheck, etc etc.....

Thanks
Eric

 

You wrote "there's no way I'd probably recover the diminished valuation on the car" and I'm wondering why? Once upon a time, insurance companies denied that diminished value even existed. Well, some still try to get away with it but most insurers resigned themselves to paying DV claims a long time ago. My firm, The St. Lucie Appraisal Company, prepares diminished value reports in all 50 states - more than a thousand every year. If your conjecture were true, we'd have been out of business a long time ago.

First, your car, a 2005 Mercedes-Benz E320 CDI with 55,000 miles is an older model and in the world of diminished value, it's fair market value plunged less as a result of undergoing repairs than a newer car would have. But don't take that statement to mean that the vehicle hasn't lost enough in value to bother making a claim.

Second, there was no mention of the severity of the damage. The specifics of what was repaired on the car are very important in determining diminished value. A typical fender-bender costing a few thousand to repair - and not involving any frame/unibody damages or airbag deployment - might get you back $1,500.00 to $3,000.00 dollars for diminished value. Involvement of the items in bold face - in addition to whether the vehicle was disabled and other factors - can bring the diminished value to almost half of what your car is worth. Even with older cars like yours.

You asked about "gotchas." There are many to point out, from no-brainers like obtaining a comprehensive diminished value appraisal from an appraiser who is licensed by a government entity to coming to terms with whether you are prepared to face a potential battle of wills and attrition with a huge insurance company. I say "potential battle" because, believe it or not, there are insurance companies that do play relatively fair as many of our customers have reported.

Your car need not be physically inspected by your independent appraiser for a diminished value claim. The insurance company, however, might want to send someone to assess the repairs. If they call, tell them not to waste their time and money. Attest to the fact that your car was repaired back to factory standards. Your claim is for inherent diminished value which is nothing more than a stigma loss. Repairs that rendered your car "better than new," as their appraiser might say, still don't mitigate the fact that it is still worth less than before the accident. I'll guess that there aren't any magistrates or mediators who would disagree.

 

Thanks for the good information. There is 4 hours frame time on the estimate for a setup & pull, the hit was hard enough to bend the right bumper energy absorber and bracket. Luckily the hit did not blow any bags. The only non-Mercedes part being used is the AC condenser, that's aftermarket. Upper radiator support was damaged but the radiator was OK. The bumper assembly, grille, hood, and right bi-xenon headlamp assembly are all recycled OEM Mercedes (LKQ or better) insurance grade parts, rest including the power steering cooler are new Mercedes parts. The front right fender is able to be repaired. The car itself was still drivable after the crash.

Actually you are very close to me, I'm in Rockledge, Brevard County. The initial comment I made was just casual offhand reference to the current sale prices for low mile 2005-2006 E320 CDI's vs. book valuations. These two specific model years are the last years of the non-Bluetec diesel sedan and are very sought-after vehicles with lower mileage. I've actually had my car in local car shows where it was quite well received. The former owner is the CEO of a K-Street (DC) lobbying firm, when I was clearing the GPS after purchase I came across entries like "Sam Rayburn House Office Building", etc....

Again, thanks very much. We'll see how the car comes back when the repairs are complete.

Eric