Hello all.
My truck was involved in minor fender bender accident couple days ago. Nothing serious, only rear under bumper chrome panel and plastic panel should be changed. Bumper guard/step actually ate all main impact. No painting involved (see the pics). There was a parking lot on BQE in NY and I was not moving, but the girl in the back was texting and did not see I stopped, so she bumped me at about 3-4mph. Her insurance will pay for everything and it's not a problem. My question is - do you know how soon this incident will appear on Carfax and how the value of the car will be affected because of that. Also, can I claim insurance for the loss of value ? The car will be fixed in couple days and if the Carfax is still clean - I can trade it in for 2012 - while good deals are there. Any suggestion helps. Thanks.

 

I emailed my dealer at MB Manhattan looking to swap my 2011 for a 2012 if there was a good deal, not sure if there is enough incentive to take me out of the 2011. As far as carfax I am pretty sure it is based on dollar value of repairs, not every incident through insurance. You might to check carfax's website, but you should be clear. Lastly, if you want there to be absolutely no problems at all, let MB of Manhattan fix it

 

Thanks for quick respond. My dealer is also MB of Manhattan and he offered me a deal about 6 months ago to trade in my car for 2012 with $3K out of pocket.
I'm using my friend's body shop, who is MB certified, because as you can see there is nothing serious there and it takes about 3 hours of work to fix it. I'm only worrying about reselling value if Carfax will show the record.

P.S. Just spoke to my dealer. He offered $9K off MSRP without any negotiation for now.

 

Have you already filed a claim? If there are only three hours of work involved I would think the cost of repair would be around the cost of your deductible. I wouldn't claim it because you are correct, the damage history will probably hurt the resale value more than the cost of the repair. I don't think they can CPO a car that has any Carfax damage reports.

 

The damage is about $1,000 - $1,300 with labor. No deductable involved, because other car's insurance pays for everything, including rent a car ( if needed ).

 

I had a very similar accident take place with the same set of circumstances and nothing showed up on the carfax report. I'm not sure if it was because the other driver's insurance company and repair shop failed to report it or if it was just because the repair cost was low. I don't think I would worry too much about it if I were you.

 

I've had couple accidents on my other cars before and always was filing insurance claim, but never filed Police report. It never showed up on a Carfax. This time we've made police report and that is why I'm not sure. I hope it will not be there.

 

As long as your body shop does not report it to carfax, it will not be on carfax.

This is exactly why you cannot rely too heavily on a carfax report when buying a used vehichle.

Take a look at the hack job I found on the front frame member of my Range Rover. It had a clean carfax. I drove it for two years and never knew it was in an accident until I had a minor accident myself and then this was uncovered.

[IMG][/IMG]

They heated the frame member and pulled the crumple zone back out! Then they had shims to make the bumper line up. From the outside, underside and top you could not see this. You had to remove the bumper to tell this was done.

It is not my intention to derail this thread, but just a PSA about CarFax.

 

To the issue of diminished value: Get the USED CAR manager at any Mercedes dealer of your choice to give you a written opinion of the value of the car immediately before the accident and another opinion of the value after all repairs are completed. The difference is the diminished value specific to your case. You may have to pay a small administrative fee for this service (but if that dealer wants to sell you another car that is unlikely).
If the other party's insurance doesn't give you an added amount very close to what your dealer told you [in addition to picking up the actual costs of the repairs] then you should start making phone calls to the insurance and MAYBE get a professional appraiser involved or even an arbitrator. Most insurance companies initially offer only about 30 cents on the dollar for diminished value.
Good luck

 

Thanks a lot for that information.

 

Which body shop here in NY did you take your car to?

 

Is this a lease?

 

No.

 

too complicated.. paperwork, appraisals , bla bla...

take good pics of the damage and when the time comes to sell show it to any prospective buyer.

the damage is superficial and should not affect value

 

Perhaps it will affect value, maybe it won't. But if I had a choice of two identical cars, one which had been in a minor 'owie', the other hadn't - for the same price I'd pick the one without prior damage. So would everyone else. That is WHY there is diminished value.
The OP's question was how to make sure he is made whole by the other parties insurance. Since insurance companies usually pick this area to cheat the uninformed victim, and it is they who dig their heels in, THEY are the ones causing the complication / paperwork / appraisals, etc. It is up the the victim - in this case the OP - to decide if the fight is worth the effort. The decision tree still starts with the Mercedes used car manager.

 

I am looking to purchase an e350 that car fax has reported "minor accident" How do you gauge what affect this has on the value?

 

First, post in the appropriate (e350) forum.
Second, ask a Mercedes used car dealer (NOT the one selling the car) just what the diminished value should be. Be prepared to describe in some detail just what the 'minor' damage was and how it had been repaired.