My E55 wagon was rear ended, and the current repair bill is just shy of $10k. How would you go about fighting for diminished value? They offered me $580 and I'm supposed to meet them tomorrow.

I'm pretty sure i'm going to eat way more than $580 if I tried to sell it tomorrow... despite the fact that I've got the best (ferrari concours award winning) body shop in the area fixing her up.

Dimished value is not set in stone. Think of it and present it this way. If your car (previously wrecked but fixed perfectly) is for sale for 20k and there is another car in the EXACT same shape but has never been wrecked for also 20k. Which would you buy? The non-wrecked one of course. How much would you have to take off the wrecked one to buy it over the non-wrecked one even though they both appear to be exactly the same?

There is a reason why people value Car Fax alot, to see about those wrecks and then if there is one on your vehicle, the price is considerably lower.

I would guess 2k is about the appropriate dimished value due to the accident. Once again, the Car Fax arguement will be your best ally.

go through a law firm to get the most DV

As stated above, use a local law firm.

I had a valet crack the front bumper on my CLS55. No other damage at all but unfortunately he filed an accident report so it eventually made it to CARFAX.

I was able to get approximately $1,800 in diminished value damages after the 25% law firm fees.

i feel for you.
i had the same thing after 2 weeks owning my e63.

it just takes so much time and effort to get your pound of flesh i think it isn't worth it. they demand proof.. so the best way to fight for it is to sell your car where you can, and then buy another one that hasn't been hit. (knowing an e55 wagon is not an easy find). Then you have actual proof of the values because there are documented transactions. Easy to go after them for the difference.

I'd take the money already offered and be happy you didn't have to run around trying to make your case for 3, 4, 5 months.

just one man's opinion tho

some insurance companies will total it if the damage is 50% or greater the value of the vehicle,, tell your insurance company to total it and they can buy it at fair market value - then possibly buy it back from them and have it repaired or find a "new" one

in texas law is 75% of the value of the car to fix and it is a write off

I had to get a lawyer involved to get diminished value for my other car. Part of the process is the law firm had to pay a professional appraiser to evaluate the actual loss of value, that in itself cost $450 which is deducted from any recovery. Then the legal fee's...I still came out a little ahead in the end..the insurance company was trying to screw me out of a rental car. This was the other drivers ins co. I was rear ended, stopped at a light, so they were 100% liable. They fought me on the rental car, tried to get me to cash a check that stated it was a final settlement LOL I sent it right back !.. so I called a lawyer. Scumbag insurance company for sure. Close to what dodge said, my diminished value was $1800 on a $17k valued car at the time. My car also had VERY low miles for the year. 30k on a 5 year old car. That is also a factor in the calculation.

Listen up. Forget the lawyers (for now) and forget people's estimation of how much your diminished value should be. There are many variables that enter into it. If you hire an appraiser who uses a formula or "algorithm", the DV should be similar to what the insurance company offers because they also use a formula (Google Rule 17C for more info on formulas.) If your appraiser uses auction results, the DV will be closer to accurate although these are rather generic and don't factor in a car's options, mileage, amount of repairs, etc. Then there's the very rare breed of appraiser who actually calls Mercedes dealers and speaks to the sales managers. He describes your car to a T and details the damages that were repaired (frame, air bags, towing, etc.) so that the dealer can give an objective and unbiased opinion of how much less he would pay for the car in trade. Frame damaged cars can lose up to 50% of their trade-in value while cars that had no unibody repairs will experience less of a loss in value.

Yes, you may have to fight, get the adjuster's supervisor, make an unfair claim practices complaint to your insurance department and only then. if all else has failed, should you sic a lawyer on them. Good luck!

Both GreaseMonkey and DV are spot on.

You can handle this privately though if you're up for it. Tell the adjuster you've done your homework and determined that the car is worth 2k less now that it's been repaired. (that's exaggerated). Be prepared to show some data, be it asking prices of cars for sale, an opinion letter from a delaer, whatever you can come up with. He's offering you $580 now, so if he meets you at $1200-$1600 take it.

If he/she declines your request, inform him that you'll be hiring an attorney that will be subcontracting an appraisal service, and that the corresponding charges will be charged to them. They most likely will fold at the formal (written) idea of legal council, as the amount you're seeking is not unreasonable, and within the amount of what insurance companies refer to as a "cost of defense" settlement. This means that it's easier to pay you the DV claim than it is to go to court, since even a victory in court for them represents more in legal fees than you wanted anyways.

Thanks for all the feedback guys. Thanks to that awesome 3 year running thread that tracks the sales of E55 wagons, I was able to assemble some good current values for E55 wagons.

That instantly put his defenses up. I then followed up with KBB's condition assesment tool. Using "perfect car" for everything except the 2 boxes that indicate major accident damage ($9k over 3 panels is pretty substantial), even KBB.com shows roughly a $2300 delta in value.

So we'll see where he wants to go from here. I've been pretty objective and data driven thus far. I haven't involved lawyers, nor do I REALLY want to. It's not about getting every last penny, but certainly enough to bring me close to whole.

But that said.... i'm not going to sit idly by while they try to run out the clock on the rental forcing me into a corner.

For what it's worth the "formula" they use is total BS and 6th grade algebra shows that the car's "value" falls right out of it leaving them with a formula that is basically:

Arbitrary value #1 * arbitrary value #2 * some milage ratio

I can tell you but you won't like the answer.

Whenever a new customer inquires about our service, the first thing I ask is whether he or she has already submitted another appraisal or other document to the insurance company. If their answer is "no" then we'll move on. If, however, they previously purchased some lame $39.00 online diminished value appraisal or submitted a do-it-yourself type of document, I will advise them that they already have one strike against them. I don't want to take their money if there's a chance that I may not be able to help them.

Explanation: Regardless of how comprehensive an appraisal I prepare for them, they've already been branded as a cheapskate - someone who didn't want to spend money for a legitimate appraisal. Translation: Someone too cheap to hire an attorney, therefore, no threat to them.

At this point, even if you hire an attorney, don't expect a fair settlement offer until you are at the courthouse steps - if then.

This is all sounding like doom and gloom, but it doesn't have to be. Everyone involved wants a fair resolution.

Once your car is fixed, take your car to a couple of places that sell used cars (dealers and Car Max types). Have them give you an appraisal and once they give it to you and they will note that the vehicle has been in an accident, ask them how much that hurt the value, in writing. That will be your best evidence.

You are kidding, right?

WELL SAID!!!!

So i haven't purchased any appraisal yet. We're only on day 2 of discussions here. All I've done is tell him his forumla is nonsense (politely and respectfully) and pointed him to the KBB evaluations of a car with and without an accident.

Depending on his response, I'll be in touch with a lawyer (already have the initial consult done), and looking for an actual appraiser.

For now though I want to split the claim into 2 parts.

1) settling all the stuff that has fixed / known costs ... i.e. actually getting the car repaired, car seat, rental car etc.
2) negotiating the diminished value.

This SHOULD minimize losses for everyone by getting my primary car back on the road sooner. We'll see if they at least go for that.

On that note, anyone have a reference for a good appraiser in the Phoenix area?

Hey do I have to do this?

So just a couple questions here:

Is DV a double edged sword, meaning will it be a NEGATIVE money impact if I have a salvage vehicle which gets into an accident?

Can I claim DV value after multiple accidents? Meaning one accident lowered by 25% and then the next accident lowers 10% value.

Also, can I claim DV value on ANYTIME I get into an accident or does the vehicle have to be repaired vs letting the insurance take the vehicle from me?