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Does anyone here have any experience with diminished value claims? I had a guy with a bike rack back into my 2023 E63S with only 2k miles and did some significant damage as you'll see in photos below. Rear quarter panel, bumper, tail light and potentially trunk. PPF is ripped on trunk and I can't quite tell if there is a scratch or dent below it. This is going to be a major repair job and I'm wanting to pursue a diminished value claim with the persons insurance. If anyone has any advice on the best way to figure out a value of such claim, I'd really appreciate it. I plan to hopefully get the car restored to it's like new condition and plan to drive it a few years but I want to get compensated on the hit that I will get on resale due to the damage caused here.
So sorry to hear and see the damage to that beautiful car. Yes I have had a successful diminished claim for $10,000 done several years ago on my 2007 997 TT in a similar situation, a truck backed into it with a bike rack
Have your local Mercedes dealership or where ever you bought it new, appraise the car for you and give you that in writing.
Make sure they mention a same car with similar mileage, one without any damage, be this many dollars more than this car regardless of who and how it's fixed.
Note, don't be surprised if the dealer said well if the car is fixed right, there shouldn't be any diminished value. In that case, ask them where would they recommend you take the car to and if they would give you that in writing so at the time of trade in when they check the car with a Carfax and use the paint meter, they offer you the same money for a car without any damage?
Get that letter and send it to the other person's insurance and start the haggling process.
Couple of scenarios:
Do not settle with the insurance unless you get at least 20% off
If the dealer tells you nothing loss in diminished value, get that in writing, get it fixed where they want it fixed and trade the car in.
You will definitely lose money no matter what you did and where you got it fixed.
It would be easy to sell the car now (fixed) than later.
That color be very hard to match unless the painter blends into both driver side door, B-pillar, rear bumper and the trunk are all painted (40% of the car), further diminishing the value
It's a nightmare situation for all of us and one that we hope we never see
Get a diminished value attorney, for a expensive new car like this you are going to want one to maximize the value from it. I have done one for both cheaper cars and higher end ones and I would say for the cheaper ones just pay an appraiser so you have some professional data to show to the insurance company but in this case you will definitely get more money back from hiring an attorney even after the fees.
2009 E350 Sport (gone) 2012 E350 (gone ) 2014 E63s ( gone ) 2016 E63S Diamond white 2019 E63s AMG
I have recently had diminished value claim done. As long as the other party has good coverage, should be alright. In my case the policy was only for 10k.
So sorry to hear and see the damage to that beautiful car. Yes I have had a successful diminished claim for $10,000 done several years ago on my 2007 997 TT in a similar situation, a truck backed into it with a bike rack
Have your local Mercedes dealership or where ever you bought it new, appraise the car for you and give you that in writing.
Make sure they mention a same car with similar mileage, one without any damage, be this many dollars more than this car regardless of who and how it's fixed.
Note, don't be surprised if the dealer said well if the car is fixed right, there shouldn't be any diminished value. In that case, ask them where would they recommend you take the car to and if they would give you that in writing so at the time of trade in when they check the car with a Carfax and use the paint meter, they offer you the same money for a car without any damage?
Get that letter and send it to the other person's insurance and start the haggling process.
Couple of scenarios:
Do not settle with the insurance unless you get at least 20% off
If the dealer tells you nothing loss in diminished value, get that in writing, get it fixed where they want it fixed and trade the car in.
You will definitely lose money no matter what you did and where you got it fixed.
It would be easy to sell the car now (fixed) than later.
That color be very hard to match unless the painter blends into both driver side door, B-pillar, rear bumper and the trunk are all painted (40% of the car), further diminishing the value
It's a nightmare situation for all of us and one that we hope we never see
Good Luck
That's great info, thanks so much for the detailed write up. I just came back from the body shop and the first quote was just under $20k in repairs. I swung by the mercedes dealership and they were being really weird with the appraisal you had mentioned above. They wouldn't give me one and told me just to use kbb... I may have to figure out a different way to figure out the diminished value of the car.
That's great info, thanks so much for the detailed write up. I just came back from the body shop and the first quote was just under $20k in repairs. I swung by the mercedes dealership and they were being really weird with the appraisal you had mentioned above. They wouldn't give me one and told me just to use kbb... I may have to figure out a different way to figure out the diminished value of the car.
Thanks again for your help, appreciate it
I used one of these places for Illinois, varies per state of course, to get the actual diminished value.
What state are you in? If I remember correctly, CA has a formula to calculate diminished value based on the extent of the damage and number of body panels/bumpers involved.
What state are you in? If I remember correctly, CA has a formula to calculate diminished value based on the extent of the damage and number of body panels/bumpers involved.
Idaho - I googled diminished claim calculators online and I'm getting diminished values between 27-44k. I'll have to see if I can narrow that down a bit better
So sorry to hear and see such a beautiful car have it happen.
If I am not mistaken this is selenite grey magno color, I will check with the body shop / insurance on the assessment of repairs. Magno colors are almost impossible to paint match, considering this is C pillar replacement (I assume), rear bumper, potentially trunk as well, I am not sure $20k will cut it. If a new assessment is higher, gap insurance will replace the vehicle.
I'm really sorry to see this too man, and I hope everything works out okay for you.
Also sorry to be even more of a bummer, but silvers are historically extremely difficult to match properly. Especially with this type of satin/matte finish. I don't think I've ever seen a silver car that's been resprayed where you can't see a difference in shade between panels at certain angles and lighting.
Some worse than others of course but there seems to almost always be some form of shading issues with silver matching.
I saw that one a few days ago. That's what I keep having nightmares about mine looking like. I'm so heartbroken about the whole situation
I feel for ya. I had a deal written on a non-Merc satin grey car and when I started researching it I became slightly terrified on the consequences of long term ownership of a matte paint car. So beautiful...so unforgiving. Like dating a supermodel pop-star...
It's a sad story, but I'd devise the plan to move on either way. I'm not in the states, but here the bun fight would be between the two insurance companies and you wouldn't have to take it up at all. Have you asked your insurance co? Do they leave it up to you?
Would an option be to sell to a dealer unrepaired, then there's little to no debate on the discount you're forced to take? They could also take a bit of liberty on which side of the deal they place the repair costs/profit...
I saw that one a few days ago. That's what I keep having nightmares about mine looking like. I'm so heartbroken about the whole situation
Same here. I think many of us are heartbroken with you dude.
I get we all make driving mistakes from time to time, but especially with modern cars there should be no legitimate excuses for people backing into things. Grrr.
I'm probably going to try to find my way out of this car if I can without losing my *** off completely in the process.
Sadly I'd probably be looking to do the same unless you can find a super-expert paint guy or if somehow they would be willing to respray the entire car.
Hire a professional appraiser who specializes in diminished value. They'll estimate how much value your car has lost because of the accident. Make sure the appraiser has experience with high-end cars like yours to get an accurate and detailed valuation. From what I know, the insurance company will probably counter with a lower offer than your appraisal. Be ready to negotiate. Your professional appraisal will be really important to support your claim amount.
So sorry to hear about this. I did win a diminished value claim by going to court against the other party's insurance co. But it was not for my E63S thankfully - much smaller $$ involved on my GLK which was already older than 4 yrs when the claim happened and had prior insurance claims against it anyway for cosmetic stuff prior to the diminished value claim. I found speaking to specialist diminished value assessors to be quite helpful, some will be willing to do very detailed analysis for you and submit a detailed report in writing. Some are willing to show up in court to support your claims for a fee. Given the amount of money you are dealing with here, I would not be shy to go the distance with a diminished value assessor and an attorney as a tag team to support you. I wish you maximum recovery. Good luck.
You need a new dealership. I've had the sales guys show me their system where they buy wholesale and resell. Repair cost shown. They know everything.
Two paths:
1. Keep the car.
GET A LAWYER.
The situation is similar where I'm a member of a large and serious bicycling club. On the San Francisco peninsula. You'd think it'd be safer in California, but no. Everyone that gets hit by a car uses a lawyer because the recovery is always substantially more. Don't let the lawyer take their share from yours. Your legal fees are additional. This path is if you want to keep the car.
The lawyer will operate best if you provide the data. Bring A Trailer is a great place to plot car value with and without damage shown on the Carfax. I've noticed a significant hit on E63 S cars if modified even a little. This particular market seems very sensitive to non-stock. Repair damage is non-stock.
2. Dump the car
No lawyer needed at first. Since the car is essentially brand new, what you paid out the door is where you start. Rather than have this Sword of Damacles hanging over you, dump the car. Who wants a dream car where you can see it's not perfect? The difference between what you bought it for and what the dealer will give you is what the insurance company owes you. From what I've seen, <5k mile E63 S cars are priced like new.
Cargurus and Hemmings also provide valuations/transaction prices. Autotrader is doing something but I haven't seen the exact prices, just good deal bad deal.
Thinking about this, it depends on your strategy, but would a variant of gap insurance be a good precaution? I realize there's a lot of different insurance environments. Here we can get full replacement value if a vehicle is totaled.
It feels like conflict of interest for the insurer though...
05-21-2024, 11:22 AM
