Diminshed value claim on 2003 SRT

[rhrbcg]

I have a 2003 viper SRT/10. Last week, a driver not paying attention, backed out of a parking space and hit my door and rear quarter panel. She was ticketed for improper backing. Both the door and the quarter will need to be repainted. What i am looking for is how much less is the car worth once it has been repaired. My attorney wants to get a idea as far as a percentage of value to attept to collect from her insurance company. My logic is that previously, the car was brand new and now with the damage history, it must be worth significantly less. Has anyone had any dealings with diminished value claims on vipers? If so, what percentage of the cars price were you able to claim? It is the worst feeling in the world to see your 3 week old viper with a smashed up side. Thanks in advance for any input.

 

[slaughterj]

Someone on here sent me an article on it once, hopefully they'll pop up...

 

[Vic]

See if a search for keywords "diminished value" pops anything up

 

[Phoenix SRT]

In a perfect world, your lawyer will make a phone call to the other driver's insurance company and a check for the diminished value will show up in your mailbox a few days later. In reality, you lost the game as soon as you hired a lawyer. The other side is very unlikely to just roll over on the diminished value issue and it will cost more in legal fees than you can ever hope to collect. Especially if a lawsuit must be filed.

 

[Y2K5SRT]

Contact a couple of the major Viper dealers and/or suppliers. I believe both JonB of PartsRack (360-837-3937) and Bill Pemberton at Woodhouse Dodge (800-889-1893) have helped folks with similar claims.

On a side note, I was able to get a $7,500 diminished value paid on my 2002 Denali XL when it sustained about $14,000 in damage from another driver. What I did was to go to two different GMC dealerships and have them write an estimate of what the car was worth unmolested and then what it is worth with prior damage being repaired. One came in at $8,000 and the other at $7,000 - one being the original selling dealership and the other with the possibility that I might buy my next GMC from them. Tell them the purpose of the estimate up front and then have them put it in writing for you. Good luck!

Chris

 

[Skip White]

Don't forget to take some pic's of you're car, to show when you do sell it, that way people can see that the car was not a major wreck. This really puts people at ease if they can see what it looked like before the repair. I would have the best in the land do the work.

Skip White

 

[Y2K5SRT]

Good point by Skip on finding the best shop in the area to do the work. I contacted an insurance claim "buyer" (buys wrecks from owners plus cash and then resells once repaired). He told me the best body shop for my truck was a Chevy dealer across town. I had the truck flatbedded from the GMC dealership where it was originally towed and the other guy's insurance picked up everything. The work at the Chevy dealer was quoted $4,000 more than the GMC dealer, but it was darn near flawless when it was done. The other guy's insurance paid diminished value, all repairs and towing, medical, plus pain & suffering (I suffered some minor injuries). It took me six months to finally get everything settled (no lawyers involved other than unpaid opinions), but I was happy with it at the end.

Chris

 

[Bill Pemberton Woodhouse]

There is definitely a loss and it might be easier and more effective to have your Insurance company go after this. Vipers are so few, that prospective buyers will go to extremes to make sure the car hasn't been wrecked. Once it has it will drop in value, even when the hit is relatively minor. The loss is often based on the degree of damage, and I would be interested in what the estimate for repairs was?

 

[Russ Oasis]

I am involved in a law suit right now for this exact point. The insurance for the guy who hit me (while I was at a dead stop) pulled some funny business so I decided to let them pay my true loss, instead of just the cost of the repair. I have been using the estimate of 5%-10% the value of the car as a diminishment figure.