ryan78

iTrader: (2)

thank you!

Stormforge

to be able to claim diminished value, it will depend on the insurance company and to some extent your personal injury lawyer. for my car insurance here in british columbia, the insurance company flatly refuses to compensate you for diminished value. only possible way to claim this is if your lawyer can convince the judge during trial that diminished value has occurred. and even this is iffy at best, as the judge may rule in favor or against diminished value (has been documented).

of course all the above is based on my province's insurance system, which may not apply to you. definitely try for diminished value claim, there's no harm in trying to get more compensation if you are entitled to it.

twylie

iTrader: (3)

Drove the car for the first time today and had the CEL come on, throwing code P0420. Looks to be emissions related with the cat being a possible issue. Found a few instances on CL where a cat failed after someone was hit. I'm guessing the ceramic guts break apart and it stops functioning 100%. After it threw the code, I checked and there is a small spot of the other car's paint on the exhaust tip, so entirely possible it jarred it in the hit.

I researched diminished value in my home state (GA) and it's a real claim and due to a recent court case, pays out significantly more than it used to under an old formula the insurance companies were using. All depends on vehicle age, value and damage, but I know when I was shopping for my GS, I passed over anything with a blemish on the Carfax. Claims for diminished value can also vary wildly across insurers. After everything is settled, I'll post back with my experiences and anything I learn along the way.

ryan78

iTrader: (2)

Thanks again guys. I will be checking with the Insurance Company to see what they have to say.

twylie

iTrader: (3)

car is at the shop for repairs. Preliminary (non tear down) estimates came in from $12-1400 for bumper cover, parking sensor and paint.

Post tear down, a couple of other minor bits underneath the cover were damaged.

Engine code was thrown due to drivers side exhaust being pushed forward enough to damage the front pipe section, causing it to split and leak. Another $1k+ for that bit.

So far, insurance has been responsive and pleasant enough to deal with.

Will be getting something documented and submitted on diminished value after the repair is complete. Once I brought it up, I was told their process, but it was definitely not something they were going to offer up without my asking.

ISFjimmy

iTrader: (5)

Thanks for keeping us updated!

twylie

iTrader: (3)

$3,366 all said and done. Bumper cover, brackets, crush pads, 2 parking sensors, forward exhaust section. They did an outstanding job with the paintwork and matching. Insurance had me in a Genesis sedan for the last week, and while it's a nice vehicle for the money, very glad to be back in my car.

XxGoKoUxX

Glad everything's fixed!

I still need to drop mine's off sometime next week.... test season is coming back in the following week to so i'm nervous and am in the works to put it in shop ASAP.

So did ins cover it all? Or are you dealing with some diminishing value BS? Because everytime I have parts replaced, they're replaced with OEM and NEW parts, covered 100% (Allstate)

twylie

iTrader: (3)

All OEM parts. Work was done at the Lexus dealer's collision center where they handle repair for all the dealer network vehicles in that part of town. Other parties insurance (Hartford) covered 100%, no questions asked and never put up a challenge with where or how I wanted the vehicle repaired. Hartford had me get an estimate from one of their network body shops (ABRA) to establish overall damages and get a baseline number, but I was then free to take the car anywhere I wanted. All additional damage was filed as a supplemental claim and authorized by Hartford along the way. This back and forth drug things out a few extra days, but the body shop and the insurance coordinated everything without any inconvenience to me.

They also told me I can get documentation from the dealer or Carmax with respect to any diminished value claims. I'm not expecting much on that given the quality of the repair and lack of any structural damage, but will find out about that in a week or two. Once I submit documentation on diminished value, it sounded like they'd cut me a check to cover any loss of value due to the accident now being on the car's record.

XxGoKoUxX

Ahh, gotcha

I'm glad everything turned out as planned though! I didn't know that you can file an extra claim for a check being cut for "dimished value" to the car!