jimbo409

Well I took my car into my independent shop to look at my top which wasn't going down.I dropped it off this morning and just received a call from him saying that he had good and bad news.the good news is it wasn't going to cost me anything the bad news was that one of his customers smashed my car.It needs a new drivers door.He said his customer was going to call his insurance company to come out and it would not cost me anything
question is
1, do I insist on a new lexus part or do I want a used door,Lexus just replaced the door speaker with a Mark Levinson speaker will they use the inside of my door and my speaker
2. Should I insist on a new lexus door or a used door that they will paint I don't want an aftermarket door that wont fit right
3 will this show up on the carfax as a accident
4.Any other suggestions what to do,I am sick to stomach.I will go over there tomorrow to look at the damage,I just hope it is just the door,i realize accidents happen but am still upset.Jimbo

bb430

iTrader: (1)

Sorry to hear this.
1, if your inside panel is not damaged then they will reuse the same panel and all things not damaged.
2, always insist on OEM parts specially it's not your fault.
3, yes, the car fax will show as an accident. But you can take pictures of damage to document for any future needs.
4, as far as anything else, the color match will be my biggest concern.

Sorry and best of luck.

2ksoftail

Be sure and keep this in mind.......you DO NOT have to settle for used or aftermarket parts & also you can pick the shop you want to use. DO NOT let his insurance adjuster bully you into anything you do not want.

Poqman

I feel your pain. I just got my car back from repairs after being hit in the rear. Damage was $2600 and was all in the rear bumper, shock absorbing material and straightening the rear panel. I demanded an OEM bumper and shock absorbing material. Their insurance company said they didn't have to do that and wrote the check for reconditioned parts. I told the repair shop I would pay the difference for OEM, but luckily they called the company that was supposed to have the reconditioned parts and they were out of stock, so they had to give me OEM. As far as paint blending, they painted the entire trunk, bumper and blended both quarter panels. The color matches and blends perfectly, however the clear coat has some orange peel. I will have to buff that out after the 90 day cure time. Worse of all is the CarFax accident report and the associated $2000 loss in value. Before this happened, the car was one owner, in perfect condition with documented maintenance records. Really stinks.

Harold57

So sorry to hear that Jimbo. That really stinks, (I've been there also). Their insurance should also provide loss of value. I'm guessing that they are providing a free loaner car while doing this also, right? If not, their insurance ought step up and provide one for you. Don't be passive and let them run roughshod over you. You've got rights since you are the victim here.

Hang in there, you'll eventually get through all this mess.

mrblister

You can bring a diminished value against the insure co. If you car was hit and its value is lower you can collect on this

tennman117

Found this in an internet search,


Illinois is a diminished value state, which means you may be entitled to the diminished value of your vehicle after an auto accident.
The statute of limitation on diminished value claims in Illinois is 5 years, and Illinois does have uninsured motorist coverage for diminished value.
You can't submit a Illinois diminished value claim if you were the at-fault party in an accident, or if the damage was caused by something other than a collision.

treyster

Another option is to try to find the same paint code car that is being parted out, start looking on eBay for vendors. I know there's not many out there to begin with, but if you get lucky it's a way better match than a repaint would probably look. Good luck

jimbo409

I currentl live in ten I just retire and moved here,How do I go about this diminished value,how do I find out what the value is.Do I ask the insurance adjuster.I hate to be a bad *** about this because it was an accident but it wasn't my fault.The independent shop where I take my car feels terrible but in the end I am going to be the one who looses when I go and try to sell the car. I just hope it turns out allright.I am going over there this morning to look at it.Thanks Jimbo

mrblister

There are consequences in life. If your car was damaged and not in your control and this damage has the potential to lower its value then by all means file a diminished value claim with the insure company. I am sure some of our members are familiar with this. I believe the insure co may make you an offer but I would push them higher.

Bgw70

You need this guy!
http://www.forthepeople.com/office-locations/

iolmaster

iTrader: (1)

I asked an attorney friend of mine about this and he said that at least in Virginia you can't get diminished value on a car that has over 100K miles and he thinks is over 8 years old. That covers most of our cars. Every state is different, but they are probably similar. I guess the thought process is they have diminished enough at that point.

jimbo409

Well The insurance co called me state farm and wanted to get things going as they said.I said that I wanted to make sure they used Lexus parts and she said that they had the right to use anything they wanted and If I wanted I could pay the difference.I then told her this is a one owner car with 89m miles with every maintenance recipt done at lexus from the time it was new.she said she understood but they want to help me any way they can. I told her I was not sure the paint would match and that I am upset because this will go on the carfax as a accident and I will suffer down the road when I try and ell it.She didn't really care and said there was nothing she could do about the carfax.
I then dropped the bomb and said I spoke to my attornet about diminished vale and there was dead silence on the phone,she then said this was another dept and it was out of her hands and she would have to have someone else call me up within 24 or 48 hours.I didn't even have time to ask about a loaner car .Will keep everyone posted.I hope this gets resolved,i hate to play hard ball but why should I loose money when I go to sell.jimbo

iolmaster

iTrader: (1)

http://kielichlawfirm.com/insurance-...-value-claims/

Here you go. As you can see anything with over 100K has the diminished value claim reduced to zero. It is a sliding scale. So, at 89K miles your claim, even if approved, is going to be reduced by multiplying by .2. Not much.

tennman117

http://www.ican2000.com/

I used this guy in a claim against State Farm last year.
He charges around $300 if I am not mistaken and I received that fee as well as a check for diminished value from them.

He will take you through the complete process and provide the correspondence you need to send to the insurance company.

No need for an attorney.

The insurance company's are very familiar with this process.

You will have to play hardball and not take their first offer.

Took me a few rounds of phone calls and a not so nice letter to their insured to finally reach a settlement.