I got my car back from the body shop and geiko called me about filling a diminished value claim, he said i need someone to give me a vale of the car for what it'd sell for and to back it up with prior sales. Will the dealer be able to do this for me?

 

They'll give you a sale value.....just be sure to explain your situation so that they do not give you a what they would pay you for the car rather than what they would sell it for. Also, scour Autotrader and Cars.com for similar cars. The internet research is your responsibility if you want true market value for your car.

 

kbb.com it has values of the car.

 

I haven't done this myself.....but, CarMax givers free written appraisals for vehicles.

 

I've never heard of this. Since when has the diminished value claim been around and used? This is totally new to me.

 

kbb and nada are good starting points, but I would also check autotrader, etc because those are real world pricing. Nice to look at both.

 

I'm going through the same thing right now. I got rear ended about a month ago and still haven't gotten through all of this crap.

The accident wasn't too bad, but I'm hoping to get something out of it. Best of luck to you!

 

Very surprised GEICO would call your attention to this, usually the owner of the vehicle is left to twist in the wind. Just be careful what kind of 'value' you obtain. Dealers and places like CarMax will deal in wholesale type prices which will be low. Manheim Auctions is the database most dealers use and they are lower than KBB or Edmunds because they are what the industry uses for valuing cars (actual auction prices)....and the public doesn't have access to it. Try to get a retail sales price for your basis, many dealers won't want to give you this value, CarMax certainly won't.

 

I got this about 5 years ago--from the other driver's insurance (he was totally at fault). I didn't think you could claim it on your own policy.

 

I recently finished this process when I got rear ended 6 months ago. What you need to do is make sure that the other party is at fault. If you are at fault, then don't waste your time. I hired a professional appraiser that was recommended by my insurance company. It's usually $300 but you can include that in your claim. I then had to hire a lawyer...this could have all been avoided if the other party's insurance would have just agreed to pay for it to begin with.

If the other party's insurance agrees to the diminish value claim then you can avoid a lot of hassle. The issue is that the diminish value law is so vague in each state that most insurance companies will deny it.

 

Lol geico only called because I was firm with wanting to make the claim as soon as it happened. Anyways, i met with an appraiser today (dealer suggested) and he's going to charge me $350 for the report but said I can include it in the claim. I didn't have a checkbook on me so i couldn't pay him (He didn't have a credit card scanner) so he's going to wait until I pay him to finish the report. He said just guessing I should be able to get $2,500 - 3,500 maybe more. I'm still looking at other companies to do the report before i pay the other guy..


Hopefully it doesnt have to go to court (assume id make gieko pay for legal fees if I win)