A couple of weeks ago I was stopped at a red light and someone in a Jeep Grand Cherokee stopped behind me....then about 15 seconds later must have taken her foot off of the brake and rolled into me. The rear bumper flexed but didn't crack or dent but you could see a line rubbed into the paint the whole way across the bumper. I was super glad she missed my exhaust.

Anyway, it went through her insurance and I'm picking it up from the body shop today. I didn't take it in until Monday as they didn't have any immediate openings. Luckily we have a local shop that is recommended by the lexus/jag/mercedes dealerships in the area. Prior to the body shop appointment, I took it to the dealership (right after the incident) to make sure everything was safe and sound mechanically. It was but I did need a rear alignment.

The shop repainted and recleared the bumper for the price of the estimate.
I'm going to try to get her insurance to pay for the alignment (since I had literally just had the car in for service 900 miles before the accident and I clearly had no uneven wear on my tires) but I've heard they will often refuse to do so. Anyone have any experience with that?

Second question - has anyone pursued payment for diminished value for an incident such as this? Even though it cost under $1k for the repair, I'm sure this will end up on my carfax report since it went through insurance. Even though there was no frame damage, potential future buyers still don't like to see accident/body work. I'm sure if I took it to my dealership they would give me an appraisal post-incident. Thoughts?

 

I had an accident in my 2014 350 F-sport that resulted in no frame damage. The repairs were basically cosmetic and you can't tell that the car was hit. When I got my car appraised at a dealership out of curiousity, they knocked off 3k for the accident. I'm afraid that people's peace of mind costs a decent chunk of change.

 

Most dealers just look if there was frame/subframe damage. My daughter had a 2008 328xi that we traded in a month ago. It was hit 3 times in a parking lot and repaired. Just cosmetic/plastics. We got regular trade in value for it. They also said it didnt show up on carfax.

 

I think it not showing up on carfax is the key difference. If it's not documented then it never happened lol.

 

I too, am pursuing that diminish claim. It is still undergoing by the 3rd party insurance. The only difference is that my damage cost was estimated 3k. Will update you as soon as they give me a figure of what I'll get.

 

I had 5k in damages when my car was hit parked at work last month...how do you go about pursuing diminished value payback?

 

Your insurance company will not pay for your alignment because your damage only consisted of a rear bumper. You didn't have any structural damage.

You can sue for the loss in value but not sure if the lawyer fees will be worth the hassle / investment in the long term.

 

Thanks! Did you provide them with an appraisal after the accident or any other information?

 

The problem with having a bad Carfax is that a record of the repairs usually doesn't follow the car. A dealer pulls a Carfax, deducts according to the year, make, model and description on the document. Rarely will a used car manager go beyond that and ask for the repair estimate. So, down the line, the only thing potential buyers will see is that the car was in a wreck.

A 2015 IS350 AWD F-Sport with Nav, assuming no structural damage, has probably lost $4000-$5000 in value.

 

Thanks for the help everyone!

Does anyone know how long it takes for an accident/repair to show up on a carfax? Just an estimate. I'm not sure how long I need to wait before pulling one to see if it's there (which it probably will be)

 

I have seen changes on Carfax and Autocheck appear more than a year later. One day the car had no structural damage and hadn't been disabled and towed, the next day red triangles everywhere.

Best bet would be to call Carfax but I doubt whether you'll get a definitive answer.

 

I got in an accident on 02/08/16, got my car back on 04/21/16, and now my car's history looks like it has 2 prior accidents ... I went to trade in my car around May and the report already had the accident on it, so it doesn't take long, at least in my case. I lost about $4,000 in value