THSCC Forums

So a couple of days ago I couldn't get my car out of the driveway, but I was helped by my friendly neighbors with their 4WD Land Cruiser. I parked it on the street, and then 6 hours later it was involved in a hit and run situation.

I have all of the information regarding the hit and run (including the name of the guy who hit me), police report has been filed, and a claim with my insurance has been in the works for the past two days. The car has been seen by an inspector for the insurance company (State Farm) today, but no estimates have been discussed with the shop I brought it to, Long Road Racing.

It appears to just be "cosmetic" damage going along the entire passenger side of the car, and it should be repaired in a fairly timely manner if my insurance company doesn't drag its feet. It's also EXTREMELY obvious that I'm not at fault and nailing this guy to the wall is going to be akin to shooting fish in a barrel.

My question is... how do I argue for diminished value on the car? I've only had another Miata totaled out in the past, but this one was in pretty damn good shape for an 16 year old roadster and I don't know exactly where to start.

And to satisfy the curious:
http://imgur.com/ih9hI.jpg
http://imgur.com/lavSi.jpg
http://imgur.com/aUNWJ.jpg

The problem you are running into here is that NA Miata prices are so cheap that from a "diminished value" discussion, what are you talking about? Maybe $500? That's a tough one to argue with the insurance company.

If it were a pretty new car that would take a large hit due to an accident when you are not a fault, I could see working that angle.

I bet Cline can give a much clearer picture than I can. Sorry your car got hit. - AB

_________________
'14 Toyota Sequoia Platinum 4WD
Super Westerfield Bros - '93 Integra - LeChump Du Jour
STX 93 - Scion FR-S

Yeah, I'm fully aware of that. Just looking from the perspective of "on the off chance it does get totaled" I did some research.

KBB puts my car with hardtop at like 2300 or something ridiculous like that.

But then you go look on craigslist for non-trashed NAs, and the asking prices are all $5k+.

I don't mind paying taxes on a car that Wake County values at next to nothing (hello $17 property taxes), but I do kind of mind when I can get screwed via insurance for an incident that was clearly not my fault.

I do want to have my cake and eat it.

I have had several dealings with State Farm. all of them have been good, and I have been completly happy with the payout.

As far as the value of an NA, I personally think those asking 5k for a good conditon NA are crazy when I can pick up a, in my oppnion better, NB for the same price. I also note that alot of the NA's posted at 5k tend to sit there for quite awhile... just like alot of the early NB's that are asking 10k sit their for quite awhile.

That being said, if you can show them and prove that the market for your car really is 5k and not 3k, then they should honor it as they are insuring you for a similar replacement... not what KBB says. if you do have to argue it, DONT cash the check until you are happy. when you cash it, you are agreeing to the amount.

just my 2 cents.

Problem here is value sites are value sites and asking prices are *asking* prices. So insurance isn't likely to care.

But I doubt there are any tricks to this. There's a decent chance they'll want to total it, and if they do, they'll offer you money. At that point, you can ask or read up on your company's procedure for appealing. Fill out the paperwork, be diligent yet polite, and cross your fingers. They'll negotiate some, and remember you have a lot of options open to you, including not only what they pay you, but what they'll sell you the car back for.

If it were me, I'd make sure and consider whether you want to try this claim with or without the hard top since it's removable and they don't have to know you have it. My bet is the top is worth a grand, but the car isn't worth a grand less without the top. If you know what I mean. (Unless you don't have a soft top under there, which is an obvious problem.)


--Donnie

_________________
My Blog

That's going to be a tough one as you mentioned with the 'have your cake and eat it too' point. No one's going to call their insurance company and tell them that their premiums are too low because the car is worth more.

So with that said, they are going to be paying a fair (on paper unfortunately) payoff for the totalled vehicle. Now if you have a really good relationship with your agent, they can probably squeeze a little more out of the payee, but it's tough. For example, when I had my '97 ITR (kinda rare I guess being #50 of 318 made) I asked my agent whom I've had since the age of 16 what would happen if it were to be stolen and he mentioned that since it's rare they can go by the street value, such as listed used prices online. I was actually astounded to hear this. Luckilly, I never had the chance to cross that bridge.

Usually a dimished value claim is to reclaim some money for a bad accident that you'd have to disclose to the next buyer should you sell it. I had to hire an appraisor because the no-drive's insurance company was being stubborn after the IS300 was rearended and pocketed only about $2k for lost value and resaleability.

You should be presented two options: fix or total. See what they come up with, but you'll probably want them to fix it I'd imagine.

Good luck!

When my 1996 NA was totaled out, I looked on Cars.com, autotrader and CL for NA Miatas in decent shape. The average price was 5726$ and the guy's insurance came to me first time with an offer for 5725$. Not terribly off, eh?

I don't know yet of it's going to be totaled, but I did get off the phone with Sgt. Bowen and he confirmed that the guy who hit my car did turn himself in and confessed to indeed nailing the hell out of my car. The police officer did mention, but wasn't too sure if we both have State Farm... So things might become a little fun if they decide to cut their own losses.

Nothing bad has happened, yet. However, I want to be as diligent as possible so I don't run the risk of getting randomly screwed again.

Sorry to hear of your bad luck Andrew. There is actually a member who autox's with us who works for State Farm if you want to speak to him directly of his advice. PM me if your interested in contact info.

_________________
2005 Mazda RX8 STX 11

NCR Solo Chair & Cape Fear Chapter Coordinator
http://www.ncrscca.com

When totaling a car some companies use three estimates of actual replacement cost on a local basis. My experience is with State Farm is that they us NADA, end of story. My experience with them totaling out my 5 year old Mini was not good, that's all I will say. Since you are a client they may be a little more lenient, I recently had a client who was hit by Nationwide and they gave here stupid money to get her NA fixed. She was getting ready to sell it for 1500 and they gave her 2300 to repair and wouldn't total it, said they came up with a 4800 replacement value.

Diminished value comes in when you are making a claim against another party, not using your own coverage. Also they are normally only considered on newer cars.

One option, if they do want to total, you can then buy back the salvage for a song and repair.

In my opinion, if you go to sell your car and show the prospective buyer a picture of this damage and it is repaired properly, it will not effect the value of the car.

_________________
2002 MCS, 2003 MCS Track Rat, 2003 Generic White Yukon, 2003 BMWk1200rs, 1973 CB350F, 02 996. 08 Cayenne Turbo
http://www.clinehallagency.com

Yeah, they're totaling the car and raping me on the price. This is rad.

NADA Retail: 3600
Condition: +225
3% highway: +114.75
Tag/license: +55
Deductible: -500
NET: 3494.75

Buyback is 500

So I'm at like $2995.

And I'm glad that State Farm is taking care of me by telling me to GTFO of the rental by Tuesday.

Anyways, time to do some research and get another potential 500 dollars back.

sorry to hear that Andrew. Have you had a chance to get any real estimates from a particular body shop to tell you what the cost of repair would be?

Oh, it looked to be from the pics, but I may have missed it. The car is still drivable right?

_________________
2005 Mazda RX8 STX 11

NCR Solo Chair & Cape Fear Chapter Coordinator
http://www.ncrscca.com

Buyback is $500?? That car has a hardtop right?


Aren't they worth like $1000-1200 alone?


Damage doesnt' look that bad, but if you're a perfectionist you probably won't be happy unless it's fixed perfectly- but I'd buy it back, do a cheap repair job sourcing as many good used parts as possible, then keep driving it with some $$ in the bank.


Yeah, it's not your fault, etc etc, but in the end it's just a car, and it's not worth losing sleep over what it used to be or what should/could happen. Make your best argument to the insurance company and they'll probably bump the payout up at least a little, just to get you to settle.

Am I missing something? Why would you pay a deductible, considering this shouldn't be a claim against your insurance policy? - AB

_________________
'14 Toyota Sequoia Platinum 4WD
Super Westerfield Bros - '93 Integra - LeChump Du Jour
STX 93 - Scion FR-S

I just got off of the phone with insurance a little while ago, tried to call up the body shop but left a message. The car still turns over and drives fine. I think it might need a crash bolt in the rear because the kid did hit the wheel.



It's seriously only cosmetic. I just feel like I've been victimized once again since it's a load of crap the stipulations that my own insurance company is putting on me.

I gave an amazing argument as to why they should consider giving me more money. When my 1996 was wrecked (once again, not my fault) and went through the other guy's insurance, I browsed through CL, Autotrader, Cars.com, etc for similar condition Miatas. I had like 9 or 10 cars and the average asking price was $5726, his insurance gave me $5725. I told this to the insurance woman and was met with, "wow, that's a logical argument, good fuckin' luck." The only thing they'll consider is same exact model/year with same exact features within a reasonable amount of mileage and only within NC.

My car has 186k on the clock and quite literally the only 1994 for sale within the state of North Carolina is in Charlotte for 6575 but with 130k on the clock.

I started it through my insurance on Monday, the police report is in and I'm going to be getting back a whole 500 dollars.