dff22

It pains me to write this but i just put my cab in storage on saturday and 4 hours later the garage had an accident and just called me this morning to tell me my car had been hit. Do not know extent of damage yet but sound fairly significant to right from of car. This car has 24k miles on in, meteor over black leather, and is absolutely pristine. Also on it are europipe stage one, tech art tips, hidden v1 and blinder laser jammers with display in rear view mirror, heated/cooled seats, etc...about $149k list. I am beside myself needless to say. Need some thoughts on amount of diminished value?

Thx

Ruskiy

Sorry to hear that happened to you. I wouldn't know the amount but that's unfortunate.

Maybe the place will pay out of pocket to fix it.

dff22

There is no debate on who is reposonsible for repairing....question is the diminished value if car fax is updated with report. Essentially someone hit the gas and not brake on a Mercedes knocking in to another mecerdes , then my turbo, which then knocked in to another mercedes. Bumper cars with very expensive cars in storage....

Macster

Bumper cars is right. Good grief.

Be sure you document the extent of the damage to the car with lots of pics.

There is a time and a place to think about, possibly seek diminished value compensation, but right now you need to focus on ensuring the car is repaired to its precollision condition.

The responsible party shouldn't have a say in where you take the car to be repaired. And where you take the car should be the best body/paint shop around and one that ideally is Porsche certified.

Craig T.

I could see this being a big concern if it were a 1972 911S, but we're a LONG ways from these cars being an investment, or in any way a value holding proposition. A pristine accident free 09 turbo will likely be worth $50-$55K in five years. One with a little fresh paint on new bumper covers is going to be worth a few grand less...Maybe, but that all.

Regarding "depreciated value"...Too much worrying about mileage and condition of these cars is like not having sex with your wife so she'll be worth more to her next husband.

Drive it like you stole it and leave it to your grandson when you die.

964Carrera4

If it was my car that had been damaged, I would be very concerned about the loss of value when trying to resell it. Once the insurance claim shows up on CarFax, or other reporting agencies, it's going to be very difficult to find a buyer who is willing to pay anywhere near what other pristine comps are going for.

You should seek out a local lawyer or appraiser who specializes in diminished value cases. Depending on the damage done, your claim could be $10K or more.

Here's one in Seattle who handles cases like your's all the time. Maybe he knows of a lawyer in your area.
http://www.galileolaw.com/services/d...-value-claims/

PorscheStrong

Anecdotally, I bet it's material. Wouldn't be surprised if it cost you $10K in resale, and more importantly, lots of buyers just won't touch it (myself included; no offense, I just don't have the time to sift through wrecked cars and have the $ to buy clean ones).

Based on other posts I've read, be prepared for a fight with the garage, their insurance, and yours'. Suspect you'll end up consulting a lawyer and an appraiser.

MadScience

For most of us it's that the hassle of resale just went up. It takes it from something one could reasonably do a private party sale on, to something where that's only possibly by making a very honest offer to someone that knows what they are getting at a reasonable, below market, price.

I took a bath for around $5k after some rear end damage proved impossible to fix properly without dubious retrofitting on another car. This was at a time when $5k might have made a real difference in when we managed to buy our first home.

No, it won't kill me, and certainly not today, as I hope is the case for anyone driving a turbo, but it was a loss that was a direct result of an incident that someone else was responsible for. (I don't hate them for it, I could have been accountable for a similar collision any number of times. But that would have been on my insurance/accountability and this fallout was on theirs.) In this case the fix turned out to be harder than it appeared and I was out the car for over 100 days as the repair repeatedly came apart. I had a basic rental car for perhaps half that time. The rest of the time I carpooled or cycled to work (I enjoy biking, no major hardship). I finally sold the car to a friend at a steep discount. He wasn't going to use the car for commuting, so he was OK with boxing in a crumple zone in a way that wouldn't fail again.

If I was in this situation again I would insist on compensation for diminished value, knowing that I was still giving something up. I would do so when dealing with the other parties insurance company. If that insurance company was giving me the run-around I would consider outsourcing this work to someone with legal qualifications. Unless there was some seriously gross negligence or suspected intent, I would stop with the insurer and not go after the individual. This isn't about being vindictive, but about not taking a hit for something that someone else was responsible for, and insured for.

Craig T.: If this is a matter of new bumper covers then I agree with you. If there's real damage to the unibody then this is a different story.