ODR247

Coming home from winter tire install yesterday, had the pleasure of being bumped in the rear by GMC Yukon at a read light (apparently the lady did not see my car in front of her as she was sitting up high and my car is too low, and started moving forward while my car was still stationary - go figure). Some visible damage to rear bumper around licence plate, and one of the parking sensors, who knows what is lurking beneath. Since this is a liability claim (her fault), I will be filling diminished value claim with her insurance (State Farm - happens to be same as mine). Was told to go to dealer and provide a valuation for value before and after the accident which I am working on now. Wonder if anyone has any recent experience with filing diminished value claim, and any advise on the process, as well as on how to best handle the car pre/post valuation to ensure the best possible outcome from the insurance claim? I am in Virginia if that makes any difference. Just as a side note, State Farm starts the claim process with what they call a pocket estimate (self reported pictures via their app) - after initial submission, was offered $1295 to fix (feather, prime, block) the bumper. Obviously not going to happen that way... Taking it to Porsche Certified repair facility for further evaluation... Thanks in advance for your insights.

LexVan

Sorry this happened to you. Hopefully, it's only a bumper cover (no internals) and probably is only just that (a bumper cover), since it sounds like a very low speed bump. As for diminished value, I suspect it will be pretty low, since bumper covers and bumper repaints are not a big deal. Hopefully nothing on your exhaust was touched, and you'll be back on the road to 100% very soon.

ClassJ

First step is getting the car fixed. Second step is hiring an attorney and filing the suit for diminished value.

The attorney will send you to an auto body expert to review the condition of the car post repair to verify that the car has been repaired to the extent of human ability. They then will calculate the diminished value. Your lawyer needs to substantiate:

1)Condition of car pre accident (photos etc)

2)Extent of damage

3) Condition of car post Repair (that no additional repair work the insurance company can mandate to their shop can make the diminished value less)

4) Loss of value amount.

After filing of the suit the insurance company sent their expert to inspect my car as well.

In my case the insurance company did not settle. My attorney took it to trial only to set precedence that could be used in future cases in NJ. The Jury ruled in my favor. My attorneys fee was about 1/3 of the awarded amount.

ODR247

Thank you so much for your input!

Bud Taylor

Year Ago I went to Carmax told them my wifes honda had been wrecked showed them a copy of a receipt and asked them to buy it. They made a written offer and I used that as my diminished value as it was 6K below book on an 18K car. May or may not work on a Pcar. I do not trust Porsche dealers to do anything right as they all have their heads up the *****. They seem to strive as a group to bring incompetence to new levels.

0luke1

Bud, I’m not denying your experience(s), but I’ve found that Porsche (and Audi) dealerships have treated me better than Cadillac, Chevrolet, Ford and Volvo. Added together. Times ten. I bought a CPO tt and traded my Audi with the Porsche dealership in Salt Lake City, thousands of miles away. Perfect transaction. Had a rock take out my AC condenser, without any “help” from me, my local Porsche dealership worked with my insurance company, I got 100% (minus deductible) and I didn’t have to lift a finger - and got a brand new Macan as a loaner. They didn’t say boo when I was on a business trip and returned the loaner three days after the car was finished. I hear your beef, however, I wouldn’t buy a stick of gum across the street from a Ford or GM dealership and wouldn’t take anything to be repaired there. (I had to call Detroit to locate a bearing to repair a new V Cadillac and it still took them a month to fix the car - they gave me a Pontiac s#itbox as a loaner).

There is a Porsche dealership in South Florida I will never return to, but I’d go back to three out of the four Porsche dealerships I’ve dealt with, including Braman in West Palm. Maybe you have had experience(s) with a rotten apple?

I would think a good dealership will help you.

scr1244

I have gone through the hassle and BS of a DV claim. First they will tell you that they don’t pay it, then they’ll tell you they only pay a pittance amount. My claim was only $5000-6000. Not for my 991.1S but for a several year old BMW wagon. The amount of your claim will depend on the value of the damaged car and the amount of the damage. If it’s just the rear bumper cover you probably won’t get much. If the damage is substantial then you will most likely need an attorney. If you google diminished value you will learn a great deal. Insurance companies are counting on the public not knowing about DV. If you try to trade or sell your car and the accident and repairs are on car fax you will suffer dramatic monetary loss. Usually about 30% if the repairs are substantial. Good luck and be prepared for a fight. I finally settled for $5050 without an attorney.

AdamSanta85

If it is just painting your rear bumper cover, I would do whatever I could to not put it through insurance and ensure it does not go on the CarFax.

The issue isn't having a plastic bumper repair, the issue is the car will permanently branded, and everyone interested in purchasing it in the future is going to use it against you.

Dealers were offering us literally 20% of the cars value for my wife's 3 series after a relatively minor accident.

spiderv6

I have heard stories of repair shops putting the repair into Carfax even when insurance is not involved - so be cautious!

Do you mean 20% of or 20% off??

ClassJ

If police responded and you filed an accident report, the damage is done on carfax.

A parents had a brand new car that was literally bumped at 2mph or so due to someone not paying attention while stopped at a traffic light. The car was brand new so a police report was filed. The damage was a small scuff that was compounded out. The dealer checked the car and noted no damage behind the bumper. Life went on. No claim was filed.

Fast forward 9 years. They negotiated a trade in for their truck for around $10K. Prior to signing the papers the dealer runs a car fax and says that there is a police report for the above incident from 9 years ago with rear accident damage. They dropped their price to 6K. No amount of photos, proof bumper was never painted, invoice from another dealer for inspection of impact zone, etc would change their mind.

mhartman

I had similar occur with my old Cayman S. Someone bumped my wife while she was driving (the car was a month old). She called the police trying to do the right thing. I buffed out the mark with some compound and life went on. When I sold the car I took a hit over nothing...ugh. Lesson learned the hard way.

ODR247

I called 911 when it happened, and a nice police officer lady showed up - told me that there is nothing to file since both cars are operational, she does not need to call a town truck, and there are no injuries. She called the interaction an "exchange" - of insurance/contact information between the two involved parties. So nothing in police records. Unfortunately, the bumper cover will need to be replaced as it has some damage to it, I am just hoping that there are no surprises when the shop takes it off.

Thanks everyone for input, very helpful group of folks here on RL.

AdamSanta85

Yep, definitely make sure you ask the body shop if they report to Carfax or not.

20% of the value. Car was worth around $10k or so, we were getting trade in estimates of $2000.

Luckily we ended up selling it to friend of the family who plans to keep it forever for about what it was worth.

Gordon Shumway

I had a very similar incident of getting rear ended while stopped for traffic, and both the perp and myself had State Farm. Based on your description my hit was likely harder than yours. I used a Porsche certified collision center for repairs which ended up a new bumper cover, actual bumper collision bar, and the entire exhaust from the turbos back. There were no parts "repaired" per se, just all new OEM parts put in, so in essence it was like new when repaired except for the inevitable Carfax.

I handled the DV claim myself over the phone with State Farm. Things move slow through the corporate hierarchy so it took a while going back and forth, but I ended up with a pretty decent settlement when all was said and done, and didn't have to share it with a lawyer. My advice is unless you are looking at this rear end bump as a lottery ticket, then try working it out yourself first. If you can't reach what you feel is a fair settlement, then by all means use any resource available to you. Just keep in mind the standard trigger for a big DV claim is an airbag deployment. A DV lawyer would be all over one of those, but for a bumper casualty you may have trouble finding a DV lawyer to take it at all.

Maybe I just got lucky with the claims rep I got, but I think it would be silly to just go straight down the lawyer rabbit hole without giving yourself a shot at it first.

Bob Z.

Pic or two?