YYZ

So my 991 S Cabriolet hood received a few scratches and a small dent from an incident with another car. It will require dent repair as well as repaint.
The faulted insurance co will pay about $1,500 to repair and report the VIN incident with the state.

Problem:
The local Porsche dealership says the "CarFax" or VIN report will significantly affect a trade in value, as much as 10%, regardless of how minor it is... it's a VIN report against my car.

Any experience with this? Any info on the efficacy of a Diminished Value Appraisal would be appreciated. I've spoken to several and they are all over the place with their estimates of what I should expect in compensation.

Dan991

Unfortunately, it is not easy to get an insurance co to pay for diminished value. A negative Carfax history is going to take your car value down considerably. I would guess that 10% is conservative low estimate. The problem is that an insurance company knows that it will be expensive for you to prove the diminished value so they will not pay it without a fight.

Michael_s

Just pay cash....why would you use insurance to suffer a 10% reduction in value? Use your cognitive thinking here..... withdraw claim ASAP.

TrappistMonk

I just went through a DV claim for my wife's car. We sold it immediately after it settled and got her a new one.

I do recommend letting the insurance company of the person at fault immediately know that you will claim diminished value. When I did this the insurance company offered me a certain amount. I did not accept their offer and used a DV company. Just google it on the internet. For between $100-$150 they will file the claim for you and do the negotiation with the insurance company. They got me a bit over double from the insurance company offered me.

Keep in mind that these companies are not lawyers. All they do is provide the insurance company with comparable data to argue your case. If the insurance company still refuses you can take them to small claims court.

You are entitled to Diminished Value, make sure you get it.

drcollie

Smart. Get a cash settlement, repair it yourself and keep it off the Car Fax.

AF330i

Great advice ... I would definitely do this.

stratocaster69

You are right but with some risk. Many dealers will use a paint thickness detector and pick it up on a trade. My local dealer took a GT3 in for trade, and when he signed the contract, he signed to it never being repaired. Thats just part of most contracts. In the contract it may say. Has your vehicle trade in ever been damaged or repaired. Something to that fact!

They found out later, and after the trade, that it had damage by measuring the thickness of the paint. Now they are going back on him because he signed on the contract otherwise. So you pay cash now and its off the report but if you trade it in down the road and say nothing than you may be liable.

I would try the diminished value claim first to avoid headaches later on. I would think it's important to get on it right away if you do that route because of different states statue of limitations. With diminished value claims of 30 percent or more, it's worth it to make them pay if you can. I am not saying I am right. It's just an idea!

beaverlake

I totally agree with the "pay cash" advice. Maybe the at-fault party will pay you the amount of their deductible and you both win.

To follow up on your original question and for everyone else's "edification" read this article from our monthly regional magazine. If you don't already belong to PCA and PNWR, join. These are the only inexpensive "options" Porsche offers and well worth it. I'm a broken record on this topic.

Here's the link:
http://digital.nexsitepublishing.com...tober-2015/11?

CSK 911 C4S

Post up a picture of the damage. You might just want to go with a new hood vs. any dent repair.

blschaefer1

OP, very sorry this happened.

For what it's worth, this is one of the primary reasons I prefer to lease my cars. The finance company assumes the liability in these instances.

STG

I want to know how impossible it is to get any payment for things like this. Scratches and a small dent?

Not only do insurance companies have to pay out to fix cars, but are expected to compensate every car accident with loss of value because of accident?? How about hurt feelings, loss of sleep?

Seems like a stretch. A $1K fix and the insurance company is expected to pay out 8-10% of a $100K+ cars value? Good luck. More like diminished dreams.

STG

One benefit to leasing. Major accidents on high end cars are a resale nightmare.

There have been numerous threads on this diminished value topic on 6Speed in the 991 section.

ezdriver

Great advice and I concur 100%. I have used independent claim adjusters and can say from personal experience that I will always hire an independent claim adjuster every time I have to deal with an insurance claim.


As an alternative, I would spend a couple $$ thousand $$ to avoid living with a CARFAX report showing "collision/physical damage" on my Porsche.

stratocaster69

Been through this with a Audi. What a pain in the a$$. And you said it. Loss of sleep, stress, loss of revenue if a person could be making money, hell loss of life lol

fast1

I had some superficial damage to the front bumper of my 997S. I took several pictures of the damage and then had the bumper repainted. I had the car appraised at CarMax and they offered me KBB good trade-in value for my car. I did not try to conceal the repair from them, and showed them pictures of the superficial damage prior to the repair.

My experience is that Porsche and Audi dealerships are notorious for offering very little for cars on trade-ins and will rationalize their low ball offer any way they can: that model isn't selling very well, too many miles on the odometer, and of course any repair, regardless of how superficial.

When the damage is superficial it will be a challenge to get anything in diminished value from an Insurance company, unless of course you are willing to take it to small claims court. If you take that path, you would require a diminished value appraisal from a professional appraiser, and of course you will have to spend some time preparing and presenting your case in court.

Bottom line is that if the damage is superficial, and the car is repaired professionally, I doubt that there will be much if any loss in value, but be sure to take lots of high quality pictures to prove to a prospective buyer that the damage was cosmetic. On the other hand if a car is in a high speed collision and sustains substantial damage requiring over $10K for repairs, then I would aggressively pursue diminished value.