cvazquez

I feel your pain... sorry it happened, but glad you and your daughter are physically doing fine. It’s an emotional rollercoaster ride… It could always be worse if you stop and think about it.

You rightfully deserve your deminish value $. Therefore, you most certainly will need a lawyer if you expect a fair value. Take plenty of pictures of the results and safeguard them for proof. Unfortunantely, you’ll need to sue him without feeling any remorse!

If a high mileage P-car gets you minus 10%, I would speculate that an accident would get you at least 20% residual value (IMO).

vtach88

Damn SUV driving, soccer dads.....

Dariof

Mike, Soulteacher is absolutely correct. I have a very good friend who is an attorney for a major insurance company. She is always saying "Anyone who does not have an attorney when dealing with an insurance company is an idiot."

I have heard this time and time again from her, and from her attorney friends when we all go out to dinner. They actually laugh about it. The attorney's for insurance companies have one function, and that is to minimize the dollar amount the insurance company has to pay out for claims.

Get an attorney that specializes in this.

dstrimbu

Mike - the first and most important thing - you and your daughter are ok. As you know, that's primary...

I'm wondering - if you got hit hard enough to shove the P-car (with brakes applied) into the car in front of you... maybe you'll be driving a new Porsche soon? One can at least hope for a total loss, right?

After reading a post here regarding a UK owner with $30,000 USD in damages from a "tap" on the P-car's rear end (replaced cracked cylinder heads, etc...) - you might be headed for the dealer to place a new car order... I certainly hope that's the case!

Good luck, Mike. Glad you're ok!

-don

mglobe

That is one scenario. I just got back from looking at the car on a lift, and the underside looks good, so we'll have to see. In one scenario the hidden damage is significant enough that I'm Porsche shopping. In the other (and now more likely), the car is ok, I get a check for diminished value (which I believe is a real concern), and I keep driving it.

cr2000

MA, SC, and TX supreme courts ruled that insurance companies are not obligated to pay dimished value, see:

http://www.irmi.com/Expert/Articles/2004/Cooper09.aspx

Here in MA, I don't know of anyone who has succefully received diminished value compensation.

I have wondered, if suing the liable party directy is an option. And frankly if it were me, I'd get much more satisfaction from taking the money from the responsible individual than an insurance company. Any lawyers out there?

One other interesting thing to note (not directly related). Metlife Insurance is one of the only companies that will pay replacement value in the first year or 15k miles on a totaled car claim. Protecting you against a depreciation hit should your car be totaled in the first year of ownership.

Chris C.

Good (and surprisingly balanced) facts here --> http://www.statefarm.com/about/media...r/dimvalue.asp

State Farm lost a famous case for 100s of millions of dollars for denying DV in the past

If neither one of the insurance comapanies recognize and respond to your request for DV (generally 10-15% of the car's value) get a lawyer.

I was told by a lawyer years ago when facing a similar situation in my first 911 - you can sue the person who hit you in civil court thus forcing their insurnace company to defend them (or face a breech of contract suit) and, if you win, pay the extra amount.

Also, read anything you sign carefully, and document any staments made by an agent and any conversations you have with them. One typical "trick" - they put language on a settlement check limiting your ability to sue or pursue any additional damages. By endorsing the check you may be limiting your rights.

Expect to have the car repaired by your insurance company, and to have them subrogate the claim to the other person's company. Their insurance co even when 100% obviously in the wrong will contest the findings to delay any settlement payment for a year or two (especially true when multiple vehicles are involved. (Honestly, the lack of ethics in that business is just sad)

Lastly, expect to be filed against by the guy you were pushed iinto...

barrett

cr2000,

I only skimmed the link you provided about diminished value, but I will say that those cases discussed at the link talk about whether an insurance company is obligated to compensate THEIR INSUREDS for diminished value. The relationship between an insurer and its insured is based on contract; the contract defines the limits of the insurance company's obligations to the insured. Within this context, Texas and other states have held that, unless the contract specifically allows for diminished value, the right to diminished value is not one that courts are going to "read into" the contract.

Now, the question we're talking about here--where someone else's insurance is covering your claim because the other person was at fault--is entirely different. The relationship between you and the other driver's insurance is not defined by contract because no contract exists between you two. Rather, the relationship that is key is the one between you and the other driver (with the other driver's insurance company standing in the driver's shoes). The relationship between you and the other driver is grounded in tort law, not contract law. A claim for diminished value sounds in tort, so no contractual prohibitions against diminished value found in the insurance agreement between the insurance company and its insured can limit your rights. Short answer: you can certainly ask for diminished value. If the insurance company for the other driver tells you to take a hike, sue the other driver. The insurance company will be brought back in to defend the other driver in the litigation.

rmklaw

Talk to a lawyer BEFORE settleing or placing a claim with the insurance company. California has extensive caselaw on dimminution of value and the election between repairs or restore to pre-accident value. All I can tell you is that we are litigating some dimminution of value cases.

I cannot give you legal advise, but URGE YOU TO GET SOME FROM A CALIFORNIA ATTORNEY.

mglobe

Um, a TEXAS lawyer would probably be more appropriate for me! I've put a call in to a lawyer friend to get a referral, and am going to employ someone to help me make the right moves.

Oh, to add insult to injury, we have a running joke about Camry's in our family. We think Camry drivers are the slowest drivers in the world, and when we get stuck behind someone driving to slow, we all go "yo, get a Camry". So... I go to the rental place to get a car while mine is in the shop, and... yup, it's a Camry. Like rubbing salt in the wound.

THPorsche

You should've upgraded it to a SUV

Vancouver83LTD

this is why I like to mirror check about every 15 - and plan an escape route.
This is also why when my parents were out of town and I was a learning driver (must have a supervisor, etc etc) I didn't like to take the care out, even at two in the morning.

Vancouver83LTD

For people like us, cars are more than just cars - there's something deeper about them, something almost... ethereal.

I drive a pretty boring, non descript car - but it's been in the family and it's almost become like an old friend, with meories of family trips as a kid, etc etc... If anything happened to my car, it's not worth enough to repair, it will almost certainly be written off. If it was hauled to a junkyard I'd probably be distraught for quite some time, I can hardly imagine how you feel.
How old is your daughter? Like 13 right? You emberass her with the sticking your head out the window? hahaha
She's going to make this hard on you hahaha
Tell us what your driving impressions of the camry are, when you have the chance

In closing - Cheer up! At the end of the day it's only a car, and you and your daughter are both safe and sound and uninjured. As much as it sucks to have your car taken away for repairs, it beats being taken away yourself for repairs

fluid15

I cringe thinking about your car getting smashed, but without question the health of you and your daughter is the real concern. I've been rear-ended three times, none of them near as damaging as you've described but still resulted in major discomfort for me (ranging from limited sleep to trying to concentrate on work with an aching/stiff neck). You'll both begin to feel it around Day 2 or 3. Just in case you didn't get medical attention on the spot, don't hesistate to seek it out ASAP and start the claim. Best wishes with your recovery ... and appropriate compensation for your 997!

mglobe

I doubt you mean to be, but don't get too smug. I've been driving for 35 years and have had one other accident in all that time. Same sort of deal, sitting at a red light. And in both instances, there WAS no escape route. Sometimes stuff we can't control just happens. I've been through much much worse than this.



Mike