Two weeks ago I'm sitting at the light right near my office and a Toyota Tundra wallops the rear of my GT4. He said he thought the light turned green Funny thing? I recognized the guy immediately as one of my patients, which I confirmed...Because the truck hit the car high, the exhaust is fine, and the hatch mechanism is fine, but the bumper cover got dented and the inner steel (?) rear beam was "intruded upon" but did its job and there is no unibody structural damage. His insurance company has been cool and will write the $11,200 check to my auto body shop, who in my opinion is the best in our entire state. The work will be better than factory. That being said, I'm concerned about what happens to the value of the car once someone sees the carfax report, whether that person is a private civilian wanting my car, or a dealer in a possible future trade.

As of now, I have no intention to sell this car as I picked it up in Germany in 2016 after having it built to my specs, and I still enjoy it. I don't think the new Caymans have the same desirable driving qualities as this car, but the new 718 GT4 might make me change my mind.

I'm allowed to solicit his insurance company to pay for "lost value" of the car, which is a nebulous thing, to say the least. I have to write a letter justifying why I think THIS CAR IN PARTICULAR has lost value. Have any of you ever had to do this? Did you feel you got what you deserved? I'd appreciate any advice.

 

Of course you have a diminished value claim, I don't know the specifics on what research you need to do to get started but absolutely the car will be worth less down the road due to that incident.

 

Here's my experience last summer:

Crunched in the back, $16,000 worth of damage...

Bottom line: wound up with $5500 of DV payment on top of $16,000 repair payment.

 

I would go to your local Pcar dealer and ask them for an appraisal ±the claim and have it written up as a trade for a new GT4 if possible. Whether this is correct or not Id tell the insurance co that you probably don't want the car anymore and are going to realize a financial loss as a result of the claim within the foreseeable future, and go from there.

 

I had the exact same thing happen to my wife's Macan (though I have a GT4 too)... stopped at a red light and slammed from behind. $11,000 of damage fully covered and I received a $7,500 diminished value settlement. This was after rejecting 3 initial offers that I deemed insufficient.
Here's the kicker... I went to my dealer for an "appraisal" of trade-in value and submitted to the insurance co. The insurance co claimed this was not sufficient. You will likely need to do a fair bit of research on how GT4's have traded with tarnished carfax reports. I did this and the rep at the insurance co did the same and we arrived at the above result. It will take a bit of work but don't give up. These are rare cars and it is not easy to find data on damaged ones. The insurance cos know this but will fight you. Be persistent and you will likely get a somewhat fair settlement.
Stu

 

 

I had a similar situation a few years back with my Audi S4.. Got a $6000 DV adjustment claim and I went thru a DV appraiser who did all the research and leg work for me.. The cost ~ $400 for his services which he in turn produced a very comprehensive report. Google a DV appraiser near you.

 

 

If the other guy has Nationwide prepare for a headache. The person hitting my 10 GT3 had Nationwide and they were a bunch of ******.

 

 

Depending on the state, you can also claim loss of use on top of DV. In states that have loss of use, they are supposed to compensate you the cost to rent an equivalent car the entire time it was in the shop.