Outlaw

Bowen Liu

My adjuster already mentioned the words like "restored to pre-loss condition" and she said "they may not honor the diminished value". Then I mentioned the impacts on the market value, getting appraisals. She responded with "we will wait until the car is repaired". At least they are not denying the existence of diminished value, so that's a good thing. I'm doing a lot of homework and am prepared for any situation: denial, negotiation, escalation or small claims court, I know I would give them the appraisal when they said "the car was repaired properly". But what if I presented them your appraisal and they simply denied it or stood firm on a low ball offer? No offense, but they can see that you are based in FL and there is no way you can be present in court if it ever comes to that.

Thanks.

DIMINISHEDVALUE

I mentioned videoconferencing before but the scenario you laid out is a likelihood. I tell every client that they will need two things, a good appraisal and persistence. Whichever appraiser you choose, make certain they will appear as an expert on your behalf (charges may vary, our fee is $675.00) because many independent appraisers don't offer that service. Also, try to find someone who DOES NOT also do work for insurance companies. You are a one-time client to them but the adverse party represents the potential of multiple jobs in the future.

Paul Rathjen

I have had luck in the past by simply using online appraisal services. You spec out the car as if it hasn't had an accident. You then do an exact spec, and list that its been in an accident. Every time, the retail, and trade in value will go down. I've actually done this with a Vroom estimator once too. The offer will always go down for the same car if its been in an accident. No question its a pain, and not a simply situation. In my case I used the DV claim, or the threat there of, to total out the car when I was hit, not my fault, and it was right on the edge of being a total loss. For a new car, there is no argument that having an accident in the history hurts its market value significantly to any potential future buyer. Sometimes, you just have to hold out a while, as the insurance companies try and low ball you.

Bowen Liu

Thanks for your reply and sharing your stories. And that's a sexy car that you have.

No doubt that it will be a big hit on the value. I'm mentally prepared for the long and painful negotiation process. I'm wondering if you can share a bit more about your negotiation process. And the thing that I'm most curious about is, can they just ignore our claims? Like we start the claim and ask for a certain number, they deny or low ball us, then we don't settle. Can they afford to just leave the claim open and not do a thing about it until the statue of limitation expires? If there are laws against them doing this, I will by all means hold out until we get a satisfactory result. Do you always include words like "please respond within 30 days"? I'm under the impression that by law they can't just ignore the claim but I'm not sure. Did you eventually budge a little and meet them in the middle?

Thanks again

Paul Rathjen

In my case I was very proactive. My state is at fault, an the other driver was at fault. I had my car's damaged accessed. Since it had frame damage it was on the edge of being totaled out, and would take some further investigation by the estimator.

I created a power point to show the market value of my car. It was a 2006 Magnum SRT which is fairly rare, and it was easy to show a relative value of the car based on the only 5-6 nationally available cars if I were to have to purchase a new one. I also provided 3 online appraisals, KBB, Edmonds, and a third that I forget. I also prepared them right away for the DV claim and said that I was going to go after that, if the car was not totaled and my settlement fair. State farm was the company for both I and the person at fault. I really didn't have to provide anything else and waited it out. My agent didn't directly do anything, the adjustor took care of it. I explained my intent and sent over a PDF of what I had prepared. I was preparing for a long fight, but they totaled it out in less than a week, and made a settlement offer for more than I was asking for ( I had put a minimum amount that I would even consider taking before they even make an offer).

Every state and ever company is going to be different. At the time my research told me, that the adjustors are going to try and get you to settle for as little as possible. Either they will make excuses, or they will make a low offer right away, reference the end of rentals available, etc in order to get it taken care of quickly. No one wants to wait, everyone wants their settlement, and or their car fixed quickly. So....if you're willing to wait it out, you're going to get a better deal typically. I am not an lawyer or in the insurance industry, so I have no idea on the laws or practices but my understanding is they want to get it settle too, because it looks bad for the adjuster to have outstanding cases. If you're willing to wait, their will up the offer eventually so the can close the case. I was prepared to buy a $1500 beater and wait it out, I just didn't have to. Particularly in a case where its not your fault, you're going to have a better leg to stand on.

I have found though, that you're better off being informed, prepared and firm but polite, rather than angry. Insurance is a business, its not personal. They are not trying to screw you because they don't like you - they don't even know you personally. Their job is to pay out as little as possible, so that they have funds available for all of their policy holders as well as make profit. I haven't had a bad experience with State Farm yet, and I've had a few accidents over the course of my 30 years of driving. I have had a little luck asking my agent to make some calls as well. It used to be your agent would kind of play your advocate and help track down information for you......now they really don't do a GD thing at all. Its all online, and they have territory. The only interaction I even have from my agent is to try and sell me some crap I don't need, or change my coverage around a bit. Personally I think they should do more as your advocate during a claim. Many of them have had the same clients for decades.

Sliu6122

Here is what i went through - I purchase a 18 Panamera 4S with a MSRP of $126,300 - I was able to negotiate the MSRP and cap cost down to $108,410. I only drove the car for 2 months and put 2600 in miles on the car. My insurance company is Wawanesa FYI. Ironically our accident was very Minor - Didn't look at bad as yours however the Hood did get misaligned which in further investigation lead to structural damage under the hood. Long story short they totaled my car. Insurance payout was 118k based on the comparables + state tax in CA took my total settlement up to 129k. Only owing 106k my equity adjustment check was 25k for this car. I leased this car with 0/0 drive with a payment of 1755 including taxes in CA. I walked out with 25k of equity. They dinged me for 7k in lost value after i drove off the lot. However they did mention that if the miles were still under 1500, they would pay full value. Im sure all insurance companies are different, however this was my story as of last month. Since then i picked up another Panamera. I'm surprised they wont just buy you a new bumper and headlight as a replacement and pay a deductible.

Outlaw

Bowen Liu

Thanks Paul for your reply and sorry for my late response. I didn't receive any email notification.

Glad to know that your case worked out. I've heard mixed things about State Farm, but most people seem to claim that it's hard to collect DV from them. Well I guess there's really no easy one.

Thanks for your detailed explanation. Right now I'm under the impression that they prefer not to back burner a claim as well. I won't settle without a satisfactory offer. I'm willing to take this all the way to the small claims court. I will complain to any authority that I can find if they don't give me a fair offer (customer relations, CEO, State department of labor etc). I think it shall be more satisfying getting the money from the stinky truck driver himself, but the truck belongs to his company (his insurance policy is a commercial policy) so I'm not exactly sure whether I shall sue the company or the driver himself. I will cross that bridge when I get there. Thanks for the advice, we will be very very patient.

Great advice for being nice. I know, it's not personal and they are regular working class just like me. I will be nice and tough.

And agree with your opinion on agents. My agent can't provide any help.

Bowen Liu

Thanks for the reply. I thought in PA you can only ask the at fault party's insurance for DV. Do any insurance companies pay DV for first party? That'd be great.

Bowen Liu

OMG a 2018 4s. It was my dream car but my fiancee only had 100k budget so we went with Panny 4. How's it feel? The hp must be so thrilling. I was so sad the other week since I realized that since she'd probably never sell her Panny 4, it'd be utterly stupid for me to buy another Panamera. Therefore I will probably never own a Panamera of my own. Heartbreaking. Only cars better than Panamera IMO are the Mclarens and Lambos. In 4-door sedan universe, Panamera is undoubtedly the king.

That said, I am having a little difficulty understanding your post. What do you mean by cap? So did haggle the price down from 126k to 108k? That's a ridiculous 14% discount! We only got 12% on our Panamera. How did you do that? And later you mentioned that you leased a car, Did you lease or own? Sorry I'm just a little confused here.

And what is equity adjustment check? How did you calculate the 25K? I thought your profit was settlement minus your cost, so (129k - (108k + tax and fees))? Am I understanding it correctly?

It just breaks my heart to see that below 1500miles is still considered brand new. I have never loved any material item like I love this car, and it just got violated by that stupid ****ing piece of ****, who kept saying "relax, it's just a car haha". I'm still livid thinking about it. I will spare no effort to get a fair treatment.

Thanks.

lbcgolf

Wait... sorry for the threadjack but is member "Sliu6122" also a Panny owner with the last name Liu who wrecked his car???

Sliu6122

Sliu6122

Bowen Liu

I sincerely do not know. Losing one's Panamera is something I wouldn't wish on my enemies. Well, who am I kidding. I wish the very same thing to the truck driver who pulled this stunt.