Auto insurance question - "diminished value"

Babytoxie · 07-26-2012, 08:34 PM

We bought a brand-new 2012 Toyota RAV4 about 2 months ago. After only having it for 4 weeks, it was rear-ended. It's currently in the shop getting about $6000 worth of repairs to the back end, with no frame damage or other issues of which we're aware. The other party's insurance carrier is paying all costs, including a rental.

I was discussing our car situation last night with a friend, and they mentioned that we should check into a diminished value claim for our vehicle. I read up on it, and it sounds sketchy.

Since the shop is using all new parts for repairs, PLUS the fact that we plan on keeping the RAV4 for as long as it will run (and purchased a 7-year super-deluxe extended warranty for now), it seems that a diminished value claim is just trying to milk the insurance company for more money and would be more trouble than it's worth. If they were using secondary parts to repair it, I guess I would consider it. Is diminished value really applicable to our situation?

Underdog07 · 07-31-2012, 02:29 PM

Quite possible it is.

Put aside the long term plans as that may not come to pass

If you had to sell the car right now, you would get less bc of the accident. Thus, you should be compensated for that.

Say you forego it, get into another accident and the car is totaled, you would lose out on that money.

That is my understanding from my sister having her new car near totaled.

Good luck.

ComputerFly · 07-31-2012, 03:15 PM

http://www.carinsurancequote.net/ins...-payments.html

Babytoxie · 08-03-2012, 11:47 AM

Good point, Underdog. Thanks.

I've asked the other party's insurance carrier what info they would need in order to consider the claim. We'll see how it goes. If they don't play ball, well... it certainly is handy to have a lawyer for a father-in-law.

Andrew337 · 09-12-2012, 04:06 AM

Hi friends i have also a question on my mind i want to purchase a auto insurance for my car but i have no idea what kind of policy i should have to purchase because many fake policy's are around us please give me some ideas....

Collection King 13 · 12-23-2019, 03:34 PM

It was probably less expensive to them to repair vs giving you the total balance of the loan. A friend of mine had a repairable accident and the insurance totaled the car vs repairing the car. What he owed was probably less than the total repair cost. Insurances do what is best for them.

winterfell · 08-26-2021, 04:26 PM

I remember the first time I bought an RAV 4. It was my first purchase, honestly, that was all I had money for. I fell in love with this car at first sight. True, the first sight was a little deceptive. It had a bit of a rotten underside as well. It took me a couple of months to replace the whole bottom, with my grandfather. Grandpa was shocked, too, at how beautiful it was. They told me to get it insured because I put a lot of money into it. But here's the problem, I don't know if they insure old cars like this. Even though it's not ancient yet, it's still worth a shot at https://joywallet.com/esurance-review/ reviews.