2016 Ram 3500 Crash / Diminished Value Result

[1Adam12]

This is a follow up post regarding the crash I had with my 2016 Ram 3500 Mega Cab DRW. I was sitting at a red light in August of 2017, and was rear ended at 35 MPH by a Class C Motorhome towing a vehicle behind it. We were not towing our RV at the time.

The truck had $13,500 in damage. After nearly four months and three trips back to the body shop, the truck wasn't right. I traded the truck with full disclosure. The accident was clearly visible on CarFax as well.

The truck had less than 12k miles on it and was garage kept. Before the crash it had a trade value of $52k. After the crash it was $45k, confirmed at four different dealerships. I heard lots of speculation and opinions on diminished value with no clue how it would turn out.

To settle the property damage portion of the claim, our attorney hired a diminished value expert who examined the car at the body shop and completed a comprehensive report.

I was able to recover the value lost as a result of the crash.

There are obviously lots of factors which can change the outcome. I'm posting this information to share a real world outcome, in hopes it may help someone who may find themselves in a similar predicament.

[dodge_guy]

Dealerships love to quote diminished value so becareful. sounds like you found a bad shop. a good shop will make the repair so it would be like it was before the accident so there will be no diminished value!

In this case the reason for diminished value was the poor repair the body shop did!

[troubledwaters]

No one is required to give Carfax any information. Carfax mines public information such as DMV title information, mileage, etc. Auto dealers, body shops, insurance companies, car auctions, etc. willing gives data to Carfax because Carfax pays them for it.

[ST_LUCIE_APPRAI]

Some 411 on diminished value claims and auto/truck/RV claims in general - every state has a statute of limitations for filing these claims. Therefore, if your RV was damaged by someone else's negligence a few years ago, even if you have sold the unit, you can still make a diminished value claim in all 50 states.

[thomasmnile]

One Adam 12: I recall your original post. I understand the diminished value concept and know insurance companies fight such claims tooth and nail. Did your insurance company pursue the claim with the other driver's insurance on your behalf, or did you engage your own attorney and have to go through a civil court action?

Glad things resolved favorably, did your truck sustain frame damage that could not be corrected?

[jfkmk]

Perrysburg Dodgeboy wrote:

jfkmk wrote:

Agree with hanging onto the repair information. My SUV was hit while parked and suffered minor damage. When I traded it in I brought the repair info to explain the carfax and got a decent price.
Don't agree with not reporting the accident. Not sure if that is legal or not.

Did not say not to report the accident to the police. I said to inform the bodyshop, and insurance company in writing that you do not authorize them to report anything to any third parties! This means Carfax, AutoCheck and the like.

If you report an accident to the police Carfax will get it. To try to hide the fact a vehicle was in an accident is, at best, dishonest and may be, at worst illegal.
Posts like this are why I always buy new!

[Bionic_Man]

Perrysburg Dodgeboy wrote:

jfkmk wrote:

Agree with hanging onto the repair information. My SUV was hit while parked and suffered minor damage. When I traded it in I brought the repair info to explain the carfax and got a decent price.
Don't agree with not reporting the accident. Not sure if that is legal or not.

Did not say not to report the accident to the police. I said to inform the bodyshop, and insurance company in writing that you do not authorize them to report anything to any third parties! This means Carfax, AutoCheck and the like.

Four or five years ago when my truck was at the dealership one of the delivery trucks backed into my truck.

The dealer probably didn’t have to, but they stepped up and had their body shop do the repair at no charge to me.

I asked if they could not report it and they said that wasn’t something they can do.

So that is a long way of saying are you sure that is an option?

[Perrysburg_Dodg]

jfkmk wrote:

Agree with hanging onto the repair information. My SUV was hit while parked and suffered minor damage. When I traded it in I brought the repair info to explain the carfax and got a decent price.
Don't agree with not reporting the accident. Not sure if that is legal or not.

Did not say not to report the accident to the police. I said to inform the bodyshop, and insurance company in writing that you do not authorize them to report anything to any third parties! This means Carfax, AutoCheck and the like.

[minnow]

How much did you have to pay the attorney and the diminished value expert ? Those costs have to be deducted from your net.

[jfkmk]

Perrysburg Dodgeboy wrote:

NJRVer wrote:

Slownsy wrote:
I wish we had known about this a few years ago, was also rear ended but only miner damage to rear bumper which was paid for, but when we later traded it in for a new vehicle vi took a major drop in price beacase of the car fax report.
Frank.

X2!

Every Car-Fax report I have looked at said either "minor accident" or "major accident", if you still had your repair/damage report that could have been used to stop the steeliership from robbing you. Or you could have given the insurance company and bodyshop written notice to not report the repairs.

Don

Agree with hanging onto the repair information. My SUV was hit while parked and suffered minor damage. When I traded it in I brought the repair info to explain the carfax and got a decent price.
Don't agree with not reporting the accident. Not sure if that is legal or not.

[Perrysburg_Dodg]

NJRVer wrote:

Slownsy wrote:
I wish we had known about this a few years ago, was also rear ended but only miner damage to rear bumper which was paid for, but when we later traded it in for a new vehicle vi took a major drop in price beacase of the car fax report.
Frank.

X2!

Every Car-Fax report I have looked at said either "minor accident" or "major accident", if you still had your repair/damage report that could have been used to stop the steeliership from robbing you. Or you could have given the insurance company and bodyshop written notice to not report the repairs.

Don

[Bionic_Man]

Interesting info. Glad it worked out for you.

[NJRVer]

Slownsy wrote:
I wish we had known about this a few years ago, was also rear ended but only miner damage to rear bumper which was paid for, but when we later traded it in for a new vehicle vi took a major drop in price beacase of the car fax report.
Frank.

X2!

[Desert_Captain]

Always insist on compensation for "Diminished value" when your vehicle is in a {Not your fault} wreck. As noted above, the fact that it has been in an accident will follow it forever and the subsequent trade or sale value may be significantly diminished which comes right out of your pocket.

:C

[Lwiddis]

“I'm posting this information to share a real world outcome,...”

In Florida. Other states will have different outcomes. Generalizations are almost always...wrong.

[Slownsy]

I wish we had known about this a few years ago, was also rear ended but only miner damage to rear bumper which was paid for, but when we later traded it in for a new vehicle vi took a major drop in price beacase of the car fax report.
Frank.