Diminished Value

The Porsche Boxster is back tearing up the roads. It's so great to have the car back after two and a half weeks of shop time. I did have the use of a gutless 2005 Toyota Camry. It was new but a dog. It kept barking at the hills. The Boxster glides up them in any gear. It'll eat the asphalt in gulps, it spans the roads in gallops.

I learned that after the repairs, I can place a Diminished Value claim. This claim says that since my car was damaged I want to be reimbursed for the difference between an excellent condition car and one that's been in an accedent. Say, for instance, I can sell my car, if it did't have any damage, repaint, or accident history, for $22,000. Since it's been in the shop and has been repainted, it sells for $20,000. That means that the diminished value is $2,000.

However, the insurance folks, being what they are, will only give me 12% of the repair cost. This simply wont do.

So I decide to google it. I'm looking for a way to calculate it myself. But alas there is no dimished value calculator site. Some companies will offer to collect the diminished value for you and negotiate some price with the insurance companies. In reality, they simple push paper, get the same deal you would have received, but take their cut. You'll almost always get a better deal going directly to the insurance companies.

I did find this site . They claim to calculate the value for you. I'm not sure where it goes from there. I only supplied my email address. In the unlikely event they span me, I'll just block them. I gave bogus info on the phone and no info on the address. All I had to do is send them what kind of car and it's damage.

I'm really surprised that this is not a calculator on some page. It'd be much easier. How hard can it be?

...dave
Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work and driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for - in order to get to the job you need to pay for the clothes and the car, and the house you leave vacant all day so you can afford to live in it. -Ellen Goodman