Ugh.......car insurance question.

jflail2

My 2012 Audi S4 with 10k miles got crushed in the rear end in a parking lot yesterday. Needless to say, I'm a bit less than happy today.........sigh.

Anyone have any idea how this affects the value of my car, short and long term? I suspect the repairs will be near or over 25% of the value of the vehicle. I'm trying to figure out if I have any recourse beyond having it repaired to its original state. So in other words, if I permanently lose value b/c of the accident, would I have a way of recouping that loss in addition to the repair bill?

And no, it wasn't my fault.

What a day.......waiting to hear from the adjuster from his insurance company so we can get the ball rolling.

sucks2beme

Not to worry. They're going to screw you.

thsmith

Depends on the buyer and if it gets reported to carfax and how well the repair is done.

I would have Audi do the work and detail every minute and part they charge, keep for your personal records for when you do sell it. Hard to find a used car that has not been damaged somehow.

As a buyer I will use that info if made to carfax to get you lower on price, others it will turn away. A dealer will most likely not care provide the repair looks solid.

zingo

thsmith wrote: »

I would have Audi do the work and detail every minute and part they charge, keep for your personal records for when you do sell it.

Agreed. No better repair for your Audi than at the dealership; especially if it is not your dime.

exalted512

Get their insurance to pay for diminished value. Very well kept secret in the auto insurance world.
-Cody

jflail2

Thanks for the input guys. Cody, I think you've touched on exactly my concern. I'll have to google that/ brush up on the specifics.

EndersShadow

zingo wrote: »

Agreed. No better repair for your Audi than at the dealership; especially if it is not your dime.

May not be an option if the persons insurance wont pay dealer prices, but wants to use a vendor who uses "like new parts" that are more cost effective. Sometimes company's have a "preferred vendor list" that they work with and if your company isnt on that list they may not cover the entire cost of the parts if they are above and beyond what the "preferred" vendor charges....

This is especially true as the dealer will use new parts and some company's prefer "reconditioned" or non-oem parts provided they perform the same. Less cost on their end and your car still works as it used to.

Its the same reason you dont always take your car to the dealership to get worked on, you know their parts & labor cost v. the guy down the street might be significantly more. Why would an insurance company want to pay more for something they can get done for less somewhere else?

Just some random thoughts on this from discussions I have had with family and friends. By no means quote me as gospel here.

jeremymarcinko

I disagree totally. A good dedicated body shop what do a much better job and take better care of you then the dealership will. Their business depends on it. Not all, But many dealerships are "preferred" by the insurance company.They can offer lower repair cost for the insurance co. for the volume of work.this low repair cost typically comes from repairing rather than replacing parts if they can and not offering much warranty on the repair. these dedicated body shops typically cost more, however in my state laws allow you to choose the shop that you want regardless what the ins. Co prefers.

oldmodman

exalted512 wrote: »

Get their insurance to pay for diminished value. Very well kept secret in the auto insurance world.
-Cody

This! Absolutely.

Insurance companies hate it but you are entitled to it. Why should take a **** when it's time to trade in or sell your car just because some moron ran into it.

And if you demand it you will get it. A customer was in the slow lane on the San Diego freeway in heavy traffic when the car behimd him was hit so hard it threw it forward and did 22K worth of damage to his six week old caddy CTS-V
It took almost three months for the repair to be completed due to lack of available parts. He forced the two insurance companies involved with the cars behind him to pay for an identical rental car, make his monthly payments, and pay for lost value, medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering.

The motto?
It pays to find an attorney whose father was a Litigator and the mother was a Velociraptor.

EndersShadow

jeremymarcinko wrote: »

I disagree totally. A good dedicated body shop what do a much better job and take better care of you then the dealership will. Their business depends on it. Not all, But many dealerships are "preferred" by the insurance company.They can offer lower repair cost for the insurance co. for the volume of work.this low repair cost typically comes from repairing rather than replacing parts if they can and not offering much warranty on the repair. these dedicated body shops typically cost more, however in my state laws allow you to choose the shop that you want regardless what the ins. Co prefers.

Didn't say that a dedicated body shop wouldnt do better job than a dealership. My comment was directly at the "might as well go to a dealer since your not paying for it" aspect of the comment I quoted.

Not all dealerships are on preferred lists, and neither are all bodyshops. Most states you can choose to go to whoever you want, however choosing someone outside some company's "preferred" list may have some additional consequences that I am sure would be explained to you. Those consequences may include you have to possibly pay out of pocket if the quote from location A is larger than location B for the same quality and amount of work, regardless on if its a dealership or bodyshop.

There is a process any company has to go through to be on a "preferred" list if the company uses one. The same paperwork and process apply to dealerships and also bodyshops and one is not favored over the other, provided they are on the "preferred" list.

Either way the insurance company wants to pay a rate that is as competitive as possible and they use vendors that meet that need, regardless of what type of vendor they are, or who the quote is from (internal estimator or external).

Again I am not super familiar with this process (but I know enough about insurance) to comment on this.

jflail2

Spoke to the dealership here for a recommendation, as they do not do body work there, and they recommended the same place I had honed in on already. I usually see nothing but high end cars when I drive by that body shop, and the Audi service guy mentioned that they order genuine Audi parts through the dealership when they repair Audis, so I feel good about the body shop there.

Now I suppose I need to battle with his insurance company to get those genuine parts accepted. I'm to call his adjuster today, so I'll get the ball rolling on that this afternoon.

A friend also recommended that I let the adjuster know that I need to submit costs related to trash bags and tape, as I am then exhibiting that I am doing my due diligence to keep the trunk from being water damaged while I wait for repairs. Paper trails sound to be the key.

Interesting continued insight here. Thanks everyone, and keep it coming.

strider

I'm pretty certain if your car is under 1 year old, they must use OEM parts. Least that's what I've gotten covered for my customers. Don't know if it's a state by state regulation or not, however.

EndersShadow

jflail2 wrote: »

Now I suppose I need to battle with his insurance company to get those genuine parts accepted. I'm to call his adjuster today, so I'll get the ball rolling on that this afternoon.

A friend also recommended that I let the adjuster know that I need to submit costs related to trash bags and tape, as I am then exhibiting that I am doing my due diligence to keep the trunk from being water damaged while I wait for repairs. Paper trails sound to be the key.

It may not be a battle, just make sure when your talking to them to expressly ask them what their policy is on parts, if they use all *new* OEM parts or what their policy is. Every insurance company is different so it may not be an issue at all, but its definately a talking point to bring up.

A certain company I know has a long speel they give about that so I am sure its going to be something you discuss with the adjuster either way, but just make sure you ask about what type of parts they will use so there is no misunderstanding.

Either way I hope they take care of you, but thats all dependent upon which company your calling. As in all things insurance what folks pay for is what they get, and their is a reason lawsuits are filed for car accidents....

charley95

thsmith wrote: »

Depends on the buyer and if it gets reported to carfax and how well the repair is done.

I would have Audi do the work and detail every minute and part they charge, keep for your personal records for when you do sell it. Hard to find a used car that has not been damaged somehow.

As a buyer I will use that info if made to carfax to get you lower on price, others it will turn away. A dealer will most likely not care provide the repair looks solid.

Off topic here a little but, when buying a used car everyone uses car fax... One thing people don't know is ;

Dealer service history report. Have dealer print off copy of in house dealer service. If it's an Audi,run vin# through Audi dealer service dept.

Carfax does claim they don't have all info. on used cars. Helped a friend buy a used Ford,she really liked the car and it was Carfax clean.
Ran vin. through Ford service dept. and found out car had major suspension damage that was fixed at dealer.

Car did not steer right on test drive and it had been repaired at dealer prior. I suspected possible frame damage and told her to walk away from the car. We found her a better car at different dealer.

codyc1ark

I love how everyone thinks its going to be a battle, even though the ins companies are following the rules the state puts in front of them. Chances are since its a new Audi there won't be much in the ways of on oem. As far as a DV claim, depends on your state. Rule of thumb, if your car is more than five years old its already diminished and a wreck at that point isn't going to affect the value. As far as I'm aware there is no such rule about that age of a vehicle and what parts they can use... If seen used parts put on vehicles that are less than a month 'new'. In the long run, be thankful it's just the car, it is that, just a car...


In response to Charlie's post above, carfax isn't worth the paper it's printed on. :biggrin::cheesygrin: nice sleuthing on having the dealer run the vin.

jflail2

You're right Cody. From what I can tell, it's going to be tough for them to find non-OEM parts. Thankfully this all appears to be cosmetic only, so it could have been worse.

I called my insurance co this AM and had them take the reins. The $200 deductible isn't a big deal, and I'll get it back eventually anyway.

They tried to repair my windshield (took a rock in the windshield 2 hours prior to the accident Monday......winning), but the crack spread, so I'll have to have that replaced next week as well.

Wheeeee.

exalted512

If it wasn't your fault, why are you paying a $200 deductible?
-Cody

jflail2

So my insurance company does the legwork for me. I'll get the deductible back once my insurance company gets recourse from his company. So it's a temporary payout that I'll get back, and I don't have to mess with their insurance company.

EndersShadow

One word subrogation

exalted512

jflail2 wrote: »

So my insurance company does the legwork for me. I'll get the deductible back once my insurance company gets recourse from his company. So it's a temporary payout that I'll get back, and I don't have to mess with their insurance company.

Got ya.
-Cody

Goldenboy72206

that sucks