Deer strike - loss of value?

That's unfortunate.

Seeing as you asked...

I made the mistake of buying a car (Porsche) with minor fender repair and it was almost impossible to sell. If I were to ever do it again I wouldn't consider a damaged car at any price.

Forced to I'd want it to be at least 30% less than a comparable car because I know just how badly I'd get pumped when it came time to sell. Just imagine trading it in...the first thing any dealer asks is whether the CarProof/CarFax is clean.

 

Good news:
You are alive.

The rest is academic

 

Call Lance.

Wix.com TheAutoAppraiser

 

Sorry to hear about this unfortunate event. I hope the passengers were not injured.

The questions you've asked are sort of hard to answer. I think they probably depend on the market at the time of your sale. Others here might be able to chime in with more precise estimates of percentages, mine would just be a WAG.

And, FWIW, don't be "sure" it'll be fixed right. If you want it fixed right, stay on top of the body shop. In a case like this, having AMPLE documentation during the repair process is going to be your best asset at the time of sale.

Automatically, everybody buying a car with an "accident" of some sort on the record will automatically assume the seller is blowing smoke relative to the severity of the accident and the magnitude of repair. Having PROOF like photos and writeups of the repairs (at regular intervals) will be your best chance to save the dollars.

Who knows, maybe having the documentation like this in place could even help with your "loss of value" claim on the insurance. Best to talk to your agent to see how the company handles such situations - surely yours isn't the first time this has happened so there has to be some precedent.

And, FWIW, I wouldn't personally buy a car with an accident history, but that's just me. Price wouldn't matter.

 

That is scary, glad you're OK. Have you asked your insurance company about diminished value (you have to ask, as many times they won't offer that info up without you inquiring). Ask them and let us know. Also, post some pics of the damage...it's incredible the danger that these collisions with deer, livestock, ect. pose. I had a friend who was almost killed when he was driving a Toyota Supra with the targa top removed a night and hit a cow. The car looked like he had run it under a semi trailer, it almost took his head off.

 

On a positive note, you are alive and nothing happened to you. As far as the car, yes this accident defiantly will have an effect on the price when you decide to sell it. However, there is a slight possibility that it might not even show on the carfax. It happened to my friend's Porsche. He hit a pole with his 911 and he fixed it through his insurance. It was never registered with carfax and he end up selling it with no accident history record. I would fix it, keep it and drive it as long as you can and then try to sell it. Whatever happens, happens. Don't lose your sleep over it.

 

It's true, but not guaranteed. Carfax is in no way the gospel - it is not infallible. But, if you're an owner, I think you have to operate on the basis that it will be recorded on Carfax (especially if there's a police report) as a worst-case-scenario way of protecting your interest and your money.

I've even read cases where cars were involved in accidents, repaired, sold, and then the accident gets noted on the carfax after the sale. So, now, it's the next guy's problem. Common? Probably not, but I've read about it happening. How do we know that didn't happen with your friend in his Porsche 911?

 

That is very dishonest and your friend failed full disclosure, it seems. Regardless of it not showing up on carfax, buyers of Ferraris typically have a PPI performed, and a PPI would usually be able to identify bodywork from accidents, whether on carfax or not.

 

Talking about dishonesty... He traded in to a Porsche dealer (they knew about the accident) but as long as it didn't show on the car fax they didn't care. Go figure....
You would think that you have to worry about private parties. We all have no idea what's going on with the dealers. Scary staff.

 

I would press your insurance company for diminished value compensation and fight to get as much as you can. For exotic cars, ANY incident on a Carfax report, regardless of the severity, drops the value of the car. Sad but true.

I asked for diminished value compensation when my Aston received a barely visible scuff when a distracted driver gently drifted into me at around 2 mph. The insurance company declined because the damage was so minor. I thought that was reasonable at the time but I later found out the effect of an incident on a Carfax report. That little scuff, which cost less than $1000 to fix, cost me at least $15,000 in lost value when I sold the car.

 

Yikes!

 

In that case just ask your dealer the price difference for trading it in versus the same car with no accident history. Get it in writing and claim the difference.

 

Ouch! Not very nice what it did to the front fender...

 

smart

 

I believe there are exclusions with-in your own policy for DV.. 3rd party claims - all day everyday.. First party claims - don't think its possible unless you happen to be in a state or covered by an insurance company that acknowledges DV.. You may be sh*t out of luck.. I hope it works out for you..

R

oh.. remember Deer hit is Comprehensive not Collision. Its a no fault claim.

 

similar to this ? or worse that this?

Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

That is horrible glad u are okay! As for carfax and all that I would probably do an Autocheck report along with the carfax ussually those are more reliable I've heard. Accidents do lead to deminished value and are reported but if carfax misses it then maybe Autocheck won't.

 

Fix it properly. Ferrari parts. Drive the hell out of it. I bet it's more than 40k. Way more. An unpainted front bumper from Ferrari is 12k alone.

 

Having said that I doubt there is an insurance company that will wear it.

 

Yikes, I see you're from Austin as well. Where were you when you hit the deer?

 

my status:
front hood was fixed, not replaced,
front bumper was fixed temporarily, will replace when new one arrive(about 2 months from italy)
Fender was fixed, lots of work.
Windshield was replace, of course
Inside the bumper there are aluminium damages here and there and I thought they weren't going to affecting anything structural so some of them i just left them as is.

do you have any other things that were damaged?