Diminished Value, Damage Repair

In most states you have a claim. The appraiser, Cohn is fairly well known in the industry with his appraisals. There are others who appraise Ferraris, but I think he is the only one that advertises. Depending on the model and your intent, you will have a claim for:

1. A paint job which match the entire car to the patched area (a complete professional job, usually costs between 4 to 6k), or

2. The difference in value between before or after.

If your intent is to keep the car for a substantial time period, you would be entitled to 1. above, rather than two. By this I mean, 2, 3, 4 years, and the longer the better. I haven't looked at your profile, so I don't know which model you've got, but if it's a 308, then the value difference may not be much.

As to those that have said you don't have a claim, they're talking without any knowledge. My mom always use to say: if you don't know what you're talking about, keep quite before people think you're an idiot.

You don't have to have mismatched paint, and you are probably entitled to a repaint, and loss of use while the car is being repainted (a paint job like that can take months). Get a competent attorney in the area in which you live, to guide you through this mess.

Art

 

Peter-

I know nothing about AutoAppraiser.com. But I will tell you, don't waste much time on a 'diminished value' claim.

It probably won't go anywhere.

I've owned many high-end automobiles through the years, and have never been awarded a 'dv' claim for damage caused by others.

If damage is repaired and paid for, to your satisfaction, you may be able to get a small remuneration in payment for your inconvenience.

I've been where you're at a number of times over the years, and have learned not to fret it.

Yes, the damages had caused me great angst at the time, but I did get over it.

Have your Ferrari repaired to your satisfaction, let the offender pay for the repairs, and then drop it. You'll soon forget about the anger you have now.

With todays technology, the colour match of the repaired area can be exact to the rest of the car.

 

ok, a scratch put there by someone else ruins the whole experience. i have three dings that were done by regular usage and dam they piss me off. getting weinie liberal judge to understand your feelings is tough though. after all you are rich ferrari owner, right? best of luck and everyone looks at this differently. scratch my car and you will be hurt, the judge can go to hell

 

Values of 308's are all over the board. I've seen good cars sell for more than pristine ones. Diminished value is going to be very hard to prove. That said, I would at least make the argument that you will need to have the repaired area painted again before selling the car and therefore would accept the same amount in cash as it took to fix it in the first place.

In any event, since you have a fully depreciated 308 and aren't talking about major damage or panel replacement, you are looking at diminshed value in the hundreds of dollars not thousands. Just be sure to keep the repair invoice showing exactly what was done so a potential buyer can be shown it was just a minor incident.

 

I HAD a "flawless" original paint job as well. Then a car in front of me hit road debris (truck tire re-tread) sending the tire and parts of the other car into mine....$10,000 later, had a re-sprayed front end. While the car was at the body shop (Factory Authorized), some yahoo who worked there backed another car into mine, causing damage to the back...that had to be fixed and resprayed. Then while in my garage, my motorcycle fell into the driver's door...had to be fixed and resprayed. So, only the rear deck lid, passenger door and roof (behind removable panel) have not been painted. All the work was done right and I doubt it diminishes the value. All the restored cars of the 50s and 60s have been repainted and some go for millions of dollars. In my opinion, if your 308 was truly flawless with NO blemishes or stone chips, you must not drive it alot, and that would be more cause for concern for a buyer...I would rather have a car that has some paint work, then a flawless car that has not been driven. It will cost alot more to sort out a garage queen repair some chips. These cars are meant to be driven and #$^& happens. I have no plans to ever sell my 308, so it has repaint, big deal...I also plan on eventually recovering the seats...It's a Ferrari, not perfect from factory. But, it's fun to drive and it looks great...if I knew how to post a pic I would, but I don't. Enjoy your 308 and DRIVE it. Then paint as needed. Please do not let it sit.

If you do drive it, put the car on a lift and inspect it thoroughly from the mid line down, behind the tires, etc...I would guarantee it's not flawless, you just can't see the blemishes and small marks, chips from standing level.

Just my opinion, so please don't yell at me. I am an owner who has been through more in the past 8 months than you can imagine. And, with the exception of the motorcycle fall, none of it was my fault...that's what insurance is for.

 

Obviously you don't drive your ferrari often or at high speeds. Respraying the front bumper of a ferrari 348, 355, 360 is an annual service item given the amount of stone chips that accumulates. I estimate only 1 out of 10 cars have true original paintwork.

Best of luck on your claim. Relax, it's only a car.

 

Thanks Art, I'm taking a beating here with this thread. I'm so steamed over my car getting smacked that I kind of took it out on Darolls initially, so I'll take the heat for that.

But I suppose I get mad when people skim/sound bite the board without reading the true content of the questions I posted...

1) Anybody have any experience with this?...(not opinions, experience)
2) Anybody heard of, or worked with Cohn?

Next, the issue in the diminished value here is not so much the intrinsic loss of the car's "worth," but diminished value in the fact that I have to :

a) fix it again in the future as the repair will be detectable/not blend in with the rest of the car
b) if I ever sell it I'm honestly obligated to tell the buyer that the finish is not "whole," it has been repaired.

I didn't Fchinng do the damage, if I did, I'd eat it. A clumsy emmer effer made a mistake, they're insured...they'll fix it.

I might be "fluffing my ass in the snow," but wait until it happens to you. Like watching the evening news, tragedy hits somebody else, a tree falls on somebody's garage. You watch like it's "whatever," then a storm comes to your neighborhood, hmmm, feel the pain?

 

Well I purchased the car from "Ron Tonkin GT in Portland, Oregon." In fact, Mr. Tonkin was the first registered owner. The appraisal I have from them, done before I purchased the car states "original finish." NOT trying to discredit them here, I believe the car was VERY NICELY refinished very soon after importation and Mr.Tonkin's use...you know the "crazing phenomenon" of this generation 308.

 

If it was already refinished prior to your purchase, then how would the value be diminished MORE by your fixing a portion of it. If value was diminished by refinishing, then it was diminished when you bought it...therefore any additional refinishing would not matter...thus making part of this thread a mute point. You bought it even though it was refinished, and so will someone else. Move past the diminished value part, already. Has you told us it was refinished originally, we would not have to waste time "guessing" about the value now.

You should have posted "my 308 was refinished years ago by Tonkin. Does that deminish the value?" Sorry some guy banged your car, but seriously, given what you just posted, it no longer matters.

 

Not to be too crude but you have a $30,000 +/- 308. Beyond getting the car repaired & repainted to your satisfaction (which should be paid by the guy who did the damage), what type of reparation are you really expecting? $50, $500, $5000, $50,000?

 

if the fair market value on the car is $25k, do you really think no one will offer you that? or do you think due to that pannel your car can only be sold for $7500? I really dont think it is worth the time if even for $5,000 after legal fee's you'll probably have exceeded what the repair cost. You car is fixed, now get out there and enjoy it!

 

Hey Glassman, I get your drift..., the $ for an attorney is not a big deal, but this is the issue of the worker who lied about doing the damage, tried to hurry away from the job at our home hoping his mistake would somehow go away (who finally admitted to his company that something happened in my garage).

If I only break even, BFD. To me its about accountablility for one's actions. "ADT" was the alarm company I hired to come out to do the job. Instead, they sent out a subcontracting company to do the installation job...you know, save some $/fill in when their ADT installers were over-booked. I had to manage and keep an eye on both of these guys while they were working in my home and the detached shop. I couldn't babysit them both at the same time.

Again, if I choose to drive the sh*& out of my car and get the front re-sprayed each year, that's my option. I've looked at other Ferraris when shopping for mine. I've got a keen eye for patchwork fixes, the worst was on a red Mondial under studio lights, saw three different shades of red. I don't want to look at such a mess.

Accidents/mistakes happen. If the installer would have come to me and said "Mr. B, I totally f^@$ed up and hit your car" things might have been different. I had to jump through a meeting hoop at the ADT regional office, 6 of them, one of me (& my witness). Of course they were trying to avoid the fraud hit by crawling up my a** with a microscope, lots of questions, a couple hours of back and forth accusations and questions, yada, yada.

Ya had to be there! This will all sort out. I'll post pictures and hopefully in a few months, I'll post the settlement, gross and net. PeterB.

 

Peter,

i have one question

has anyone admitted doing the damage(s)

 

Its funny how the insurance company then started to work with me...

 

A well deserved beating.

You need to get your car fixed and turn the page. Be grateful that they are paying for the damage. Life is too short to worry about diminished value on a 25 year old $25K car. It is certainly too short to worry about teaching an alarm installer a lesson.