cmusic

A close friend of mine that is a former car salesman told me the first thing any salesman or appraiser looks for is vehicle damage. He looked for it while talking to the car owner by simply walking around the car. He looked at paint, body lines, panel alignment, molding, tire condition, interior condition, and basically anything else that could be seen with the naked eye. Then they ran a car-fax report on it. He had a check sheet documenting the condition of the car as he saw it that was given to the appraiser along with the car fax report before any trade-in value was determined and offered to the customer. He said many times the appraiser would test drive the vehicle around the lot and into the garage to be lifted up to look underneath. He never directly asked the customer the history of the car being traded in, so that when resold and the new buyer found a problem, the dealership could say the origional owner did not notify them on the problem. So it does not matter if KBB or NADA does not have any seperate values for previously damaged vehicles, any damage or repairs are taken in consideration when determining trade-in value.

tqlla3k

iTrader: (1)

That is totally insane. So what if KBB doesnt list a seperate apprasal for different accident severities. Why did carmax knock off $2k my trade in value for my 06 IS350? On the Trade in notice it clearly CLEARLY stated "Many panels were painted" (and the only panels painted were, the fender.... and a blend into the door... and a blend into the hood)

anyone....ANYONE WHO ASSESS car can tell if a car has been painted. Its quite easy to recognize paint blend area's if you know what to look for.

MoLexus

If there is enough light then there is the ability to see the damaged or repainted sides of a car. Its a habit for me to do that while I drive, it annoys the hell out of my girlfriend.

tqlla3k

iTrader: (1)

TimboIS, KBB DOES take car accidents ino account
Go to KBB.com
Select Appraise my car. Click trade in. And appraise an 2006 IS350, with 15K miles and default options.

Use their "Condition Quiz"

for the first test.
Select all the options on the left(flawless, fully functional etc). Click Continue. The car is worth $31050

For the second test
Click back, using their "Condition Quiz"
Select all the options on the left
Change the Paint or Body work to "More than $3000"
Click continue
And its value is $26295

THATS $4700 IN DIMINISHED VALUE. As you can see, Diminished value DOES Exist.

Even if you select <$3000 in damage, the car is assessed $1700k Less. As I have said all along.

SO you have been slamming the OP over complaining about $118, when the dealership just screwed him out of $1700-$4700 of his cars value.

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

That's why they are GUIDES, not absolutes. It really doesn't matter how well repaired it is, you'll still take a hit. Why does "never been in an accident" and "numbers matching" draw more money if this isn't true?

TimboIS

You're on crack. Change the Paint or Body work to "More than $3000", is if it NEEDS repair, not that it HAD repair.

tqlla3k

iTrader: (1)

Are you an insurance agent? WHO WOULD BUY A REPAIRED CAR WITH BODY WORK... when they can get the same car, without paint blends and with less doubt as to the condition of the car.

Besides, KBB has a seperate selection for body condition.

Exterior Condition
Paint and body Flawless, glossy Dents, dings or chips Damaged

Paint or body work None Less than $3000 More than $3000

How can you just straight out refuse to beleive proof that is right in your face. I friggin got tagged with 2K in diminished value when trying to trade in my IS350... HOW HARD IS IT TO UNDERSTAND

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

Again - numbers matching draws more money from a real buyer. Never been in an accident draws more money from a real buyer. How hard is that to understand?

Foxberry

Again, I still say if it was their car that got banged up by a service tech and they were put thru the same set of circumstances as was the OP, some people here would be singing quite a different tune...

trio

Diminished value is very real. The only problem is that in NY, insurance companies do not recognize it. Some do in other states. Anyways, even if he complains and tries to sue, he will not win due to previous rulings on this issue within the state. He will pay more out of pocket from legal fees. Trust me, I've done my research since I was involved in an accident.

Unfortunately, now all he can do is either bite the bullet or hope the dealership, out of good will somehow reimburses in other ways for what happened.

I'd keep the car for many years so the amount of money loss from the accident is somewhat negligible.

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

There's a question waiting to be asked - if the car is leased, will they assess the value of the car at turn in less than if it had not been in an accident?

jjbodean

thats NOT entirely true, either!

this is a service related issue and has nothing to do with the sales dept, which is who gets the cars. allocation wouldnt be effected over a $118 service bill any more than it would over a $5000 service bill. not related at all.

jjbodean

wrong. if there is paintwork on a car is it worth less. period, end of story. frame damage or not, its worth less.

jjbodean

youre wrong, there is no table because the quality of repair work varies widely from one repair facility to another, its fairly a matter of opinion. if there is paintwork, there is diminished value, plain and simple.

l1tech

Just curious but did you tell Carmax that the fender was replaced or did they "discover" it on their own, and if so how did they exactly know what the damage was.