Sundance
04-21-2009, 07:41 PM
I'm not sure this is the right forum for this question, but here goes...
Bought a 2008 Coupe 3LT Z51 package - every option but the custom leather interior, on September 4, 2008 during the GM employee discount promotion. Sticker was $57,945.
On October 17 my wife and I were taking our very first weekend road trip down to College Station to see the Texas Tech vs A&M football game. We stopped for a bite to eat on the east side of Ft. Worth, and after hopping back onto the freeway, quicky moved into the center lane of the 3 lane freeway and begun to pass an 18 wheeler (Peterbuilt conventional nosed tractor)traveling in the fast lane...as I was about 90% passed the truck it decided to change lanes to the center land and proceeded to clip my left rear corner panel, spun me sideways and then t-boned me in the drivers side door and pushed us over 800 feet down the freeway at 65mph! The driver, seeing the smoke from my tires being ground square, thought she had a blow out and let off the gas and proceeded to steer the truck to the left side of the road and slowly come to a stop. It wasn't until we came to a complete stop and my wife and I crawled out the passenger side of the car did the drive realize my brand new Corvette with only 646 miles on it was pinned against her radiator - the drivers side mirror sheered off, drivers side window blown out and significant body and left rear axle damage. My wife and I had nightmare's for weeks having visions of that truck rolling over the top of us, squishing us like sardines - it's a miracle we weren't crushed.
Luckily my wife and I were not seriously injured, although we we incredibly sore for weeks afterward and I had to visit a chiropractor for several treatments when my back finally gave out about 5 weeks later.
But cut to the chase - total Chevrolet dealer collision center bill came to $12,349.01. No frame damage, mostly cosmetic, 1 rim, all 4 tires, rear left suspension arms and bushings, door glass, mirror, door panel, rear qtr panel skin, paint and interior cleanup from glass.
The car actually did remarkably well - since we were both doing 65 the impact was minimal and most of the damage was from being pushed, not impacted.
I am attempting to pursue a diminished value claim with the responsible parties' insurance company and retained a professional diminished value apprasier who calculated that due to the vehicle being a high performance exotic car with a unique and sophisticated buyer's market, the car has expirienced a significant negative diminished value of up to 30% of it's original value due to the extent of the damage - up to an $18,461 loss. The insurance company is offering to settle for just $7500, which includes loss of use and reimbursement of medical expenses - essentially offering no diminished value settlement at all.
The car was virtually brand new _ I bought it purely as a weekend pleasure car, already having a daily commuter for work. As I said, it only had 646 miles on it at the time of the accident!
I'm ready to turn it over to an attorney.:mad:
My question to the forum is this: would you buy this vehicle if it were listed for sale and the accident was disclosed at time of sale? In your opinion, how much has the vehicle diminished in value because of the accident.
Does anyone have any experience or success stories relating to diminished value claims?
I appreciate your feedback and look forward to your responses.
Bought a 2008 Coupe 3LT Z51 package - every option but the custom leather interior, on September 4, 2008 during the GM employee discount promotion. Sticker was $57,945.
On October 17 my wife and I were taking our very first weekend road trip down to College Station to see the Texas Tech vs A&M football game. We stopped for a bite to eat on the east side of Ft. Worth, and after hopping back onto the freeway, quicky moved into the center lane of the 3 lane freeway and begun to pass an 18 wheeler (Peterbuilt conventional nosed tractor)traveling in the fast lane...as I was about 90% passed the truck it decided to change lanes to the center land and proceeded to clip my left rear corner panel, spun me sideways and then t-boned me in the drivers side door and pushed us over 800 feet down the freeway at 65mph! The driver, seeing the smoke from my tires being ground square, thought she had a blow out and let off the gas and proceeded to steer the truck to the left side of the road and slowly come to a stop. It wasn't until we came to a complete stop and my wife and I crawled out the passenger side of the car did the drive realize my brand new Corvette with only 646 miles on it was pinned against her radiator - the drivers side mirror sheered off, drivers side window blown out and significant body and left rear axle damage. My wife and I had nightmare's for weeks having visions of that truck rolling over the top of us, squishing us like sardines - it's a miracle we weren't crushed.
Luckily my wife and I were not seriously injured, although we we incredibly sore for weeks afterward and I had to visit a chiropractor for several treatments when my back finally gave out about 5 weeks later.
But cut to the chase - total Chevrolet dealer collision center bill came to $12,349.01. No frame damage, mostly cosmetic, 1 rim, all 4 tires, rear left suspension arms and bushings, door glass, mirror, door panel, rear qtr panel skin, paint and interior cleanup from glass.
The car actually did remarkably well - since we were both doing 65 the impact was minimal and most of the damage was from being pushed, not impacted.
I am attempting to pursue a diminished value claim with the responsible parties' insurance company and retained a professional diminished value apprasier who calculated that due to the vehicle being a high performance exotic car with a unique and sophisticated buyer's market, the car has expirienced a significant negative diminished value of up to 30% of it's original value due to the extent of the damage - up to an $18,461 loss. The insurance company is offering to settle for just $7500, which includes loss of use and reimbursement of medical expenses - essentially offering no diminished value settlement at all.
The car was virtually brand new _ I bought it purely as a weekend pleasure car, already having a daily commuter for work. As I said, it only had 646 miles on it at the time of the accident!
I'm ready to turn it over to an attorney.:mad:
My question to the forum is this: would you buy this vehicle if it were listed for sale and the accident was disclosed at time of sale? In your opinion, how much has the vehicle diminished in value because of the accident.
Does anyone have any experience or success stories relating to diminished value claims?
I appreciate your feedback and look forward to your responses.