Parked Car Hit

[wolfbeast]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NY

My car was parked on the side of the road and was hit by another driver. As per the police report she was speeding and distracted. As per a witness there were no other cars involved. The damage to my car is extensive but not enough to total the car.

On the day of the accident, I was going to accept an offer to sell the car. The buyer is willing to give me a statement that he offered me a certain amount for my car. However, now that the car is damaged, even if it is repaired perfectly it will not be worth the same amount. Plus, it will have an accident on the vehicle history report.

I am wondering if it is possible to ask the insurance company to pay me the full value for my car rather than repairing it even though it was not totaled. In my situation, the car would have been sold if it was not involved in the accident. Does this logic work in court?

Thanks for the help,
neil

[ecmst12]

If the car is repaired perfectly, then it WILL be worth the same amount. How old is the car? The insurance company is not going to pay you the value of the car if the cost to repair is less.

[wolfbeast]

The car is 2004. A car with an accident on its vehicle history is worth less than the same car w/o an accident even if it in the same exact condition or better.

Ultimately this accident cost me the sale of the car so the party who caused the accident should be liable. Is this legally sound?

[ecmst12]

No, it's not. The sale could have fallen through for any number of reasons. You can google "diminished value NY" to see what your chances of successfully claiming this will be.

[caslerst]

Originally Posted by ecmst12

If the car is repaired perfectly, then it WILL be worth the same amount.

20 years ago this might have been true. 20 years ago Joe Blow, who knows nothing about cars, walks up to a used car that was in a major accident and has been fixed by a professional. It looks good, the owner seems nice and honest, and he pays asking price.

Today Joe Blow does a carfax and finds major damage, airbag deployment, and frame damage and he walks away or negotiates and buys the car for less.

Granted, not all buyers do a carfax when buying used, but the smart ones do.

[Zigner]

Originally Posted by caslerst

20 years ago this might have been true. 20 years ago Joe Blow, who knows nothing about cars, walks up to a used car, it looks good, the owner seems nice and honest, and he pays top dollar.

Today Joe Blow does a carfax and finds major damage, airbag deployment, and frame damage and he walks away or negotiates and buys the car for less than what the car would have been worth had it never been in an accident.

How did you read THAT in to the OP?

[fueledbymusic]

A mess! Isnt it.

The insurance company is going to pay what ever is less. Repair or total it. Thats all insurance companies policy (or law).

Sadly to get out of the situation your in. It probably will take a little time and hassle. But it will eventually come by.

Caslerst is RIGHT. Probably only 1/4 of buyers even bother with carfax.

Wolbeast is right! Cars are worth less with an accident! Even if fixed real good! Some people will notice any LITTLE body flaw on a car for sale. Then they don't the car anymore. Happened to me before.

[caslerst]

Originally Posted by Zigner

How did you read THAT in to the OP?

I wasn't saying that's how the OP's carfax will come up because he didn't give specifics. I was refuting esmst12’s claim that the car will be worth just as much as it was prior to the accident.

[Alex23]

My car was sideswiped by the garbage truck. I was lucky to get 3500$. I bought another used car.

[Sparto]

If your car is worth less you have a claim against their insurance company. I am an attorney in Chandler Arizona and we make claims on a daily basis the diminished value vehicles involved in accidents. There are three types of way a car can lose value. The first is natural depreciation. This is the idea that a car naturally loses value as time goes on. The second kind of depreciation is what is known as repair diminished value. This is related to the repairs that your car underwent following the accident. If the repairs were not made to "industry standards," then you car has lost value due to below-standard repairs. Then you have a claim against the repair shop. Finally you have diminished value due to the stigma of a car being in an accident. The argument is that if you have two cars sitting right next to each other, same color, same year, same model, same number of miles, but you know that one was in an accident and the other was not, regardless of the quality of the repairs, a buyer in a free market that is aware that one car was in an accident will not pay the same for that car that they would for the car that was not in an accident. The amount of diminished value is how low you as the seller will have to drop the price of your car before a willing buyer will think twice about which car to buy.

The problem with the claim is that you will need a report from an expert of what the actual diminished value is, and you have to get an insurance company to pay out. Even in Arizona where the law is becoming more and more clear about insurance companies being required to pay out on diminished value, they will almost never settle short of arbitration. I cannot tell you exactly how the claim works in New York, so you will need to consult an attorney there who knows more about New York law.