2016 sierra slt wrecked...

[jamin87ss]

Mr Tim, good info there,

[ewbldavis]

Nice. Good information and sadly, not surprising they cut it so low.

[muddkatt]

I feel your pain GS. I had the same thing happen to me 2 months ago. I was rear ended after only 6 weeks of ownership and less than 1500 miles on it at the time. Total after body shop supplemental costs was near $15,000. The rear section of my frame was straightened and new OEM bed box, tailgate, bumper, hitch, rear sensors, camera, wiring ect... were painted and installed. Truth be told, the body shop did an excellent job repairing it. Color match, body lines all matched up. I had my truck on a rack just the other day to check out the underside and there is no sign of damage to the frame. My point is that if you pick a shop you are comfortable with, that is GMC repair certified, you should notice no difference between pre and post fix.

 

That doesnt help the fact that it was damaged though. For me, i hounded on the insurance company for diminished value even though at first they told me they didnt know what i was talking about. Technically from the research i have done and the people i have talked to, including 2 used car managers/appraisers at my local dealerships, if the fix is performed to factory standards, there should be little drop off in value of the vehicle on paper. In the real world, consumers are just not willing to accept that when purchasing a new vehicle, therefore it drives down the value. Diminished value, as it was explained to me, is supposed to offset that up front by compensating you for what that difference would be. The formula used is completely arbitrary and heavily favors the insurance companies - go figure.

 

The formula most states use is called "17C". The insurance/appraiser goes to NADA to get the value of your vehicle post damage. Adjustments are made based on low or high mileage and added to the NADA value. Then, the NADA value is multiplied by .10. Why .10? Nobody knows. It was pulled out of someones @$$ somewhere along the line. The product is then considered the cap or maximum value of diminution. Great, write me a check for 4K and be done. Nope there is more. Depending on how severe your damage is, there is another multiplier applied. In my case, my damage was deemed Moderate. Im no appraiser, but i would consider the OP's damage to be considered Heavy. In any case, apply the multiplier. The last multiplier is applied for mileage. Again. Take how many miles your vehicle has and subtract them from 100,000 miles. Why 100,000 miles? Beats me. After you get that number, make it a percentage. No math, no conversion formula, just take the number left over based on 100,000 miles and make it a percentage. Multiply that to the number you got in your damage severity section and that is how you get your diminished value amount.

 

Garbage.

 

I attached my diminished value form.

 

 

So its 1900 bucks for diminished value on a truck that had a bent frame and basically everything from the back of the cab replaced.....yea right.

 

Just try to trade it in and see what they offer you with the MAJOR damage report. If you think they pulled the 10% figure out of their a@#, I can tell you who is gonna end up taking it up theirs down the road.

[mr. tim]

 

 

So its 1900 bucks for diminished value on a truck that had a bent frame and basically everything from the back of the cab replaced.....yea right.

 

Just try to trade it in and see what they offer you with the MAJOR damage report. If you think they pulled the 10% figure out of their a@#, I can tell you who is gonna end up taking it up theirs down the road.

 

 

Maybe i am not reading your comments right, but the reference to 1900 is why i called it garbage at the end of my post. Also, if you know where they get the 10% multiplier from, i would love to know.

[muddkatt]

 

 

Maybe i am not reading your comments right, but the reference to 1900 is why i called it garbage at the end of my post. Also, if you know where they get the 10% multiplier from, i would love to know.

You didn't read my comment the way I meant it to sound, the "yea right" part was supposed to show extreme sarcasm. In other words, I call bullchit on they way the insurance company did you.

 

I have no idea how the 10% diminished value was determined. I can tell you that I have attempted to trade a vehicle that had been wrecked and they offered about 60% of NADA's low value.

[crafferty]

Threads and situations such as this are just sickening in my opinion. It's horrible to think that we all pay good money for insurance. But when we go to use it, we get shafted. Especially in a situation like this where the damaged vehicle is brand new and that drive is not at fault. In what world should the innocent drive at zero fault be forced to accept a financial burden? Hell the lady that hit him is either going to be dropped or have her rates sky rocket by the insurance company. Yet the guy at zero fault is left holding the papers to a new truck with $17k worth of damage and a vehicle that has lost thousands of dollars in value. And honestly as a consumer I would never purchase the OP's truck nor will most dealers. Last vehicle I had that had been in accident (no fault of mine) every dealer low balled the heck out of me. Which I couldn't fault them. One dealer finally told me "Hey I'm going to low ball you on the price because it's going straight to an auction." And TFTADetail your posts featuring insight from the insurance side have been very good reads. I also completely understand the stance the insurance companies have to take. I guess the point to this bathroom, porcelian throne rant is it just sucks we are not made whole again by insurance when we are not at fault.

 

Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk

[foghorn23]

I am really sorry for the OP. This just sucks all the way around. Short of getting a lawyer I don't know what other course of action is going to make it work out in his favor (if that will even work). I know some of you have said fix it and trade it before the Carfax hits; I tend to agree with this as it's probably the path of least frustration. But, I have a question....What excuse would you give a dealer for trading a truck with such low mileage? I've driven it less than 100 miles and I don't like it? I don't know, but seems to me this would throw up red flags for a dealer.

 

I hope it all works out for you.

[gsracer]

UPDATE***

 

Well just as i was about to relegate my fate. Called a state farm and spoke to the manager finally, explained the situation, and time frame I'm being given (5-8 weeks including ordering parts and frame replacement) plus the fact that they will be a out a rental tahoe i have the whole time which I'm sure aint cheap even with their discount. Plus potential for a diminished value claim.

 

After a while i got a call back and they told me to hold off on cashing the checks, and that they where going to speak to the body shop and re-run the numbers to re assess potentially totaling the vehicle. So thats some good news, they told me they would be back to me tomorrow if not early next week. To which i replied hey the longer you guys take to decide the longer the body shop takes to start and thats more rental fees. They agreed.

 

Fingers crossed.

[muddkatt]

Foghorn brings up a good point. Have the selling dealer to work up the paperwork on trading the truck in on an identical truck. That will show the real "diminished value", and give the OP some documentation to fight with. Have the selling deal do the repairs, that way they are not being blind sided by some trickery, and will know not only the history of the truck, but be able to properly appraise it for trade in value.

[SMiller]

Foghorn brings up a good point. Have the selling dealer to work up the paperwork on trading the truck in on an identical truck. That will show the real "diminished value", and give the OP some documentation to fight with. Have the selling deal do the repairs, that way they are not being blind sided by some trickery, and will know not only the history of the truck, but be able to properly appraise it for trade in value.

Agreed, hell just go ahead and start paperwork to trade the truck in as soon as it comes out of the body shop, that will put it out there in black and white.

[Tony Bianco]

And TFTADetail your posts featuring insight from the insurance side have been very good reads. I also completely understand the stance the insurance companies have to take. I guess the point to this bathroom, porcelian throne rant is it just sucks we are not made whole again by insurance when we are not at fault.

 

Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk

 

 

I appreciate that. With all of the comments within this thread bashing the insurance companies; I thought it might be helpful if some understood the inner workings of this industry works. I don't take sides, but feel both sides are legit.

[BIGDOGx]

UPDATE***

 

Well just as i was about to relegate my fate. Called a state farm and spoke to the manager finally, explained the situation, and time frame I'm being given (5-8 weeks including ordering parts and frame replacement) plus the fact that they will be a out a rental tahoe i have the whole time which I'm sure aint cheap even with their discount. Plus potential for a diminished value claim.

 

After a while i got a call back and they told me to hold off on cashing the checks, and that they where going to speak to the body shop and re-run the numbers to re assess potentially totaling the vehicle. So thats some good news, they told me they would be back to me tomorrow if not early next week. To which i replied hey the longer you guys take to decide the longer the body shop takes to start and thats more rental fees. They agreed.

 

Fingers crossed

 

Best of luck man, no way in hell should anyone settle for a rebuilt truck at that low of miles. This shouldn't even be an issue and the insurance company should hold their end of the bargain to make things right. Having Frank at the local body shop rebuild a 50,000 dollar truck with a 100 miles on it is not making things right imo!

[jamin87ss]

OP, well that's good to hear,

 

I just got our car back, state farm saved $500 bucks doing it there way, total bill for 15 days of rental, $620,

 

 

Winner!!!!!

 

And now I have a lifetime warranty on my front bumper, thanks!!!!

Keep hammering that car rental, that's a great approach

[xelli]

When they finally decide to fix or total - rental fees paid to that point are a sunk cost - no mater the final decision.

[xelli]

 

 

I appreciate that. With all of the comments within this thread bashing the insurance companies; I thought it might be helpful if some understood the inner workings of this industry works. I don't take sides, but feel both sides are legit.

 

I appreciate your insight was well.

 

What is fair (or ethical) and what is legal aren't always the same thing.