Diminished Value Claim Report
 

Hope this helps someone in the future.


Car: 2012 V12V, satin black, no. 9 of 40 of the "final 40." Purchased at 9,000 miles in December 2014 for $132k. Accident in August of 2016 at 18,000 miles.


School bus hit my parked car, wrinkled the passenger side rear quarter above the wheel well. The county is self insured and agreed to have the car repaired in Atlanta (I'm in Raleigh NC) by an Aston approved shop. Total bill was $10,100 for the work.


NC law allows diminished value claims. I got two appraisals at $15k and $30 diminished value. State got two at $8,000. Adjuster offered me 10k for the car damage, and 8k for diminished value. They offered no loss of use, which in NC is calculated as the daily rate of a "reasonably equivalent vehicle." I offered to take $5k for loss of use and call it a day.


State said no. I sued. After 18 months of wrangling, I finally got them to settle for $30k. Essentially 10k fo rthe damage to the car, 15k diminished value and 5k loss of use.fd

Excellent persistence and the right result. Congratulations!

Good job, how long did it take to get repaired? That sounds cheap for body work. I had a couple of small stone chips on my hood and an Aston Certified repair shop down the road wanted 11K for just for that.

Great job - I filed a DV claim a couple years ago on my Caddy wagon. It wasn't particularly fun, but I also got the job done.

Good for you..most would have given up...years ago a NJ state trooper ran a traffic light and hit one of our vans...

Our insurance had to cover but suppose not to hold against us on claim...the real insult came when we had to pay our deductible ourselves...then file a claim with the state to get the money back...it took a year and much paperwork to get a lousy $500
​​​​​​back...

Good Job,!
​

Good job! It's also important for owners to strongly consider of insurance with an "agreed upon value" as well. Some state laws do not allow diminished value consideration. If your one of those states and something happens the ins company pulls out their trusty blue/black/red book and that's it !! without real greif and attorneys.

Let's see, accident was August 30, 2016. Took a few weeks to get their adjuster out to see the car and then convince him it needed to be fixed by an Aston certified place. Went to Magnum Collision in Atlanta -- I'm in Raleigh nc and there are two Aston "A" certified (meaning they can do all repairs the factory can) repair shops in my neighborhood: Magnum in Atlanta and one in DC.


Got the car down to them after approval by the School Board September 30. Immediate discussions with Aston UK and the shop over what to do. Aston initially recommended that the entire car be painted and that panel cut out and a new one installed. Body shop believed strongly -- I do not think they were BSing -- that the more you take a apart on a car, the more likely things will go wrong.


So, they actually fixed the ally on the right rear quarter and replaced some trim items broken in disassembly. Painted one side of the car and replaced the protective film.


I have no issues with it. Looks as good to me as the other side, and my detailer -- who is a paint nerd -- agrees. They did get a bit sloppy with the left front wheel with some overspray but that's it.


They were done December 1, so about two months on the repair.

Diminished Value FYI
 

There's a difference between first-party and third-party diminished value claims. A first-party claim is one made against your own insurance company. Only a few states allow these for diminished value. Third-party diminished value claims are allowed in all 50 states possibly excepting Michigan. If someone else hits you there is no prohibition against making a diminished value claim against them.

Nice! In effect many of the systems in todays world that allow 'appeals' effectively enable one party to 'bully' another by forcing a process and then having in-house counsel work to 'scare' someone into accepting a low-ball offer.

I may be potentially going through something like this in the near term

I was validated by Aston Martin my V8V chancellor red interior vantage is 1 of 1 in the US, 2010 32k miles


Older couple turned the wrong way down an highway offramp and completely messed up my front side, their insurance is claiming 100% liability

Today, I was told by State Farm they do not have the appropriate knowledge to determine if the car is a total loss or repairable, the car will need to be towed to an official Aston martin dealer for a teardown to occur

Will post updates in this thread

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.6sp...92b694de46.jpg

Tough call. It would go either way you want the outcome to happen if AM is looking at it and an Authorized AM repair shop is doing the work.

Personally, I would want it totaled (assume fair pay out) and move on. Plenty of other Aston's available. AM dealer should be able to help on real value of the car if insurance throws some low ball number at you.

Ouch, that hurts.

In the Gaydon book it's said that an Aston has to be extensively damaged to be totaled. I don't see $45,000 in damage which would be the cars value if SS or $50 if M6, generalizing. Once over 30,000 they go down pretty quick. But if you add in the diminished value claim, it might add up to full value. The Aston certified shop estimate will get you started. And that is something you would only want fixed by an Aston certified body shop, which are few and far between, and there are different grades of the certification for the shops IIRC.

I take it SF is their insurance?

Sorry for your loss, car is beautiful.

Can someone share what firm/ or how they found an attorney for this?

I would definitely want ti to be a total, the loss in value alone on the car now having that severe of an accident is going to only hurt me. On top of that, I dont really feel comfortable driving a car thats been in that severe of an accident, fender benders are fine but this just has me worried

Speaking with the Aston Dealership owner, he says he sees this being totaled. The cost in parts alone is going to equated to roughly more than 50% of its market valuation, before any labor or paint work is actually quoted in.

State Farm is their insurance, they have been exceptional so far in service throughout this process. It seems they are really trying to make sure this is handled appropriately since they do not deal with exotics quite often

Not seeing in person is a disadvantage but it doesn't look that bad. I don't think it's reached the front subframe and everything else is just a bolt on.

Good to know State Farm is treating you right but surprising they claim they don't know much about the repairs, they sure know enough to overcharge me for insurance on mine.