Well This Happened Tonight

[lppd45]

Most likely will be up to the insurance companies. I'm sure that neither one wants to have their insured as the responsible driver. That being said if the other party's insurer accepts the liability you can file with them. If your insurer pays for your damage there's not much more you can do.

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[AmishMike]

That sucks. This is my first new truck and I would be heart broken/pissed. Best of luck between insurance companies! If you have one, get your agent involved, they are your best advocate.

On the bright side, now is the time to do those sketchy trails and not be worried about the damage.

 

[danielspivey]

Gotcha...so what I have been reading is that there has to be a clear at fault driver. The road was a private road on the perimeter of a mall parking lot.....please no jokes about mall crawling, it's dangerous out there....anyway, the police did show up but did not file report or place responsibility. What is done in that situation?

So who is paying for the damage of your vehicle? Your insurance or the other drivers? I would sit back and be quiet and confirm that the other insurance pays for yours. This will be decided likely before your vehicle even starts to get worked on. When then other company finally agrees to pay for the damages, then bring up the diminished value. Do not do it before.

You have to be pretty confident about the diminished value claim process, otherwise the insurance will walk all over you. They will down play it, and most of the time get away without having to pay it with many wrecks. Many use a third part to determine diminished value, some use third party websites and others just negotiate verbally based on personal research and findings (talk to dealer about how much trade in has dropped, etc).

I used a local company once. They were pretty legit and pricey. I think it was like $500 upfront to do the research, and another 450 when the claim was paid. They give you a prelim range of what to expect (and a minimum I think) which is great because it sets a general expectation. I had a year old Corolla I was issuing for work commutes when I was driving about 50k a year. It was worth about 16k, I got hit in the side by a dump truck, no frame or major damage just a lot of cosmetic stuff from the front to back. They ended up getting me 5k in diminished value... and I clear a little over 4K after their fees. They did all the negotiation. I bought the car for 15k, sold it for 13 after a year with about 60k miles. So I made out good.

Another circumstance I had a young girl side swipe me in my new commenter Honda. Just the front fender was replaced. Car had 6k miles on it... I was pissed. I got 3k Diminshed value negotiating myself. Bought it new for 22k otd, traded it in at a year for 19k. So basically I broke even and had the car for a year.

While the accidents were annoying and a big hassle, I feel like I ended up coming out ahead in both cases, especially the Toyota!

 

[ScramblerGR]

A dash cam might have been a big help in establishing fault. I put them in all our vehicles after drivers in oncoming traffic on two different occasions made a left hand turn directly in front of my bright yellow CJ8 in broad daylight - only 4 months apart! One was a DUI and the other was a phone drunk.

Within a few months the dashcams paid for themselves when I was hit broadside at an intersection and later sideswiped on a freeway (my daily driver, not the Scrambler). Yes, we have the worst drivers in the DFW area ...

Dashcam video makes it an open and shut case with police and insurance companies.

 

[Cobraj]

sorry man that does suck.. Now if or when you trade i, the car fax report will out you and you may get a bit less in trade!

 

[Gobi-Wan Kenobi]

Gotcha...so what I have been reading is that there has to be a clear at fault driver. The road was a private road on the perimeter of a mall parking lot.....please no jokes about mall crawling, it's dangerous out there....anyway, the police did show up but did not file report or place responsibility. What is done in that situation?

In this situation police don't determine fault, insurance does. While a police report would potentially influence their decision they often decide things different then the police do because there are different rules for financial liability then there are for being cited by the police.

For diminished value, that claim won't start until after the vehicle is repaired, no sense even mentioning it until then. If the other guy's insurance pays for the repairs to your car then you should be elidable for diminished value, if your insurance pays for the repairs you probably aren't elidable for diminished value. When you start a diminished value claim they will most likely offer you some dollar amount, and this starts the negotiation. You should do some research and see if you can find Gladiators (or maybe Wranglers if you can't find a Gladiator?) that have accidents and see the difference in how much they are selling for.

 

[DLAW]

Explain this further, please.....

I agree with what others are saying on this. It basically makes you whole again in the long run. If you sell your truck even 5 years down the road, you will get less money for it from being in an accident. So they are telling you to get that money back in your pocket now. I think you can demand the diminished value from THEIR insurance first. Always start with them. If that fails, you talk to your insurance. If that fails, it might be financially worth it to call a local lawyer who specializes in this situation.

Hopefully that makes you feel a little better about the punch to the gut. I know that "my vehicle is tainted" feeling. But trust me in saying that it goes away quickly and after you get everything fixed up, and you get your money, it's all over and move on.

I had my pathfinder stolen, stripped, and recovered with nothing in it but bad body odor from the dirty A-holes who stole it. It's just stuff.

 

[Gulf_coasterHTX]

I agree with what others are saying on this. It basically makes you whole again in the long run. If you sell your truck even 5 years down the road, you will get less money for it from being in an accident. So they are telling you to get that money back in your pocket now. I think you can demand the diminished value from THEIR insurance first. Always start with them. If that fails, you talk to your insurance. If that fails, it might be financially worth it to call a local lawyer who specializes in this situation.

Hopefully that makes you feel a little better about the punch to the gut. I know that "my vehicle is tainted" feeling. But trust me in saying that it goes away quickly and after you get everything fixed up, and you get your money, it's all over and move on.

I had my pathfinder stolen, stripped, and recovered with nothing in it but bad body odor from the dirty A-holes who stole it. It's just stuff.

One comment on the diminished value claim - if you are not able to claim very much for whatever reason, in Texas you can’t make a second diminished value claim, so depending on how much you can get it may not be worth it to make a claim now and not be able to do it again in the future if you end up with a more damaging incident (obviously hopefully not!)

 

[snide]

Suckage. Hope you're not injured.

 

[Dav6662]

Thanks for all the comments....very much afraid this is going to be a ‘he-said’....’he-said’ situation with no clear responsible party...however, the driver that hit me is claiming it was 100% my fault and now he is injured, so he says.

As far as diminished value ....once this all clears I will see what is right to do. I have very little damage and all of it is on outside...nothing wrong with anything underneath. I am pretty sure that not all of the damage to his car was caused in this wreck....but not sure. It just does not all make sense...he hit me, as I was finishing a left hand turn, in the very rear driver’s side panel. The point of impact was no more that 16” in width yet his entire front end is damaged with what appears to be two impact points....very suspect in my logical mind. But since I never saw him until he hit me, I have no way of knowing for sure where he was coming from, other than from behind.

The last Jeep,I had I kept for 20 years....plan to do the same with this one! After it gets fixed of course.....

 

[Dreaded1]

A dash cam might have been a big help in establishing fault. I put them in all our vehicles after drivers in oncoming traffic on two different occasions made a left hand turn directly in front of my bright yellow CJ8 in broad daylight - only 4 months apart! One was a DUI and the other was a phone drunk.

Within a few months the dashcams paid for themselves when I was hit broadside at an intersection and later sideswiped on a freeway (my daily driver, not the Scrambler). Yes, we have the worst drivers in the DFW area ...

Dashcam video makes it an open and shut case with police and insurance companies.

Great advice. I am still looking for a good dashcam for my JT. 3 years ago my Saab 92x was totaled when I got hit by some big assed Dodge pickup. A few weeks later I got a letter from his insurance saying they found me at fault and were going after my insurance. Once his company saw the video of me stopped and him driving into me, they changed their tune.

 

[Sespe]

I run these Junsun front / rear cameras in both our cars. Happy with the performance. On the Gladiator, I mounted the rear camera on my bed rack.

 

[Deleted member 30519]

I got rear ended by someone and he took off ($3,200 damage ) and I had to go through my own insurance because the cops never bothered to look for the guy. I asked my insurance company about dimished value the other day and they said they will get back to me but I'm pretty sure I'll get denied.

 

[KVJ]

Don't fix it.....get one of these stickers!

 

[Oil_Burner]

Thanks for all the comments....very much afraid this is going to be a ‘he-said’....’he-said’ situation with no clear responsible party...however, the driver that hit me is claiming it was 100% my fault and now he is injured, so he says.

What did the insurance conclude? How much was the repair to the JT?

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