So I got Rammed on Saturday....

Informal · Feb 19, 2014

Got rear ended hard last Saturday.
Drunk driver, hit and run.
Good news is they caught him and charged him with 3 Felonies, and he has insurance.

The bad news is..
My wife's back is pretty jacked up, my neck is stiff as hell but not near as bad as my wife's back.

Tailgate is completely bashed in, bumper is mangled, the outer lip of the bed is tweaked..
Exhaust tips are bent/scratched and some minor damage to the bed near the wheel wells.

My truck hasn't even had it's first oil change!
I know insurance companies don't offer anything for diminished value, but I'm considering having a attorney go on this one..

I don't keep my vehicles for longer than 2-3 years typically, and a collision like this will easily cost me $2-4k when I go to sell it.. I know this from experience.. 5 years ago my wife's Infinity got t-boned in the Costco parking lot.. $3400 in damage, When I went to sell it 3 years or so later, the second I disclosed the damage, everyone lost interest.. Unless I was willing to take a ridiculous low ball offer, I couldn't sell it..

Ended up trading it in, and the second they run the vin, my preliminary offer was reduced by $4k..

Why the hell do I have to eat this??

Has anyone ever successfully fought this, and got awarded diminished value?

lone12star · Feb 19, 2014

Wow man, just glad to hear you and wife are ok. I've ever gone through anything like this, but good luck to you guys

Sent from the MOPAR Gods!

scottyram · Feb 19, 2014

Holy wow, glad to hear you and your wife are ok!

NYCruiser · Feb 19, 2014

Sorry to hear about this. Hope you guys feel better quickly.

Several years ago I had bought a new Mazda pickup. B4000, fully loaded. Nice little truck.

I was involved in a multi-car accident on a highway during a freak snow storm. Traffic backed up and as I slowed to a stop in the traffic an out of control Chevy Blazer that was spinning 360's in the snow rear ended me and pushed me into the car in front of me. My truck had 4K miles on it. Because the truck was so new, the insurance refused to total it, which they should have. I insisted on having it towed back to my dealer to be repaired. Needless to say, the car was repaired, but never right again. Something like $17K in damage, and the frame had to be straightened. After I got it back, I was not happy. I ended up trading it in 6 months later to the dealer for an F-150. Of course the dealer wanted to deduct for the accident on the trade-in value, but I refused to accept it. The dealer had done the repair and assured me the car was "good as new" when they delivered it back to me. They ended up giving me the full trade-in value for it without deducting for the accident, as they had already gotten the money for the accident.

Hope that helps.

Keebee · Feb 19, 2014

Informal said:
Got rear ended hard last Saturday.
Drunk driver, hit and run.
Good news is they caught him and charged him with 3 Felonies, and he has insurance.

The bad news is..
My wife's back is pretty jacked up, my neck is stiff as hell but not near as bad as my wife's back.

Tailgate is completely bashed in, bumper is mangled, the outer lip of the bed is tweaked..
Exhaust tips are bent/scratched and some minor damage to the bed near the wheel wells.

My truck hasn't even had it's first oil change!
I know insurance companies don't offer anything for diminished value, but I'm considering having a attorney go on this one..

I don't keep my vehicles for longer than 2-3 years typically, and a collision like this will easily cost me $2-4k when I go to sell it.. I know this from experience.. 5 years ago my wife's Infinity got t-boned in the Costco parking lot.. $3400 in damage, When I went to sell it 3 years or so later, the second I disclosed the damage, everyone lost interest.. Unless I was willing to take a ridiculous low ball offer, I couldn't sell it..

Ended up trading it in, and the second they run the vin, my preliminary offer was reduced by $4k..

Why the hell do I have to eat this??

Has anyone ever successfully fought this, and got awarded diminished value?

You can contact his insurance company and ask for the 'diminished value' difference. Most insurance companies will not tell you about this at all. Your truck is now worth less than it was before it was hit. They may or may not be willing to pay this but with your wife's back hurt you might want to look into an attorney.

Glad you two are relatively okay.

Diminished value - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

dwrd960 · Feb 19, 2014

I was a passenger in a rear end collision years ago. The driver lawyered up and got a decent settlement. I met with his lawyer too, and received about $7,000. Whip lash and "soft tissue damage", but full recovery fairly quickly. Maybe you could get an attorney, then use the settlement money to offset future losses.

Cruizer · Feb 19, 2014

Glad to hear you guys are not seriously injured. Back pain can be rough, but at least no one had to stay in the hospital. I'd lawyer up and see what they say. They will know the laws and how to deal with his insurance company better than anyone else.

WhiteExpress · Feb 19, 2014

I would most certainly go after his insurance for diminished value.
I would also see some sort of tissue specialist for your neck and your wife's back.

If you work on these things appropriately, and immediately, they can very likely be resolved easily and with 100% success, if you go around holding your neck funny because it hurts, it'll take a long time to ever recover (if ever).

The body is an amazing thing, but treat it properly!

Sparkyy · Feb 19, 2014

Glad to hear you and your wife are ok, even though some things are tweaked right now. Get those looked at and the other persons insurance should be covering those treatments.

Sorry to hear this has happened though. Keep us updated.

arod412 · Feb 19, 2014

Like everybody said here... thank god everybody is ok. Regular less of what people say...when you have a back injury....its going to be a long healing process so definatly lawyer up.

Angel

"worrying about MPG in a truck is like looking at a Prius tow rating"

Big Tool · Feb 19, 2014

Sounds like you have a solid case. Hope you both have a speedy recovery and a comfier lifestyle after suing the perps pants off.

Etroze86 · Feb 19, 2014

Like stated before glad everyone is ok, but even just for your injuries I would get a lawyer insurance companies will drag out payments as long as they can lawyers help this process along plus its harder to deny anything when you have someone on your side that knows the rules they have to abide by inside and out. Good luck with they truck and again glad you and your wife are ok.

danmp · Feb 19, 2014

You're not Lucky !! Something similar happen to me 3 weeks after I bought my 2011 sierra, less than 1000 km on it. I go a head on with a stupid driver who didn't make it stop. I traded it in last december for a 2014 ram. They give me near 4000 less on my truck because of this...

Yes the insurance paid but in final I paid the half part of this **** ... just like you. And I don't think we can do anything about this

believe it or not this accident cost more than 9000$ :

Ramguy65 · Feb 19, 2014

Sorry to hear of the accident and glad there were no serious injuries. We just went through this with my wife. Some old lady pulled out of a parking lot and t boned my wife so hard it spun her car around. My wife had serious whiplash. We hired a lawyer right away. MY advice to you and from what I learned is you don't want to settle right away. The insurance will try and settle fast but take your time and make sure all the injuries sustained from the crash are well on their way to healing. There may be residual affects of the injuries which may cost you down the road. The insurance company offered us $3500 right off the bat. We declined that on the advice of the lawyer and ended up settling 5 months later for $15,000. Its worth the wait.
As for the value of the car after it was fixed...it didn't really affect our trade in for a new vehicle.

Riccochet · Feb 19, 2014

Glad yall are mostly ok!

And damn skippy they owe you for diminished value. I just went through this with my 08 Sky Redline a couple years ago. At the time the car only had 1800 miles on it (still only has 3600). Douchecanoe smacked me from behind and tweaked all kinds of stuff. $7000 in damage. They cut me two checks. One fore $7142 for the repair estimate (shop of my choosing, don't let them sucker you with preferred shops b.s.) and $6000 for diminished value. I got the car fixed perfectly for $4800 and pocketed almost $8k.

Lawyer up! Go for them for medical costs as well. But make sure you follow through with treatment. Back and neck issues can linger forever if you don't get them treated properly right away.

Burla · Feb 19, 2014

Heal Quick

Informal · Feb 20, 2014

Thanks for all your thoughts/well wishes.

Hired an attorney, still sore as hell.
Bodyshop estimates around $2800... only good thing to come of this, both exhaust tips are dented/scraped so I told the estimator to skip the mopar tips, I'll let him know which black ones I want.

NYCruiser · Feb 20, 2014

Makes me sad to look at that pic.

Airborne63 · Feb 21, 2014

Informal said:
Got rear ended hard last Saturday.
Drunk driver, hit and run.
Good news is they caught him and charged him with 3 Felonies, and he has insurance.

The bad news is..
My wife's back is pretty jacked up, my neck is stiff as hell but not near as bad as my wife's back.

Tailgate is completely bashed in, bumper is mangled, the outer lip of the bed is tweaked..
Exhaust tips are bent/scratched and some minor damage to the bed near the wheel wells.

My truck hasn't even had it's first oil change!
I know insurance companies don't offer anything for diminished value, but I'm considering having a attorney go on this one..

I don't keep my vehicles for longer than 2-3 years typically, and a collision like this will easily cost me $2-4k when I go to sell it.. I know this from experience.. 5 years ago my wife's Infinity got t-boned in the Costco parking lot.. $3400 in damage, When I went to sell it 3 years or so later, the second I disclosed the damage, everyone lost interest.. Unless I was willing to take a ridiculous low ball offer, I couldn't sell it..

Ended up trading it in, and the second they run the vin, my preliminary offer was reduced by $4k..

Why the hell do I have to eat this??

Has anyone ever successfully fought this, and got awarded diminished value?

Take a look at this: How to Make a Diminished Value Car Insurance Claim

My sister works for GEICO and she said insurance companies balk at paying but eventually will. Good luck

Informal · Feb 21, 2014

Airborne63 said:
Take a look at this: How to Make a Diminished Value Car Insurance Claim

My sister works for GEICO and she said insurance companies balk at paying but eventually will. Good luck

That was very helpful, thanks!

So I got Rammed on Saturday....

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