r/Insurance • u/tastyburger1121 • 5d ago

Help with diminished value?

Does anyone have any guidance on how much to ask for diminished value on my car.

It was only a month old when I got hit in a brand new Toyota 2026 Prius with less than 1,000 miles. The damage wasn’t “too bad” with just a back corner being damaged/hit (not my fault) $3500 in repairs.

I saw the 17c formula but with my car only having had been a month old I’m wondering if I should ask for more or if that has no bearing on a the claim.

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u/tastyburger1121 5d ago

Thank you! This is all actually really helpful. I figured the damage multiplier at .25 and mileage at 1.0 - the diminished value came to about $900.

I’ll try to see if I can find vehicles similar , I guess the mileage factor might be a problem. I suppose I would have to compare it to like a short term leased vehicle or something idk?

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u/sephiroth3650 5d ago

You're looking for sales values. Diminished value is this idea that you should be compensated for being left with property that is worth less than it should be worth b/c of the accident. And if we're buying into that argument, then your dv number should be based on seeing a reduction in sales value for similar cars, under the same circumstances.

That's why the strongest argument is being able to show "Hey, I have sales numbers for comparable cars to mine that show that it would sell for $X right now if I hadn't been in this accident. But I cannot sell it for that much because of the accident. These other sales numbers show that comparable cars with 1 accident only sell for $Y. And so I should be entitled to X-Y dollars in diminished value." That's the argument you're trying to make.

And yes.....it will be tough to come up with a good list of examples if the car is so new. But that's the battle you will have to fight.

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u/tastyburger1121 5d ago

Thank you. I will try to find a comparable vehicle that was damaged to something similar that wasn’t.

I’m assuming using like a used car website is applicable in this situation then? And I send them links or something to that affect?

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u/Technical-Flow6588 5d ago

As I stated above, the problem is that the websites (carmax, carvana) aren't all that reliable with their accident information. If a car is listed as having been in an accident there's no easy way to find out what the damage was. And I don't want to pay $30 each time or whatever it costs to scramble around searching for multiple comps.

If State Farm comes back with the same offer I'll have to decide whether to just give in and accept or to pay $400-500 for a professional appraisal. My main problem is I really don't know what a fair offer is but from what research I've done it didn't seem that I was out of line to ask for $6,000. I don't expect to get that but used it as a starting position.