What's the consensus on crash damage/value?

troyzer

Hi all,

Recently got rear-ended, driver took the blame immediately so no wrangling with the insurance company.

It's a fairly new car and although the assessor, crash repairer and a third party agree that there is no structural damage (mostly boot/bumper replacement, respray etc with the boot floor needing to be straightened out) the damage has come out just shy of €5k.

I can, of course, just get them to fix it and be happy.

But am I going to get absolutely hammered on trade in value next year when I was planning on shifting it?

Am I better off getting it written off? No idea how this works.

km991148

troyzer wrote: »

Hi all,

Recently got rear-ended, driver took the blame immediately so no wrangling with the insurance company.

It's a fairly new car and although the assessor, crash repairer and a third party agree that there is no structural damage (mostly boot/bumper replacement, respray etc with the boot floor needing to be straightened out) the damage has come out just shy of €5k.

I can, of course, just get them to fix it and be happy.

But am I going to get absolutely hammered on trade in value next year when I was planning on shifting it?

Am I better off getting it written off? No idea how this works.

This seems contradictory, a new car isn't a write off for 5k (written off just means it costs more to repair than the value of the car)?


If no structural damage and it's repaired well then won't impact resale value too much, but depends on make/model/age.

If doing a trade in, it matters less as you are going to get screwed anyway.

I'd say get it fixed, move on with your life and be thankful it was hassle free enough.

troyzer

km991148 wrote: »

This seems contradictory, a new car isn't a write off for 5k (written off just means it costs more to repair than the value of the car)?


If no structural damage and it's repaired well then won't impact resale value too much, but depends on make/model/age.

If doing a trade in, it matters less as you are going to get screwed anyway.

I'd say get it fixed, move on with your life and be thankful it was hassle free enough.

Too much is my fear. I'm not at fault, why should I lose a penny over this?

I mean, it looks like that's the way the cookie crumbles.

All I can do is take the hit? And curse the world?

km991148

troyzer wrote: »

Too much is my fear. I'm not at fault, why should I lose a penny over this?

I mean, it looks like that's the way the cookie crumbles.

All I can do is take the hit? And curse the world?

Yeah but you don't know what the 'hit' is.

What car is it?

DriveSkill

You cant "choose" to have a car written off - it either meets the criteria or not which is generally that the cost to repair is more than the current value of the car as it is right now - i.e. with damage.
I was in a situation before where my 4 week old car was hit by someone coming through a Stop sign, not massive damage but was close to the threshold of being written off which was by far my preference. The garage found a "recommendation" that if both airbags had deployed (which they did) that the complete dashboard may need to replaced due to the strain put on it - that cost pushed it over the threshold for me and I got a new replacement car.
If your car is relatively new you can claim for additional depreciation as part of the accident repair - there is a fixed calculation for this also which I think is something like 10-15% of the cost of the repair. So you have a €5K repair then you may get 500-1000€ additional cash back to cover future depreciation.

troyzer

km991148 wrote: »

Yeah but you don't know what the 'hit' is.

What car is it?

2018 Toyota Auris Hybrid.

km991148

troyzer wrote: »

2018 Toyota Auris Hybrid.

Well definitely not a write off, but I would be looking for something to offset the depreciation as noted above.

Worth getting a report to state the lack of structural damage as well (I think you can request copies if you don't already have them?).

With the cash back and report I'd be less worried.

mickdw

The boot floor is crinkled.
Thats structural damage in my book and involves drilling out welds and rep k acing the entire panel.
Ive seen cars and relatively new ones writen off for less.

troyzer

mickdw wrote: »

The boot floor is crinkled.
Thats structural damage in my book and involves drilling out welds and rep k acing the entire panel.
Ive seen cars and relatively new ones writen off for less.

It's down as a repair job apparently.

dzer2

troyzer wrote: »

Hi all,

Recently got rear-ended, driver took the blame immediately so no wrangling with the insurance company.

It's a fairly new car and although the assessor, crash repairer and a third party agree that there is no structural damage (mostly boot/bumper replacement, respray etc with the boot floor needing to be straightened out) the damage has come out just shy of €5k.

I can, of course, just get them to fix it and be happy.

But am I going to get absolutely hammered on trade in value next year when I was planning on shifting it?

Am I better off getting it written off? No idea how this works.

Hi Troyser

Missus got rear ended a while back, new boot lid, bumper, trims, internal boot shelf, badges and the likes. Came to 4.8k with no structural damage. 192 car new to us. Got 1800 depreciation from insurance company along with hired car and repairs. Just make sure all the repairs are up to standard. Don't know where you are but we are down the country.Missus has started to get back spasms the last week so took her to physio, after a few minutes he diagnosed whiplash without being told of the crash, the missus got a heap of exercises and will have to go back for more physio, rang the insurance company this morning they have opened another claim for her.

troyzer

dzer2 wrote: »

Hi Troyser

Missus got rear ended a while back, new boot lid, bumper, trims, internal boot shelf, badges and the likes. Came to 4.8k with no structural damage. 192 car new to us. Got 1800 depreciation from insurance company along with hired car and repairs. Just make sure all the repairs are up to standard. Don't know where you are but we are down the country.Missus has started to get back spasms the last week so took her to physio, after a few minutes he diagnosed whiplash without being told of the crash, the missus got a heap of exercises and will have to go back for more physio, rang the insurance company this morning they have opened another claim for her.

We live in Dublin but it happened in Meath. Went straight to the Beacon afterwards so that part of the claim is motoring along (excuse the pun) nicely.

I'll have to look into this depreciation thing, that seems to be what I was missing. It didn't seem to make sense to me that I would have to suffer a permanent depreciation loss without any compensation.

I hope your missus is okay. It's no joke. My Mam got rear-ended a few years ago and had to sleep on the couch for a year, she was that bad.

troyzer

troyzer wrote: »

Hi all,

Recently got rear-ended, driver took the blame immediately so no wrangling with the insurance company.

It's a fairly new car and although the assessor, crash repairer and a third party agree that there is no structural damage (mostly boot/bumper replacement, respray etc with the boot floor needing to be straightened out) the damage has come out just shy of €5k.

I can, of course, just get them to fix it and be happy.

But am I going to get absolutely hammered on trade in value next year when I was planning on shifting it?

Am I better off getting it written off? No idea how this works.

I had this before with a motorbike.

What garage did you ask to do the repairs?

The assessor cannot force you to go to a certain garage of their choice, if you bring it to the main dealer in this case Toyota the fees will be much higher than a body shop would charge (even though they will just send it to a body shop anyway) and might be enough to write it off

User1998

There will be no record of the car being in an accident so I’m not sure how it will affect the value of the car like you say? We don’t keep such records in Ireland unless the car is unrepairable

I don’t think you’ll be hammered at all. If its repaired correctly it shouldn’t be noticeable. If its a fairly new car the paint should match very well. If you want to disclose to the dealer that you were rear ended thats up to you but I certainly wouldn’t

User1998

User1998 wrote: »

There will be no record of the car being in an accident so I’m not sure how it will affect the value of the car like you say? We don’t keep such records in Ireland unless the car is unrepairable

I don’t think you’ll be hammered at all. If its repaired correctly it shouldn’t be noticeable. If its a fairly new car the paint should match very well. If you want to disclose to the dealer that you were rear ended thats up to you but I certainly wouldn’t

If someone knows what they are doing it will most definitely be noticed, no paint match is ever not noticeable to someone looking to see if it's been sprayed.

I would agree with you say nothing and it won't be recorded but it will be spotted if someone's looking to see if it's been repaired.

User1998

Yaretzi Teeny StereoType wrote: »

If someone knows what they are doing it will most definitely be noticed, no paint match is ever not noticeable to someone looking to see if it's been sprayed.

I would agree with you say nothing and it won't be recorded but it will be spotted if someone's looking to see if it's been repaired.

Yes I agree but it seems like sales people don’t really know what they are doing when it comes to stuff like that. Judging from a lot of posts on here a lot of them don’t even do a history check before taking the car as a trade in.

Would a garage even properly check the car over before taking the car as a trade in?

Akrasia

Yaretzi Teeny StereoType wrote: »

If someone knows what they are doing it will most definitely be noticed, no paint match is ever not noticeable to someone looking to see if it's been sprayed.

Yep, the respray will be a giveaway. I’m afraid you have no choice but to go for a nice subtle wrap to cover up the evidence

DriveSkill

Overall I dont think you are going to lose out by much if any.
The car is 3 years old - are you planning on changing soon ? If you are then make sure you get the cash for depreciation, ensure you have pictures of the damage in case it comes up as part the next sale so you can clearly show what it was. Get it repaired via a professional body shop (no worries really there as will be going through the insurance and they will have a list of reputable places) and to most lay people it will be good as new! Bonus is you even get any existing marks or scratches repaired on your bumper :-)
If you are not planning on trading it soon then you still get the cash for depreciation, car is repaired to a high standard and in 2/3/4 years time it will make little or no difference to the value of the car.
An awful lot of cars end up with minor body work done over their first couple of years, some even before they get to their first owner!

Cos20

User1998 wrote: »

There will be no record of the car being in an accident so I’m not sure how it will affect the value of the car like you say? We don’t keep such records in Ireland unless the car is unrepairable.

Not sure about this. Repaired a 2017 car two years ago that was hit by a third party. Third party admitted fault, car was repaired & their insurance paid for repairs. Car was traded in recently, did a history check, recorded as damaged, wasn’t in any other accident.

dzer2

User1998 wrote: »

There will be no record of the car being in an accident so I’m not sure how it will affect the value of the car like you say? We don’t keep such records in Ireland unless the car is unrepairable

I don’t think you’ll be hammered at all. If its repaired correctly it shouldn’t be noticeable. If its a fairly new car the paint should match very well. If you want to disclose to the dealer that you were rear ended thats up to you but I certainly wouldn’t

There will be a record as the insurance company will make sure it is recorded.

troyzer

Yaretzi Teeny StereoType wrote: »

I had this before with a motorbike.

What garage did you ask to do the repairs?

The assessor cannot force you to go to a certain garage of their choice, if you bring it to the main dealer in this case Toyota the fees will be much higher than a body shop would charge (even though they will just send it to a body shop anyway) and might be enough to write it off

I went to the Toyota dealer I bought it from and they did an independent assessment. It actually agreed with the insurance assessor line for line what needed to be done.

They told me that they'd be sending it to Dennings, which is exactly the same place that the insurance company were sending it to. So it was six of one and half a dozen of another. I'm not worried about the quality of the repair job either way.

Funny enough, the Toyota repair quote was actually a few hundred euro lower than the figure that the insurance company agreed with Dennings. Even though the same place would be fixing it. Go figure.

User1998 wrote: »

There will be no record of the car being in an accident so I’m not sure how it will affect the value of the car like you say? We don’t keep such records in Ireland unless the car is unrepairable

I don’t think you’ll be hammered at all. If its repaired correctly it shouldn’t be noticeable. If its a fairly new car the paint should match very well. If you want to disclose to the dealer that you were rear ended thats up to you but I certainly wouldn’t

There seems to be a lot of disagreement on this one. Is there an accident registry?

DriveSkill wrote: »

Overall I dont think you are going to lose out by much if any.
The car is 3 years old - are you planning on changing soon ? If you are then make sure you get the cash for depreciation, ensure you have pictures of the damage in case it comes up as part the next sale so you can clearly show what it was. Get it repaired via a professional body shop (no worries really there as will be going through the insurance and they will have a list of reputable places) and to most lay people it will be good as new! Bonus is you even get any existing marks or scratches repaired on your bumper :-)
If you are not planning on trading it soon then you still get the cash for depreciation, car is repaired to a high standard and in 2/3/4 years time it will make little or no difference to the value of the car.
An awful lot of cars end up with minor body work done over their first couple of years, some even before they get to their first owner!

Planning on changing in 2022 when the first of the new Corollas will be coming off their three year PCPs.

As I said, I'm not worried about the repair quality.

dzer2 wrote: »

There will be a record as the insurance company will make sure it is recorded.

Lot of disagreement on this point. And it's the crucial one.

If I want to sell this privately (or even to trade), would a regcheck show that it's been in a crash? Because I know if it was me, and I was buying, I'd be checking. And I'd be looking for a hefty discount if it was.

kaahooters

troyzer wrote: »

Hi all,

Recently got rear-ended, driver took the blame immediately so no wrangling with the insurance company.

It's a fairly new car and although the assessor, crash repairer and a third party agree that there is no structural damage (mostly boot/bumper replacement, respray etc with the boot floor needing to be straightened out) the damage has come out just shy of €5k.

I can, of course, just get them to fix it and be happy.

But am I going to get absolutely hammered on trade in value next year when I was planning on shifting it?

Am I better off getting it written off? No idea how this works.

you add the extra depreation to the claim, so , if your car would have been worth 10k, and the crash takes off 2 k, you can and should get the 2k as no fault of yours.

dzer2

dzer2 wrote: »

There will be a record as the insurance company will make sure it is recorded.

My vehicle wasn't recorded as being crashed, I ran a check afterwards and got assurances from them before that it would not be recorded.

The easiest way to ensure its not recorded is to ask the insurance company to just pay you the money instead of the garage and get it done yourself.

They have no idea if you scrapped the car after or got it repaired

Atlantic Dawn

Damage to the hybrid battery I'd be most worried about, I'd assume they Toyota assessor would have inspected it as much as the cosmetic damage to the car.

troyzer

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Damage to the hybrid battery I'd be most worried about, I'd assume they Toyota assessor would have inspected it as much as the cosmetic damage to the car.

Yeah, Toyota had a look at it and said there was no damage.

User1998

dzer2 wrote: »

There will be a record as the insurance company will make sure it is recorded.

I was under the impression that Category C and D are not recorded in Ireland

JoeA3

I had someone hit my (new ish at the time) car several years ago. Other party took full responsibility. Damage was cosmetic but it did involve replacing a door skin. His insurance company covered the repair bill and offered me about €600 cash as “compensation”. I was delighted tbh. Car was repaired 100%. Sold it since and I never mentioned the repair, tbh it didn’t even cross my mind to.

So imo, if it’s relatively light damage I wouldn’t worry about it impacting the trade in value of your car, so long as a good repair is carried out. There’s hardly a car on the road that hasn’t had some body work done at some stage in its life.

User1998

User1998 wrote: »

I was under the impression that Category C and D are not recorded in Ireland

They aren't, op is talking rubbish.