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Old 01-20-2020, 08:48 PM   #1361
JST
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“Sports car based” could be doing a lot of work there...or none at all.

I still think classing cars based on type of propulsion is a fools errand. Hybrid performance cars like the NSX have the same “unique capabilities” as EVs. They’re exotic for now, but they’ll eventually be the norm (if they aren’t leapfrogged by BEVs completely). The Corvette will be the big stone in the pool here.

Why create a new class that will likely be obsolete in 5 years?
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Old 01-21-2020, 05:36 AM   #1362
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This is Tesla's trump card. It is fast regardless of conditions and regardless of course design because of the ability of the computers, software and AWD system to make use of every bit of traction available. These cars accelerate just as hard in a straight line in the wet as they do in the dry. [...] Nothing can touch the Tesla in anything other than ideal conditions.
If Tesla advertised, they should use this quote!
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Old 01-25-2020, 06:54 PM   #1363
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And people say Tesla owners are "fanboys".
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Old 03-14-2020, 10:43 AM   #1364
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Originally Posted by ZBB View Post
Insurance Update:
I finally started getting claim responses from the other insurance. I'm only partially happy.

[...]

2) Diminished Value. Got a call. Their offer is ~$2k less than the appraisal I have. I'm pushing for the appraisal value since its independent. We'll see how it goes...
How did this turn out? Did you get a fair settlement from the other insurance?
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Old 03-14-2020, 01:06 PM   #1365
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How did this turn out? Did you get a fair settlement from the other insurance?
I finally closed out all the insurance claims. Long saga, but to summarize:

Damage:
- Initial Est was $12.3k
- Final bill was $19.1k
- No issues getting this paid (the initial was paid to me, the rest directly to the shop).

Rental car/gas total: $3.1k
- My insurance picked up the first 30 days for ~$960
- I then incurred nearly $1.9k out of pocket for rental cars for the next ~4.5 months. They initially rejected most of this and paid me $64 in Dec '18 and $345 in June '19. It took until November before they paid the rest after several months where I sent emails to multiple people with no response; I finally sent a certified letter stating that the next step was to contact the Ohio insurance commissioner and a phone call that got me to someone that tried to push off, but then said they would look at it and get back to me the next day. They did follow up the next day saying they needed a few more days; then I finally got confirmation that they would pay the full request in mid Nov and the check was in our mail when we returned from Disney at Thanksgiving.
- I also spent $307 on gas for rental cars, which I claimed as incremental cost to me since I drive an EV. Every single request was met with push back stating they don't pay for fuel. My certified letter included it and an explanation of why it was incremental cost to me. The final claim check covered this.

Diminished Value: $5k
- I paid ~$50 for an appraisal that came in at $7k
- I did an appraisal of the car on Carvana and they listed the diminished value at $4.5k
- Insurance offered $5k and would not budge. I tried several times to get them to average their offer and the 3rd party appraisal. Finally just gave up (and the Caravana value helped a little bit...)
- They also reimbursed the $50 appraisal in the end (but they said no to that every single time I asked verbally -- took putting it in writing to get it paid).
- Finally received the DV claim check in Jan 2020.

Total value of all claims: $27.2k
Accident to final settlement: 1 year 4 months

The car:
- Repairs were complete in late Feb 2019. Car was in the shop for 1 week shy of 5 months.
- I've had some issues since... Its been in to Tesla and back to the body shop a couple times for a leaking trunk. Out of service ~2 weeks due to this. I still get an occasional small leak of a few drips (but have found that I can pull the trunk weather strip up and it will be OK except under very high pressure).
- The paint job on the lower rocker panel below the driver's door failed -- the red paint started flaking off and you could see the white primer underneath. This is actually a common failure point on Model 3s, so I think this may not be due to the accident, but the area was re-sprayed during the repair, so Tesla wouldn't cover it under warranty. The body shop did cover it under their warranty. The car went back in for about 2.5 weeks last December (and I waited a month to take it in...).

Overall, it been repaired well and drives fine. I just passed 12k miles on the car this week.

Plan is to keep it maybe another year and then replace it while its still under warranty. I'll take a bit of a depreciation hit, but at this point I really don't care.

Once we finish our move, I'll speculate about what to get next. Since my wife has a Model Y on order, I'm thinking I might go for the Mustang Mach E, or maybe see what a used Jaguar I-Pace goes for...
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Old 03-14-2020, 01:42 PM   #1366
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ZBB View Post
I finally closed out all the insurance claims. Long saga, but to summarize:

Damage:
- Initial Est was $12.3k
- Final bill was $19.1k
- No issues getting this paid (the initial was paid to me, the rest directly to the shop).

Rental car/gas total: $3.1k
- My insurance picked up the first 30 days for ~$960
- I then incurred nearly $1.9k out of pocket for rental cars for the next ~4.5 months. They initially rejected most of this and paid me $64 in Dec '18 and $345 in June '19. It took until November before they paid the rest after several months where I sent emails to multiple people with no response; I finally sent a certified letter stating that the next step was to contact the Ohio insurance commissioner and a phone call that got me to someone that tried to push off, but then said they would look at it and get back to me the next day. They did follow up the next day saying they needed a few more days; then I finally got confirmation that they would pay the full request in mid Nov and the check was in our mail when we returned from Disney at Thanksgiving.
- I also spent $307 on gas for rental cars, which I claimed as incremental cost to me since I drive an EV. Every single request was met with push back stating they don't pay for fuel. My certified letter included it and an explanation of why it was incremental cost to me. The final claim check covered this.

Diminished Value: $5k
- I paid ~$50 for an appraisal that came in at $7k
- I did an appraisal of the car on Carvana and they listed the diminished value at $4.5k
- Insurance offered $5k and would not budge. I tried several times to get them to average their offer and the 3rd party appraisal. Finally just gave up (and the Caravana value helped a little bit...)
- They also reimbursed the $50 appraisal in the end (but they said no to that every single time I asked verbally -- took putting it in writing to get it paid).
- Finally received the DV claim check in Jan 2020.

Total value of all claims: $27.2k
Accident to final settlement: 1 year 4 months

The car:
- Repairs were complete in late Feb 2019. Car was in the shop for 1 week shy of 5 months.
- I've had some issues since... Its been in to Tesla and back to the body shop a couple times for a leaking trunk. Out of service ~2 weeks due to this. I still get an occasional small leak of a few drips (but have found that I can pull the trunk weather strip up and it will be OK except under very high pressure).
- The paint job on the lower rocker panel below the driver's door failed -- the red paint started flaking off and you could see the white primer underneath. This is actually a common failure point on Model 3s, so I think this may not be due to the accident, but the area was re-sprayed during the repair, so Tesla wouldn't cover it under warranty. The body shop did cover it under their warranty. The car went back in for about 2.5 weeks last December (and I waited a month to take it in...).

Overall, it been repaired well and drives fine. I just passed 12k miles on the car this week.

Plan is to keep it maybe another year and then replace it while its still under warranty. I'll take a bit of a depreciation hit, but at this point I really don't care.

Once we finish our move, I'll speculate about what to get next. Since my wife has a Model Y on order, I'm thinking I might go for the Mustang Mach E, or maybe see what a used Jaguar I-Pace goes for...
In some ways, that sounds horrible, but overall, not that bad. The lessons in there, I think, are to do as much in writing as quickly as possible (including documenting telephone calls with emails), advancing past the claim agents as quickly as possible when they are not helping/confirming/approving, not being shy about willingness to go to insurance commissioner (or equivalent), and using certified letters as appropriate.

The trick in all of it with similar things for me has always been to view the phone calls or in person meetings as boxes to check on the way to written documentation and following up with those docs as quickly as possible. And you have to be willing to be an enthusiastic unashamed Karen.

I'm particularly impressed with your diminished value results. Well done!
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Old 03-14-2020, 01:45 PM   #1367
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Thank you for the detailed follow-up. Yours is a good example of just how disruptive and expensive auto accidents can be. Sorry you had to endure that.

That's cool that you were able to recover money for DV. Depending upon the circumstances of the crash (% fault, etc), I can see where it'd be easy for the insurance company to push back. But when the other person's insurance accepts fully responsibility, seems like it should be no more complicated than agreeing on a $ number. But it's unknown territory to me.

Reason I asked is because I was rear-ended fairly hard at an intersection a week ago, Wednesday, on my way to a lacrosse game in Bradenton. The other driver immediately took responsibility, registered a claim with her insurance, and I had a phone call and email from them before I even got home. They're accepting 100% liability, and haven't given me an ounce of trouble so far. So that's good.

The body shop I'll be taking it to started to do an estimate on Monday, and stopped as soon as they pulled a few trim pieces in the trunk, and then saw the rear quarter panels pushed up far enough to eliminate the gaps in the rear doors. From the outside, it doesn't look all that bad, but underneath you see where the car did exactly what it was designed to do, which is to absorb the impact. He said that "you can't pull this back into shape and have the structure maintain its previous strength". Which is sort of what I wanted to hear. My hope is that the car gets totaled so that I can quickly move on from this. But if it's not, I'll definitely be looking for a DV settlement. We'll see how it plays out.
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Old 03-14-2020, 02:15 PM   #1368
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You're lucky with the 5k DV. I tried for the JGC (and even had before/after from Carvana for $2.5k) got zilch. I did get knocked $2.5k on trade-in, directly out of my pocket.
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Old 03-14-2020, 04:26 PM   #1369
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Good luck ff...

I'd ask the body shop if they have a recommendation for a DV appraiser -- and have that done after the complete repair is in (they can review the body shop parts/labor list once the work is finalized). But be prepared to negotiate with their insurance since they will try to lowball the amount. I still feel that the true DV for my accident is north of $7k, but if Carvana was only deducting $4.5k (and I kept a PDF of that quote), and insurance (the other party's...) offered $5k, I guess I'll be OK.

I'll only know for certain when it comes time to sell...
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Old 03-14-2020, 04:51 PM   #1370
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I'd ask the body shop if they have a recommendation for a DV appraiser -- and have that done after the complete repair is in
That seems like good advice, to wait until the end. The amount of value you're losing would hinge a fair amount on the quality of the repairs.
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