So these last few months have been less than great for my Jag. Poor little bugger.

Back in April, rims, tires, and air suspension fell victim to a pothole that was at least the size of lake Ontario (thanks, Michigan roads!) and unfortunately yesterday I was rear-ended on my way into the office. Thankfully, the person who initiated the accident will have their insurance cover the cost of my repairs (just kidding, he doesn't have insurance - thanks, Detroit median household income!).

Anyways, I treat her well, but she's had 2 insurance claims just this year due to the pothole and the accident. Just curious if those claims will affect resale value? I'm sure someone looking for a vehicle as prestigious as the XJ will be looking for flawless service records and and a clean accident history, and I can only provide one of those things. Not looking to sell soon, just wondering what to expect down the road.

 

In the UK minor repairable accidents are not recorded, only those that are deemed major insurance claims like write offs or total losses (vehicle destruction). That means an accident like the rear ending you had today would never be disclosed unless you were specifically asked during a sale (and therefore required to disclose else you commit fraud). I understand that it is different in the US and you have carfax reports that list minor accidents?

If an accident is disclosed I would expect it to affect the price. In a competetive used car market vehicles with clean bills of health will obtain more, even if they are falling apart through lack of maintenance. Great for used car buyers; not so great for the sellers. If it was very recent (within 12 months) it would have a significant reduction effect as buyers would assume you are trying to shift it on for a reason. If it was 5 years ago then it would have very little effect but would still be reflected.

To be honest as a buyer of cars that I keep, rather than resell after a few years, I would be more interested in the state of the car at the time of the sale than work that was done to it as long as it was to a high standard. Most cars will have minor knocks and scrapes if they are actually used as cars. If I was presented with the bill of repairs from a jag certified bodyshop and the repairs were good I would not think twice about it.

Incidentally, I hope you are ok? I had a minor rear end accident in mine last year which caused me neck and chest bone bruising for about a week, but fortunately nothing that lasted. I was impressed at how little of the impact I felt at the time though - there is a definite benefit to having the LWB! In my case the repair was carried out to an excellent standard (after a couple of returns for alignment issues, which was the fault of the dealer not the jag certified repairer). Infact you would never know it had been hit - and the first thing I did when I got it home was to remove the bumper cover and check everything myself.

Finally - will there be any recourse for you against that uninsured driver? My minor damage topped out at $16k when adjusted to the current US dollar value, about 50/50 parts to labour cost. If the trunk floor needs to come out the labour costs rise significantly.

 

When I buy a used car with an accident... I ask where was the accident? Front? Rear? Airbags deployed? Frame damage? where repaired? If it is a rear impact with no frame damage or airbags deployed; Then it doesn't affect the value at all; if the vehicle was repaired well and looks good as new.

 

A6kmita, the amount of money that you will loose (I am not doubting you will loose some) will depend on how long you keep the car. If you own it another 10 years, the price difference will be very minimal. You sell it in 2 years, I would say that you can probably plan on say a $5000 price difference. Granted, in this day and age, any place that you go to sell the car is going to find anything and everything to lower the price, especially on a car like ours. I know when I traded in my X-Type, they were marking down the price because there were door dings that "they were going to have to fix before selling it". Yeah, they were not going to deal with it, they were just going to auction it off and needed reasons to give me as little as possible for the car.

I wish I had better news, but that is the market at the moment. Hang on to the car as long as you can and it will be for the better on your wallet.

 

If you believe the resale value will be significantly affected you may want to look into a diminished value claim.

 

Diminished value claims depend on state law, and whether it's a first-party claim (by you against your own insurance policy) or a third-party claim (by you against the other driver's insurance). Check with your insurance agent. Other factors include the age, mileage and condition of the car at the time of the accident, the total cost of the repairs, and the pre-accident value. Depending on the circumstances, diminished value can be more than the repair cost in the case of an exotic or collector car. Insurance companies always low-ball DV claims, so get your own DV appraisal if you decide to make a DV claim.

 

XDave, thanks for the reply and the concern. I'm fine, and my car is at the dealer for repair. Should hopefully be done early next week. As for recourse on the other driver, I haven't heard anything as of yet, but unfortunately in Michigan we are considered a "no-fault state". Basically what that means is that even if fault can be placed on a specific driver (him) then we are still responsible for our own repairs and insurance costs. I could always take him to small-claims court to try and recover my deductible, but honestly if he can't afford to have insurance on his car then I'd feel pretty bad trying to pull money out of him that he clearly doesn't have. (Nothing like the jerk in the XJ trying to sue the guy in the 1980's Jeep Cherokee for $500!). At least that will be my only out of pocket expense, even if the repairs get more extensive this week.

Thermo, I'll just keep the car for a while. You're right, the lost value would diminish over time as the car depreciates.

And Stuart, I had never thought of looking into making a diminished value claim - thanks for the heads up! I have to call my agent anyway (they were supposed to add broadform coverage to our policy after the infamous pothole incident of 2016 but apparently didn't) so I'll inquire on that when I call. Any recommendations on who to go through for an independent DV appraisal?