Inherent devaluation following a non fault collision

[Destination]

Interesting. I'd have thought everything would have been logged somewhere. I guess it's less of a problem when you've got things like MOTs to make sure they're road-worthy, unlike over here where almost anything can go on the road.

No, but if the repair has been carried out correctly and to a high standard most people would not know.



No. Only if it is the subject of an insurance writeoff.

Interesting, my insurance company told me that they share information, and made it clear that the other guilty party insurance policy would inform the credit company who deal with the finance, and the dealer regarding guarenteed repairs, as the repairs are 5 years guarenteed, and they have a financial interest in the vehicle, that the back bumper is being replaced, and that it would be noted on the cars searchable file.
Is this a northern ireland only thing, as I was unaware that you could check if a car had a bumper replaced or not?

 

[adolf hamster]

Is this a northern ireland only thing, as I was unaware that you could check if a car had a bumper replaced or not?

dont think so, only way i've known about cars accident history has been through finding documentation or knowing the previous owner.

i still don't see the issue, maybe on real high ticket stuff but for run of the mill cars i don't see it as a problem, when buying secondhand you buy on the condition its in when you look at it, and it's either up to your standards or it isn't.

of course maybe i'm just unfussy like that.

 

[Scania]

Not only this but in some cases you lose a lot of the car's crumple zones, rendering the car less safe than before.

This is why my partners Focus was reshelled, the crumple zone has done its job and couldn’t be put back to pre accident condition, it was only the fact the car was barely 6 months old - and still had a relatively high value - that it wasn’t written off.

 

[SC0TTRS]

Recently rear-ended and the impact bar behind the bumper did it's job and took the impact.

Bumper replaced along with impact bar and supporting brackets.

Good as new.

 

[Hades]

If a car is relatively new then if it's been repaired it's likely that the main dealer was used for the repairs. I always call up the main dealers customer service line and ask about the history of cars I'm looking at. I'm not sure whether general MOT checks show the garage the car was MOT'd at but if t does then it's worth a call to them to see if they have also been used for any repair work in the past.

 

[Peerzy]

Curiously when I sold the 6 series recently one potential buyer knew that it had been involved in a rear end collision before they'd seen the car. I don't know how they found out!
Were able to give me the date, name of the owner and who repaired it.

You can work things like this out, check MOT history and see if one was done late or early at a bodyshop. Number plates often have 'XXX Accident Repair' on them so show that a bodyshop as had to create new ones which often point to front or rear damage.

Once you have that you can start contacting companies / Googling and dig even further.

 

[jpaul]

I always call up the main dealers customer service line and ask about the history of cars I'm looking at.

under a pre-text, or they will readily reveal it ? data protection rules aught to play.


If a car is shunted from behind, although the repairer might do a 4-wheel alignment, is the shock going to give premature wear/shortened life-span on shocks, suspension rubbers ?
(but I guess folks who drive into pot-holes see similar issues)

 

[Hades]

under a pre-text, or they will readily reveal it ? data protection rules aught to play.

I've called VW and Porsche in the past and they readily gave details about the cars. This was a few years ago. But I believe that data protection covers people rather than objects and I'm not asking for information on people. I just call them and explain I'm thinking of buying the car outside of the dealer network, it only has part history, and ask them whether they would be able to provide information on servicing and major repairs.

 

[jpaul]

yes maybe you are right - I liked this alternative explanation

Some dealers can be very awkward on this, and will not give out any information at all.
They are probably ashamed of much of the work that has to be done to many of the cars, and it could put people off

 

[Amp34]

To add further to what timmeh said you can get quite detailed reports of the damage and cost of repair on all US and Canadian vehicles through companies called Carfax and Carproof.

https://www.carproof.com/sample-carproof-report/verified
https://www.carproof.com/sample-carproof-report/claims
https://www.carfax.eu/sample-report

Most people will buy a report before buying a car to see the history, much like an HPI check in the UK, except with more detail on accidents.

If it’s a few thousand damage then most people won’t care (bumper prang for example), but when it starts going into 5 figures I’d be looking for some quite significant discount over the equivalent non damaged vehicle, especially if there are multiple prangs..

 

[muon]

To add further to what timmeh said you can get quite detailed reports of the damage and cost of repair on all US and Canadian vehicles through companies called Carfax and Carproof.

https://www.carproof.com/sample-carproof-report/verified
https://www.carproof.com/sample-carproof-report/claims
https://www.carfax.eu/sample-report

Most people will buy a report before buying a car to see the history, much like an HPI check in the UK, except with more detail on accidents.

If it’s a few thousand damage then most people won’t care (bumper prang for example), but when it starts going into 5 figures I’d be looking for some quite significant discount over the equivalent non damaged vehicle, especially if there are multiple prangs..

It only seems to have insurance write offs with any guarantee.

They claim to somehow collect data from police reports and collision repair centres, but I would like to see how complete that is. As their disclaimer clearly says, they can only report what is in their data. I bet they don't have most repairs.

 

[Dr House]

You can indeed thank for Reduced value but generally the car needs to be relatively new and a high-value car.

I’m in the middle of a claim. In general you should expect around 10% of the value of the car

 

[Mickey]

Diminution seems to have got much harder to claim for in recent years, it used to just be the case that any accident could be considered to affect the value, but that doesn't seem to be the case anymore.

I tried to put in a claim after my XFR was rear ended and had various parts replaced including bumper, diffuser, boot internals, exhaust etc... After speaking to quite a few people I had to drop it, as I couldn't find an engineer who'd support a claim where all the visibly damaged parts had been replaced and no repairs to the main structure of the car were made. To me, any accident history & paintwork makes a car much less desirable, but without anyone qualified who'll back up your claim, there doesn't seem to be much you can do

 

[PMKeates]

Diminution seems to have got much harder to claim for in recent years, it used to just be the case that any accident could be considered to affect the value, but that doesn't seem to be the case anymore.

I tried to put in a claim after my XFR was rear ended and had various parts replaced including bumper, diffuser, boot internals, exhaust etc... After speaking to quite a few people I had to drop it, as I couldn't find an engineer who'd support a claim where all the visibly damaged parts had been replaced and no repairs to the main structure of the car were made. To me, any accident history & paintwork makes a car much less desirable, but without anyone qualified who'll back up your claim, there doesn't seem to be much you can do

The issue is that diminution is about what the market in general thinks about the value of repaired accident damaged cars rather than what enthusiasts think, and in general the market doesn't care too much as a) most people accept a good professional repair as equivalent to new, b) there isn't a proper register of regular accident damage i.e. a lack of information.