Cali depreciation after an accident

[C&HinNorwich]

Our poor cali was in a smash last Sunday (not our fault)

Quite serious damage - at least £15,000
Front/side impact including taking out the front wheel, drive shaft and damage to the frame behind the front wheel that will involve cutting out a secion and welding in new

I've been advised it will not turn up on an HPI report and work is being done by a VW dealer that i'm assured will be "good as new"

Does anyone have any experience of this sort of thing and is it likely to affect the resale value?
And if it does is that the sort of think I can claim for?

 

[Californiaman]

I'm sorry, I don;t have any experience to add here but am glad to hear after what sounds like a really nasty crash that you're ok - and that is the main thing!

 

[James]

Our poor cali was in a smash last Sunday (not our fault)

Quite serious damage - at least £15,000
Front/side impact including taking out the front wheel, drive shaft and damage to the frame behind the front wheel that will involve cutting out a secion and welding in new

I've been advised it will not turn up on an HPI report and work is being done by a VW dealer that i'm assured will be "good as new"

Does anyone have any experience of this sort of thing and is it likely to affect the resale value?
And if it does is that the sort of think I can claim for?

If a vehicle is a write off it is assigned a Cat - i.e. Cat D - this is recorded. Anything else is just a repair and in theory shouldn't impact the resale value.

Sorry to hear about your accident, just experienced it myself, not fun. Hope you are okay

James

 

[Andresz]

Hello

I am really sorry to hear what has happened to you.

In my opinion it will not be as good as before, that is sad.
Don't you have an option to claim partial compensation and sell what is left for spare pieces?
The furniture of California do reach good prices on Ebay...

Regards
Andrzej

 

[Tangle Foot]

I'm afraid it will affect the value... very annoyingly :cry:

My A6 had the side taken out at a junction and cost £2500 to fix. It was not recorded on Hpi as Cat C or D etc as it wasn't written off.

However, when I tried to sell it 2 years later to a dealer, they didn't want it, as now traders have access to Hpi reports (provided by bodyshop not insurance) that give exact damage, cost and date.

I spoke to Hpi and soon it will be available to the general public.

My £10-11k audi was all of a sudden worth a lot less.... I got £8k privately.

It almost put me off buying a car of any value again. Very bad for the victim once more!

I didn't want to ruin your day but just thought I'd share my experience. Sorry to hear about your incident. I think if it was non fault they should give compensation for loss of value and not a sore bloody neck!

 

[calikev]

Sorry to hear about your accident Chris glad you two are both ok

 

[Martin]

Sorry to hear this guys, glad you are OK

Did your insurer write it off? If not it won't show up on the HPI check as this only happens if the vehicle is written off be it a Class A, B C or D . It is the insurer that passes the info to DVLA.

I once ended up with a Cat D and this is also shown on the V5 aswell as the HPI register.

When you come to sell it try and sell it privately as I don't think private buyers will see non-write off repairs listed.

 

[Tangle Foot]

Sorry to hear this guys, glad you are OK

Did your insurer write it off? If not it won't show up on the HPI check as this only happens if the vehicle is written off be it a Class A, B C or D . It is the insurer that passes the info to DVLA.

I once ended up with a Cat D and this is also shown on the V5

This is no longer the case... please see my post above.

The bodyshop pass on the details of the repair to Hpi (big fat payment I guess!)

 

[James]

I've just done a HPI check on my van, full report, accident damage is only recorded if it is a total loss.

Unless they are changing it in the near future or I have to wait for the body shop to pass on the details.



James

 

[Tangle Foot]

I've just done a HPI check on my van, full report, accident damage is only recorded if it is a total loss.

Unless they are changing it in the near future or I have to wait for the body shop to pass on the details.



James

Yes they are changing it.... At the moment only traders have the access to the info. I spoke to Hpi directly about this.

 

[James]

I've just done a HPI check on my van, full report, accident damage is only recorded if it is a total loss.

Unless they are changing it in the near future or I have to wait for the body shop to pass on the details.



James

Yes they are changing it.... At the moment only traders have the access to the info. I spoke to Hpi directly about this.

http://www.presscentre.hpicheck.com/mis ... rite-offs/

I don't understand why they would change it, an accident repaired vehicle should have no bearing on the vehicle, how many vehicles have never had a bump? Are they going to record everything from a minor knock to replacing a panel. Seems strange but I guess if the public feel a replacement bumper is enough to put them off buying a car then they will do it.

The end result of this will surely be a culture of suing drivers for loss of value, that surely would be a nightmare.

The system now exists to define a car which is written off and one that isn't. it also has the potential to lead to bad repairs or dodgy repairs - how many people will be tempted to avoid using an accredited bodyshop to avoid losing value? And that has the potential to lead to even more unsafe vehicles on the road.

If I am picky - an accident should not mean a loss in value. In my case, replacing panels is no different to if they had been removed for a repair. There is an idea that a repaired vehicle can never be the same and therefore must be worth less. That's not the case, a repair is carried out to bring the vehicle back to VW's standards.

James

 

[Tangle Foot]

The trader rang me after he'd done his Hpi and gave me the exact date and details of the damage.

Believe me, there was nowhere else he could get this info. I did the Hpi myself and it didn't show. He then sent me his trade or gold report and it detailed labour and parts cost and full details of the damage.

I'm not dreaming this up.... I was fuming at the time.

My insurance (Admiral knew nothing of this) it's the bodyshops.

 

[Tangle Foot]

They said anything over £300

 

[Tangle Foot]

I'm with you on all of that though, James.

 

[James]

I don't disbelieve you but to me that makes no sense. What repairs are going to cost less than £300 - my brother nudged a bollard in the ice recently and that was 3k worth of damage for replacement panel.

People just won't use insurance companies or bodyshops.

James

 

[Tangle Foot]

I think its very wrong.... The insurance co's must be behind this!

Like you say, just another thing to make you think 'maybe it's not worth claiming'

 

[James]

I think its very wrong.... The insurance co's must be behind this!

Like you say, just another thing to make you think 'maybe it's not worth claiming'

But it doesn't benefit the insurance company

not worth claiming and how many back street unsafe repairs will take place?

James

 

[C&HinNorwich]

Many thanks for the advice

Yes were both fine thanks (and the other dozy driver)
As you can imagine, more than a bit shaken up and absolutely gutted about loosing the cali for possibly months - though on a positive note we have managed to put some business to a forum sponsor (so will have a van for any club meets

Oh - and we have made it into the official VW brochure - if you look on the VW California page and click on more details - there are two photos of us and the van with quotes from Hiedi (They spelt her name wrong - grrrrrr lol)


Still at a bit of a loss if it will affect value or not, I guess I need to grill the body shop and ask them if they put it on the HPi report - than get something from the VW showroom (same company) about any potential loss in value when I trade in for a new one in a couple of years

Guess I'll end up in the small claims court if they do de-value it

 

[James]

Many thanks for the advice

Yes were both fine thanks (and the other dozy driver)
As you can imagine, more than a bit shaken up and absolutely gutted about loosing the cali for possibly months - though on a positive note we have managed to put some business to a forum sponsor (so will have a van for any club meets

Oh - and we have made it into the official VW brochure - if you look on the VW California page and click on more details - there are two photos of us and the van with quotes from Hiedi (They spelt her name wrong - grrrrrr lol)


Still at a bit of a loss if it will affect value or not, I guess I need to grill the body shop and ask them if they put it on the HPi report - than get something from the VW showroom (same company) about any potential loss in value when I trade in for a new one in a couple of years

Guess I'll end up in the small claims court if they do de-value it

Glad you are okay

A properly repaired vehicle would not put me off buying it, no more than buying a vehicle that had been back to the dealers for various repairs and fixes.

Accidents happen but vehicles can be repaired as new.

James

 

[C&HinNorwich]

Sorry to hear about your accident Chris glad you two are both ok

How did you know it was me Kev? did my spelling let me down

 

[calikev]

Not really mate I guessed it was either you or Heidi just glad you two are ok does it mean you are hiring a Cali for the cali's on the farm meet :?:

 

[C&HinNorwich]

Not really mate I guessed it was either you or Heidi just glad you two are ok does it mean you are hiring a Cali for the cali's on the farm meet :?:

Yes until ours is fixed, don't know how long that will take - man at the body shop said last one took 3 months - and now they are snowed under (excuse the pun) with vehicles in accidents from the icy roads

 

[James]

Not really mate I guessed it was either you or Heidi just glad you two are ok does it mean you are hiring a Cali for the cali's on the farm meet :?:

Yes until ours is fixed, don't know how long that will take - man at the body shop said last one took 3 months - and now they are snowed under (excuse the pun) with vehicles in accidents from the icy roads

3 months is a long time but at least it will be done properly.

The other flaw in this whole HPI thing is, when does it start? There will have to be a start date and a cut off date, it just seems unrealistic.

They are not going to backdate every vehicle that has been in a bodyshop are they?

James

 

[Californiaman]

For most buyers, I guess they are wary of buying a vehicle that has been in an accident and had a significant repair. People probably remember the bad old days of 'cut and shut' cars- ie one 'good one' being made out of two bad ones!

The quality of the repair is also a largely unknown quantity. Nobody wants to spend big money on a van just have it fall in half. Having it repaired by a quality dealership will reduce the unknown. I guess you could also get an engineers inspection done by a trusted third party, such as the AA or RAC. Removing the uncertainty may help.

 

[Trotty]

Im not a big blogger but felt it might be time to show my head on this one. Im really Sorry to here your news.

Firstly the bad news. Your van will have lost value as a result of the bang. Also you are legally obliged to disclose it on a private sale, but not to the trade. The simple rule of thumb is if 2 identical vans were sat on a forecourt and one had had a knock and one hadn't which one would you buy? How much would you expect to be knocked off to tempt you to take the damaged vehicle?

Now the good news. If you were not at fault for the accident then you have a claim on the third party for diminution, where you can recover the loss of value that has occurred. Their are some specialist firms around that act on No win no fee or you may be able to make the claim under your legal expenses cover. A vehicle surveyor will provide a report that will estimate the loss to support the claim. Id suggest a bit of googling to see where you stand but typical diminution claims are around 10 to 15% of the vehicle value at the date of the accident.

Hope this helps

Regards
Steve