Not for the weak at heart....C5 damage

[68Roadster]

The body shop called today to tell me that once the frt and rear bumper covers were removed, additional damage was found.
Based on advice from others here I had to go and investigate. I was very surprised, and shocked, to see my 4 month old car bumperless. I was even more surprised to see the damage caused by a rear end tap that pushed the car into a trailer hitch receiver.
If you are like me and have never seen a C5 naked (at least the frt and rear), there are box beams across the rear and frt that have impact foam attached to them. Let me tell ya, the foam wasn't in bad shape but the beams were. Each one will have to be cut off and new ones welded on. Then she's off the to the frame jig to make sure everything is OK. Some new beams, foam, bumper covers paint, and lights and she should be ready to go.
I've already found someone to handle the "diminshed value" report. It makes me sick to think that I now have a wrecked C5 and what that might do to the value several years down the road.
Oh well, guess the wife will be driving the rented Trailblazer for another week or so....

 

[Imachad]

My condolences. I would never wish that upon on my enemies. I hope everything works out for you and your car. Keep us updated on your repairs!! And keep your chin up!!

 

[atmmac]

Im real sorry about your vette. I hope everything works out. Hey this wont effect the performance of your car look at it that away. Its all in the past nothing you can do now will change anything. It also was not your fault. At least everyone was OK.

Good Luck,
Andy

 

[DkBG]

The pictures are interesting though . Thanks for posting them . Cliff

 

[68Roadster]

Thanks Imachad, Andy and Cliff.....the wife has a little whiplash and keeps accusing me of loving that car more than her.......I'll never tell!
I am pretty impressed with the Chevy Body shop, great facility and a knowledgeable estimator. I'm just mad because the originality of the car is gone........hopefully the insurance company (the hitter) will compensate us (the hittee) for our loss....

 

[Ed02]

68Roadster, so sorry to see this happen and I hope your wife is feeling better. I was wondering if you could expand on the "Diminished Value" report your having done. I've really never heard of this before and it sounds like it would be good to know. Again, hope everything works out the way you want. Thanks

Regards, Ed

 

[01TriBlack]

I'm sorry about your car, 68Roadster. :cry I was just this moment sitting here getting bummed out about having the door replaced on my car and the fact the paint won't be factory (plus no inside door panel stickers) - feeling much the same as you do about car value, etc. It's the pits. No one will know there was damage but us, though, unless we tell them (which we would disclose upon selling them, of course)... so at least that's some consolation.

Mary

 

[68Roadster]

Ed,
Do a serach on the web for "dimished value" and look at some of the sites that pop up. Insurance companies won't tell you about it but from what I have seen they usually do pay when confronted with it. Imagine having a brand new car that you paid 40k for, some idiot hits your car, it's repaired but because of the damage history it's now worth 35k, thats diminished value. From what I gather it's usually a percentage of the repairs made to the car. I was unaware of this myself until I started doing some research and I'm hopeful that it will make up for some of the pain.

Mary,
The only consolation I have right now is the fact that I intend to keep the car for a long long time so if I never sell it I've never lost anything. I've assured the body shop that it will look as good as it did when I took it off the showroom floor 4 months ago or it will not leave their shop. I'm not sure but I have read some stuff about reporting of accidents upon selling, it may vary state to state but some say only if the repairs exceed 25% of the car's value, not to sure on that yet.........I don't envy you and the whole Ford/ddor thing......I'd be hopping mad and I hope it all works out for you too!
Have you had any luck locating the leather portfolio for the owners manual yet??

 

[Ed02]

68Roadster
Thanks for the info. I'll check into the websites. As far as reporting an accident when you sell a car, I think your right, it varies by state. Here in NC, there's a block to check on the title when transferring that asks if the car has had repairs due to an accident over 25% of the value of the car. That's the value of the car at the time of the accident not at the time of the sale. Stay on em until your satisfied

 

[68Roadster]

Ed,
Matter of fact, the first few websites I saw were ones from NC......those were of great help understanding the whole diminished value concept...........now I know why I have never been told about it by the insurance company.

Take care!

 

[cavettefan]

Reporting of collision damage varies by each state. In California, any damage that is greater than $500 (which is pretty much anything, what with labor rates being where they are), the body shop sends a report along to DMV.

My experience with diminished value (a deer jumped in front of a Volvo that I had been driving for only 2 months) is that it really needs to be based on market valuation. 25% of repairs is an artificial number. The real impact is how the market values the accident. In Northern California where I live, the market is extremely soft and you could be looking at 25% of the value of the car (as opposed to the repairs). The best way to get a valuation of diminished value is to go to three different Corvette dealers and explain the situation and get a valuation from each. Even if you have to pay for the appraisal ($100 to each, for a total of $300), it is ammunition that you can use in your settlement discussions with the insurance company that represents the other driver (hitor). Personally, I would not settle until you get the diminished value payment. Take the mid-point of the high and the low appraisals and that is your target.

One other item, 68Roadster, before you accept the car from the body shop, take it to an alignment shop and see if they can do a four wheel alignment and get everything to stock specification. If they can, then the original repairs were on the mark, so to speak. If they can't, then as you mentioned in an earlier post, the car is not leaving the shop....

 

[bluecoupe]

That's not too bad. A corner (off-center) shot would be of more concern. If your frame guy is skilled you'll never notice it. Save the photos with your documentation. As long as it is not a salvage title I wouldn't loose sleep over it. Twenty years from now it won't really matter.

 

[KANE]

I would take pictures of the work as it goes along, so you can document the car was repaired to painstaking, proper standards. A buyer would like to see how the car protected its occupants and how the damage was repaired. Then you can prove you did what you were supposed to with the car.

As long as its done right and you are not trying to represent the car as "never wrecked" you will be fine. What concerns the average buyer of a Vette is the QUALITY of repairs. No one wants a mistake or a poor repair job.

As long as you can prove the repars were done right, compounded with the fact that it will be obvious to the buyer you went to great lengths to take care of the car,you should get the fair value.

 

[Blade]

Sorry to hear about your bad luck. We feel your pain.


:cry

 

[68Roadster]

New front impact beam welded on today, rear to be done tomorrow. Hopefully I will get it back next week.
Latest pics follow.....

 

[bluecoupe]

Soon it feel like it was just a bad dream.
You'll be back on the road before you know it.

 

[68Roadster]

Finally got her back yesterday.....looks pretty good.
It was like pulling teeth to get the insurance adjuster to let me have the frt and rear bumpers back. Make a nice addition to the game room wall...........$3759 total, glad it wasn't my money (or insurance)!

Now I just have to get the rearend rebuilt on the '68 (thats my money!)

Thanks again for sharing in my pain.

 

[Imachad]

Glad to hear it all turned out alright!! I'm sure your wife is happy/anxious to have the car back. Best of luck.

Chad

 

[68Roadster]

Thanks Chad.......yeah she was.
I'm tired of running up there to check on it too!
Just one more item off the list.............I should be working on "work" work right now instead I'm surfing the CAC..........it's a "priority" thing I guess....

Ever heard of Springvalley, Ill?? Thats where I was hatched some 40 odd yrs ago......

 

[Imachad]

If memory serves me correct Spring Valley is about 1.5 hours southwest of my town. Is it right by Peru IL?