How would you guys appraise a car that's been in an accident?

Some of you may know that i got into an accident two months after i got my MS3, and i really havent been happy with the car since then.

The damage was mainly to the left front corner. No frame damage, no airbag deployment.

Total cost to fix with paint and labor was just over 7k.

Ive looked at some cars on cars.com, and when i pull up the carfax and it shows an accident, the car is only priced 200 or so below retail.

So i was just curious on what is taken into account when setting the price on a used, wrecked car.

I may be in the new car market soon, so i figured i may get more if i sell privately.

 

I think it's different for every person since there is not real logic/book to appraise a car that has been in an accident but has a clear title.

I look at how much paint work was done and try to take money off accordingly. 9 times out of 10 though if I see a dirty carfax, I move on to the next vehicle.

 

The shop repainted the whole front end, and the whole left side, just have a good match/blend. so almost half of the car was resprayed

 

Sell it couple thousands below the KBB market value?

or just sell it to a dumbass on craiglist @ the market value?

Did you not get any money out of that accident from the insurance for this? I can't remember.

And you should go to Carmax to get it appraised to start off.

or post a thread over at mazdaspeedforums.org. Explain the situation. Make it a fair deal and sell it to the member?

 

You haven't really been happy with the car because they didn't fix it correctly or some other reason, which is?


If I was a buyer, I'd first figure out the value of the car as it is now based on mileage and overall condition, but for one that's never been in an accident.

I'd then adjust the price based on:

- what type of accident it was involved in and how severe
- the quality of the repair and whether OEM parts were used or not
- who did the repairs (experienced/well known body shop with a good reputation, unknown body shop around the corner, DIY, etc.)
- photos/documentation of damage and repairs (before and after photos, bill showing what parts were replaced and used, etc.)


Personally, I'd expect at least $1,800-$2,000 less than a non-accident MS3 assuming OEM parts were used, it was a quality repair done by an experienced/quality shop, you had pics/documentation of before and after, no air bags deployed, no structural damage, etc. I'd want a bigger discount if any of the above couldn't be shown or determined.

But like vas25tl said, the value varies from person to person. The above is how I'd look at things if I was considering a car that's been in an accident, though I generally avoid cars that have been in accident(s).

 

The car was fixed perfectly by a professional, just knowing that the car has been in an accident kinda spoiled the fun for me.

I do have everything documented and saved every piece of paperwork from the body shop and insurance

And Aaron, didn't get anything from the accident. Just a headache and a fixed car

This was my first and hopefully only accident. But ill be better prepared to fight it next time if this whole insurance fiasco happens again.

 

Too late now, but in the future, try to get some sort of compensation for depreciated value if you're ever in an accident, the other party is at fault, and the car is of significant value (i.e. the car isn't a beater).

Even if the car was professionally repaired and everything was documented, it will be worth less than a non-accident car. Compensating you for depreciated value will help offset that loss if you ever sell.

 

What's the market value of your car as of today based on your mileage?

Any idea on your next car yet?

 

Same with me. If there's a dirty Carfax, I immediately make like Jay-Z.... on to the next one.

Best bet may just to trade it in unless you can take JS + MS3's advice and sell it to someone on the Mazda forum who will understand more then Joe Public will...

 

or try those regular 3 forums. Those guys will be all over it.

 

I had asked my dad if i should fight for diminished value and he told me no, that i wouldnt win based on his experience with State Farm and the other parties shitty insurance.

i havent looked yet, but as far as my next car, im looking into a 2G G35S Sedan, 1G TSX (maybe 2G), a 3G TL-S (just had the perfect one show up at carmax), an IS350(big maybe), or a GTI or CC( depending on if upkeep is a nightmare or not)

yea, not sure how hard it will be to sell the car privately. Im going to look into trade-in values first and go from there.

 

This is usually the case when selling the car. Private>Trade-In @ Dealer>Carmax

Get it appraised from couple different dealers as well as Carmax, if the number look horrible (it probably will), then try to sell it privately. There's nothing that's "hard" about selling it privately. It's just a little bit more tedious uploading the shit and trying to deal with the potential buyers.

However, you WILL get more out of your car for sure. Because the dealerships and the Carmax will simply say "oh you got into an accident with that car huh? okay $5k off the market value. sorry."

 

Look at KBB private party value and put it on Craigslist for somewhere around that price. You can always drop the price if you don't get any interest. It's ultimately the buyer's responsibility to decide if they'd like to purchase a carfax or not to check if it was in an accident. I've seen many cars with clean carfax but have been hit, if they're priced right, they will sell either way.

 

This might be a question for Shoofin.

 

^good idea, ill pm him when i get home in the morning

 

I learned this lesson the hard way from my minor fender bender in my CTS-V. I had it appraised by a dealer over two months ago and the value was $6-8k below market value.....all for an accident that cost $1800 to fix.

That jolted me right out of the new car lust and so far it hasn't come back.

 

I can't say what kind of pricing adjustment I would make if retailing a car that has a reported accident. I will say that I would try to buy a car at least $1000-$2000 below book if it has an accident history, but it's a case by case basis. I just bought a 2010 Expedition Limited on trade, it had a reported accident a few months back, all that was damaged was the rear bumper was cracked from someone tapping them, they replaced the bumper and that was that, no damage to any metal panels, no paintwork on any metal. I wasn't able to drop as low as I wanted to in the price, though I did manage to take $500 off the purchase amount in factoring the accident.

 

So i was just lowballed on trade due to carfax

the car needs no reconditioning and the damage was only cosmetic.

I shot back an email saying that ive seen a number of cars on cars.com that have been in a fender bender like mine that sell for as much as the same car that has never been in an accident.

 

Sheet metal doesn't justify that kind of offer. They are going off wholesalers reactions at auctions.

My advice is to either sell private party or seriously figure out how to live with the accident.

 

they offered me 9k tops

 

retail (what they can sell it for) is 17.5k still.

where the hell did they get 9k on trade value?

 

They're hoping you're uninformed and will just say, "OK, I'll take 9K." and they'll rake in the profit when they sell it for 18K.

 

the salesman emailed me " we cannot come to terms. thanks for trying"

 

he said his sales manager got the value from something called EBiz7 and that it was auction value.

i told him this isnt an auction. and even if you give me what i want, you can still make a profit on the car.

 

How many miles are on it? What is the least you'd take for it?

At this point I don't think a good condition 2007 MS3 would be worth $17.5k.

 

I think you're wasting your time talking with that dealer, let them rip off someone else.

 

I dunno. Going off what KBB said, I was expecting around 13k

Some have said that since the car is still a clean title, I should have my losses on the car to a minimal (1-2k Max)

 

Damn, this is tough but I'm having some of the same thoughts about my transaction for my future gtr.

 

We just sold my wife's '09 Civic that the dealer would probably CPO for >$17.5k for $15k privately. It took 2 months to get the first offer and we took it. Selling private with an immaculate car will almost never get you KBB. With an accident car, I would think you could do $13k. Just be honest when you sell it.

What is the market like for an MS3? I have never seen one in person here, but see tons of Mazda3s. I think that may go against you too if the market isn't there. The demand for used cars is pretty low right now it seems.

 

So I looked at other 07 MS3s online to see how they're priced. The ones I found were base models with about 5k less miles than mine. They were going for about 17,995.

Mine is fully loaded..is 15k pushing it with the accident history?

 

I suspect those are asking prices not what they sell for. Are these dealers
Or private sellers? Nobody can tell you exactly how much the open market here will bring.
It looks like you can ask $15-$16 and expect to get $13-$14.5.
Depends on how patient you are.

 

I just sold my TL with one rear end accident on it a long time ago, I think the bill was right in the range of yours. besides the accident the car was PRISTINE. KBB value was around 13500 i sold it private party for 11000

 

How many miles are on it?

Galves with 64k miles is $12k with nav, w/o factoring in an accident or prior paintwork. If a car has paintwork but a clean Carfax, I deduct a little depending on how much bodywork was done, and the quality of the work. Being that you don't have a clean Carfax, and at least half your car was painted, especially the entire nose, there's your $9k quote. Dealers do NOT go by KBB when estimating values. But then again what do I know? After all, I only do this all day long...

 

^This = Spot on.