Car Accident in my brand new 535!

Originally Posted by Die Wolfe

Hey there fellow Bimmerfesters, I'm in need of some opinions so please help!

My wife and I ordered our custom built 2012 535i M sport earlier this year and couldn't have been happier. With a few light mods to our Alpine white beauty such as: color matched carbon fiber trunk spoiler, black vinyl wrapped roof, black powdercoated wheels, black kidney grilles, clear bra all around and tinted windows; I couldn't stop staring at her everyday. Then it happened...

Last night on our way out to the city for the evening, in bumper to bumper traffic I came to a complete stop. Seconds later a huge impact and our beautiful 5 was ruined. Some careless geriatric who shouldn't even be driving, accidentally accelerated instead of applying his brakes. He drove a Honda Pilot SUV, so needless to say a sedan loses. My entire rear bumper and trunk was smashed in. I'll spare the confrontation that happened after that, but let's just say he had been drinking and CHP provided me with assistance.

Anyway, my insurance company is waiving my deductible because I was found 100% not at fault. All repairs will soon be underway and she'll be good as new...well, sorta. I'm not sure how I feel now with an accident on her previously unblemished record. What should I do? I know BMW resale values are already not the greatest, but with this accident (not a total of course), it should be even worse!

What would any of you guys do in my shoes? Keep her and move on? Attempt to trade in for a new one or something else? What would be a practical option since I financed the car? Call Greg Poland for an ED?! LOL

Thanks for the feedback in advance!

Thoughts about trade in procedures with theoretical values, etc:

1. MSRP was $60,000. Again these numbers are top of the head numbers.
2. Dealer paid $56,000 for new car.
3. Your car is used. Dealer will give you less than theoretical $56k because he can buy a brand new one for same $56k.
4. Your car is used. Deduct xxxx dollars.
5. Your car is damaged: Deduct xxxx dollars.
6. Also deduct for business overhead.
7. Deduct $$ to run car thru service dept where dealer pays another cost center in his business--oil change, alignment, detail, etc. Actual outlay of cash because he pays technicians to do this work.
8. Deduct $$ for salesman's commission. Actual outlay of cash.
9. Deduct $$ for sales manager's commission. Actual outlay of cash.
10. Deduct for unknown and possible surprises when dealer takes possession of used vehicle. Possible outlay of cash. (Repairs needed but not covered by warranty because car was abused; service was not done as recommended by manufact; below par paint and/or body repairs accomplished by owner. (Remember how some salesmen lie about "this used car is perfect." Believe it or not, a few car owners lie to dealers. One dealer tells me he really hates it when customers lie to him. Now, when his sales people lie to customers, he dismisses those lies "because it is part of the salemen's job to lie."
11. Deduct for dealership profit.
12. Deduct for changes you made to car--powder coat, tint, etc.
13. Back to pricing. A few other legitimate deductions. Then perhaps a few illegitimate ones.
14. Now, if you were the dealer, and you had the theoretical (or actual) numbers for your vehicle, how much would you give on a trade it. Put your pencil to the paper.
15. This was fun, and I am not a dealer.
16. P. S. I do drink a lot of coffee at dealerships.
17. I tried putting numbers on paper. I figure (after all of the above deductions) that if you traded your car in, you might have the pay the dealer to take possession of the car. lol

Originally Posted by z06bigbird

Thoughts about trade in procedures with theoretical values, etc:

Nice job.

See this post:
http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...755&highlight=

Too weird that our 2011 528i was destroyed by a Honda Pilot. After the vehicle was repaired, I traded it in on a new 535ix. After much thought I decided I didn't want a repaired automobile. In trade, I was given $32,000. The dealer said that the car would have been worth $44,000 if it had not been in an accident.

I hate Honda Pilots.

[QUOTE=alandf;7266175]See this post:
http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...755&highlight=

Too weird that our 2011 528i was destroyed by a Honda Pilot. After the vehicle was repaired, I traded it in on a new 535ix. After much thought I decided I didn't want a repaired automobile. In trade, I was given $32,000. The dealer said that the car would have been worth $44,000 if it had not been in an accident.

I hate Honda Pilots.[/QUOTE]


LOL, we do too!!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by z06bigbird

Thoughts about trade in procedures with theoretical values, etc:

1. MSRP was $60,000. Again these numbers are top of the head numbers.
2. Dealer paid $56,000 for new car.
3. Your car is used. Dealer will give you less than theoretical $56k because he can buy a brand new one for same $56k.
4. Your car is used. Deduct xxxx dollars.
5. Your car is damaged: Deduct xxxx dollars.
6. Also deduct for business overhead.
7. Deduct $$ to run car thru service dept where dealer pays another cost center in his business--oil change, alignment, detail, etc. Actual outlay of cash because he pays technicians to do this work.
8. Deduct $$ for salesman's commission. Actual outlay of cash.
9. Deduct $$ for sales manager's commission. Actual outlay of cash.
10. Deduct for unknown and possible surprises when dealer takes possession of used vehicle. Possible outlay of cash. (Repairs needed but not covered by warranty because car was abused; service was not done as recommended by manufact; below par paint and/or body repairs accomplished by owner. (Remember how some salesmen lie about "this used car is perfect." Believe it or not, a few car owners lie to dealers. One dealer tells me he really hates it when customers lie to him. Now, when his sales people lie to customers, he dismisses those lies "because it is part of the salemen's job to lie."
11. Deduct for dealership profit.
12. Deduct for changes you made to car--powder coat, tint, etc.
13. Back to pricing. A few other legitimate deductions. Then perhaps a few illegitimate ones.
14. Now, if you were the dealer, and you had the theoretical (or actual) numbers for your vehicle, how much would you give on a trade it. Put your pencil to the paper.
15. This was fun, and I am not a dealer.
16. P. S. I do drink a lot of coffee at dealerships.
17. I tried putting numbers on paper. I figure (after all of the above deductions) that if you traded your car in, you might have the pay the dealer to take possession of the car. lol

Thanks, I'll look for the nearest bridge now...

A few misconceptions here...

Before I begin, let me say I work for an insurance company that has not been mentioned in this thread.

Many insurance companies are publicly traded so you can see their financials quite easily. "Personal lines" segment, i.e. insurance for individuals for their cars, homes, and property, is a roughly 3% to 5% margin business. Meaning for every $1 of premium you give them, they get a few cents of profit after paying claims and expenses. "Personal lines" rates are also VERY closely regulated by your state's regulators, so they will not allow rates that let inurance companies make excessive profits. Those numbers don't look like an evil business taking advantage of people in order to make "huge profits" to me. If their profits look large in dollar terms, it's only because the amount of insurance they write (and correspondingly, number of policyholders) is equally large.

Diminished value is a tricky topic since its so hard to determine the cost until you actually incur it (i.e. try to sell your car and take the loss). I bet you could take a repaired car and try to get 5 appraisals and you'll get 5 very different estimates of the diminished value. Also many policies have language that limits coverage to losses that have been incurred, so you couldn't claim DV unless you actually had the loss... you wouldn't be able to claim for a future expected loss. Read your policy and see what coverage you have.

Re: deductible... if you go through your carrier for the claim, you have to pay a deductible even if you are not at fault. The deductibles apply to any physical damage to your car, your fault or not. But if it was another drivers fault, you can recover the deductible from that company if your insurance subrogates or you could try to get it directly from the other company. Note that some companies might front the deductible for you in some cases, such as if you are stopped and hit from behind or if you are legally parked. It depends on your policy.

Originally Posted by Die Wolfe

LOL, we do too!!!!!!!!

If you read a lot of car reviews like I do, the mentioned the brakes are spongy/poor, and long stopping distances.

Thats on top of the ugly design and such.

Its sorta sad I remember a Honda Pilot review