We get a lot of requests to determine how much value has been lost due to a vehicle having an accident history. This type of appraisal is called Diminished Value and most people have no idea that it’s called that, but they understand the concept that they will not be able to sell there car in the future for what they could have had it not been in an accident.



Regardless of the repair quality a vehicle is still going to have an accident history that will be reported by Carfax and the owner is required to disclose that accident history to the new owner by law. So when a potential buyer is told of the accident history do you think they are going to be willing to pay top dollar or are they going to want to know more about the accident and how bad was it, then use that information to make you a low ball offer?



The facts of the matter are that if you have been in an accident, the vehicle was repaired and you try to sell the car, your not going to be able to sell it for as much as you could sell a car that had not been in an accident.



To determine how much value your vehicle has lost because of the accident damage, you will need to have the vehicle appraised by a professional appraisal company that will use industry acceptable standards to determine your loss.



Worthless Diminished Value Appraisals Article