SloopJohnB@mac.com

Which is why it's better to lease them. I guarantee the insurance will pay for diminished value when you turn the car in, if the lease company gigs you.
And then there is gap insurance...unless you have something like Liberty Mutual which is supposed to get you a new car or one year newer than the one they total. Not that they're going to total a 130K car for a 22K repair, but the car will never be the same.

farmerjones

These claims of "the car will never be the same" are greatly overstated. Quality work most certainty make it impossible to know the car was ever in an accident. I know there are horror stories, but sometimes those stories take on a life of their own online. A good shop most certainly can restore the car to "as new" condition. I mean, do you know what % of new cars are damaged in shipping and are fixed before sale and sold as new without any disclosure? Manufacturers fix cars like this all the time, and those owners don't even know their cars have had body panels replaced and half the car repainted. I feel very sorry for anyone that has to go through this order, I do I do, but seriously......for all you know the car is already on it's second rear quarter panel and was repaired before you too ownership...you have know way of knowing, and that's exactly the point. It can indeed be made "brand new". Diminished value claims for something straightforward to repair like this will be hard pressed to be found to have a signifiant payout. And lets me be clear, the design of the A8's aluminum sides being a continuous stamping is most certainly not exclusive to Audi any longer. Even a work-truck Ford F150 has a very large % of construction techniques shared with the A8. At one point it was exotic, but now that is far from the case. Sorry for your headache, and I hope you get a great repair and get back on the road soon, good as new. It's very likely you will.

polo1

Oh, OK...

So you would pay the exact same amount for a used car that was in a front-end collision, but that was fixed by an authorized center - as you would for one that was never in an accident? Especially an Audi A8?

In that case, you are fine with never even knowing if the car was in an accident and fixed by an authorized center - because it doesn't even factor into your decision when buying?

If yes, you are in the vast, vast minority.

farmerjones

Well if the car has been repaired to as new standards, exactly what is wrong with the car that should detract substantially from its value? Are you suggesting any car that has been in an accident is immediately not worth the same value as a car with no damage? Lets be realistic, that's certainly not the case (and I only say this because I worked in the auto industry for quite some time). Under certain circumstances yes, but certainly not all the time. Again....thousands of people by "brand new" cars with zero mileage that have body work performed without knowing and they pay full price and are none the wiser...because the car is of the same quality as it was before the accident. I guess some may not see it this way, but that certainly is not realistic nor the way insurance and auto sales work....not even on cars of the A8 caliber....

Swissman564

Absolutely agree. They have had my 3 cars and 3 properties forever. Great company.

polo1

It depends on the accident - but typically, yes.

And you very tactfully did not answer my question...

If you were looking for a used A8 and went to a dealer that had two EXACTLY identical cars (right down to the exact same mileage, etc.) for the exact same price, etc.

But one was in a collision that required $22,000 in repairs and was repaired at an authorized center and the other was accident free - you are telling me that you would not think twice about buying the one that was in the collision over the one that was not?

Garycw

Besides demonized value , if you know what to look for I think would be able to tell. Besides it opens the door for electrical Gremlins and that hard to get rid of body shop smell.

farmerjones

....nor did you respond to the multitude of owners of Audis that bought a new car that already have had panel replacement and paint work from shipping damage and appear to be more than happy to pay full price for their "new" car, blissfully aware of the damage repair....you know, the same quality repair that a car can receive after an accident out on the street....

Your point is well taken, no one chooses to buy a damaged car. On the flip side, saying there is huge reason to not buy a car that has had some work...also not very realistic. Perhaps if you had first-hand body shop experience (as I do) you would not take such a firm stance that a repainted or repaired car can never be the same as new. Clearly the severity of the accident has an impact. These internet fears of "future electrical problems" or "panel alignment" or "poor paint" are actually quite overstated most of the time (hence it's smart to evaluate what kind of accident it was in and the severity when buy, not just dismissing a car because it had previous damage in its life).

We can agree to disagree on this, there are valid points to be made on both sides of the issue. Some place a higher value on the speculation of "what if" than others.

polo1

Well, no matter what you think - I think you would agree that the ultimate decision should be up to the buyer.

Give the buyer ALL of the information and let them choose what they want to do.

The VAST majority would not pay the same for a car in a collision as they would for an accident-free car. There are reasons car search sites have the option to let people search for accident free cars or hide cars from their search results that were in an accident, etc.

And if I found out that my brand new car I just bought had been damaged in transit and repaired and repainted and I was not informed of this - I would be very, very, pis*ed to say the least - and I can guarantee you the VAST majority of others would agree with me.

farmerjones

Well...thousands of owners buy repaired cars that are damaged in their trip from overseas to be delivered, never the wiser and never feeling their car has a "lesser value" or experiencing "diminished value" and are certainly never "pis*ed off" because they never know....which goes to show a repaired car certainly doesn't have to ruin your ownership experience or have any future repercussion in reliability or value. Kinda makes all the hype about how a car is never the same after a repair seem a little bit "the sky is falling"... That's was my point, to ease the fears of some people that need body work. It's far from the end of the world.