Pulled values on autotrader, forums etc with carfaxes as backup.

 

Can we just have a general assumption that in any thread regarding the law or dealing with insurance companies that it OBVIOUSLY varies from state to state. Cosmos lives in Texas. You guys may have noticed that Texas kind of marches to the beat of its own legal drum. Any similarities to other states, outside of normal common law principals, are a coincidence.

 

I need to move to Texas

 

Yeah don't give up. I was in a similar situation. My car sustained $4500 of damage and I needed a new front bumper, quarter panel and headlight. There was also some paint matching done on the hood (hood sustained no damage though). Difference being, I caused the damage...nasty freak single car accident. Interestingly enough my car had a clean Carfax but I disclosed the information anyway when trying to sell or trade it in. Carmax only offered me $13,000 and mainly cited the reason for that being the prior damage, as KBB for my car was around $19-20k (like you my car only had 58k miles or so). Meanwhile people at other dealerships didn't give a damn about the repair work (as it looked perfect) so long as it had a clean Carfax. So in your case yeah try to get money from the insurance company but if that doesn't work if you sell the car down the road just keep shopping around for someone that is indifferent about the body work (assuming you're having it properly repaired)

 

State boundaries make it a bit more complicated but not impossible... in my case my car is registered in Washington, the accident happened in Oregon, the driver that hit her was driving a rental from California, and the rental services insurance company was in Missouri, but I still got through it.

 

No offense but the S2000 is a severely dated design (turn of the century) and out of production for 4 years now. And yours is 8 years old with 55,000 miles on it. $12,000 is a fair wholesale price. The dealer will (maybe) shell out some cash for reconditioning and try to sell it for $16,000. They need room for profit in their offer price and they have no idea how long they'll end up sitting on your 8 year old car.

As for resale impact, it really depends on the buyer. If it were solely sheet metal and not structural, I wouldn't hesitate to offer market price as long as the repairs were done well. It there was structural damage, then I'm not a buyer at all. Everyone has their subjective pain points for damage.

 

I understand its old and probably worth less than what I hope it to be. I do think however 12k is a little too low considering ap2's with similar miles are being sold for around $19-20k (granted these are from private parties). A difference of even $2k is significant to me since I am a broke recent graduate.

 

When I traded in my S2000 to the dealership they promptly put it up for sale for $22,900 (2007 NFR S2000 with 58k miles). So I'm going to disagree with the value you think is appropriate. Though I'd admit it depends on what part of the country you live.

 

I understand its old and probably worth less than what I hope it to be. I do think however 12k is a little too low considering ap2's with similar miles are being sold for around $19-20k (granted these are from private parties). A difference of even $2k is significant to me since I am a broke recent graduate.
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Is that the asking price or the price that a transaction was finally closed at? There can be a difference there just as there is a difference between retail and wholesale pricing. A dealer will view your car simply on the basis of the risk and potential profit it represents. He's not going to get emotional about any single car. A private buyer on the other hand may very get emotional if he or she has been looking for a long time for exactly that color combination and your car is the best example they've seen. They might make a very generous offer. And the S2000 has a fairly limited pool of potential buyers like any soft-top roadster. Rabid fans maybe, but relatively few and far between.

 

Honestly, it depends on your state and regulations regarding it, some states it's commonplace to the point there's an equation for it, whereas in CA it's a lot tougher. My personal opinion is that if your car is brought back to its original state, then the diminished value isnt realized until it comes time to sell. In other words, if ur the type who drives it until the wheels fall off and donates, what did you really lose?