I'm curious as to whether anybody has a gut feeling for how much trade-in value is affected by accident-related damage? Has anybody bought or traded an S2K that was involved in an accident? I'm asking because I got rear-ended in Houston to the tune of $7k in damages -- all exterior/cosmetic, nothing structural or related to drivetrain/suspension/transmission, and that's probably an inflated figure since the body shop was cool in getting me brand new parts in many cases rather than attempting to repair stuff. (You gotta minor scratch in your taillight housing? No prob - new piece!)

Guesses appreciated. Educated ones perferred

Cheers,
Audball

 

Kinda depends man, not only on the dealer but your ability to haggle

 

has it all been repaired? better than new now, right?
i cant imagine that it makes a difference as long as nothing structural is involved and everything has been fixed...

 

Yes, everything was repaired perfectly. However, I'm sure any dealership I trade in at could pull up a CarFax report on the VIN and see the repair amount (was an insurance claim, so no doubt records exist somewhere). I agree that since nothing structural/mechanical was damaged, it shouldn't matter... but dealerships suck in general. I'd prefer to sell it myself on the 'For Sale' portion of this website, but the odds of that happening are probably low, as would be the convenience factor. (Having a dealership pay off the lease balloon and apply the net from trade-in towards a down payment is VERY convenient).