2 Steps Diminished Car Value Calculator (17C formula)

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How to Calculate Diminished Vehicle Value

With no industry-wide way of calculating diminished value, insurance companies generally won’t provide the formula they use. But most insurers follow the 17C Diminished Value Claim Calculator.

You can find an online free diminished value calculator on our website and simply use it to make all your calculations.ж

The name and equation come from an actual Georgia government car insurance case in which it was created by Dr. Stevenson. He came up with this solution to determine how much money you can receive when filing a claim based on your vehicle's depreciated cost post-accident damage. Below are the steps on how to use the diminished value calculator.

Step 1: Calculate vehicle value

The 17C is an effective car accident diminished value calculator tool that can help you calculate the value of your car after any repairs are made. It calculates this by considering how much and what kind of damage has been done to it, as well as other factors like mileage and model year.

Step 2: Compute for 10% of the value in Step 1

Get the 10% of the vehicle market value you’ve calculated. This value will be the base loss of your vehicle. Meaning that monetary value is the maximum amount you can get with your diminished value claim.

For example, let’s say your vehicle’s value in step 1 is $30,000. 10% of $30,000 is $3,000.

$3,000 will be the money you should expect for your claim.

Step 3: Apply damage multiplier

The insurance company will take your car’s worth into account when giving you a payout. For example, if the damage to your car is minor, they’ll grant less of an amount as opposed to major damages, which would be more likely to grant greater amounts and payouts.

Insurers might use different numbers, but it’s common to use these damage multipliers once they diagnose your vehicle.

25% for minor damages
50% for moderate damages
75% for major damages
100% for severe structural and motor damage

For example, your car had some dents in the panels, but no structural or engine damage was done; this should net a 25% damage multiplier. Getting the value you computed in Step 2, which is $3,000. Applying the 25% multiplier, the computation is = 25% x $3,000.

This amounts to $750. This is the new Diminished Value.

Step 4: Apply the mileage multiplier

This is the last step to using the diminished value calculator. The estimation of your car's value is heavily dependent on the mileage. Your insurance company will have its own adjustment, but you can estimate this by multiplying what it says on your dashboard odometer. Below are the usual percentages used.

20% for vehicles with 80,000 to 99,999 miles
40% for vehicles with 60,000 to 79,999 miles
60% for vehicles with 40,000 to 59,999 miles
80% for vehicles with 20,000 to 29,999 miles

For vehicles with less than 20,000 miles, this multiplier might not be applied. Meanwhile, vehicles with over 100,000 miles might not even be allowed to apply for a Diminished Value Claim.

Following our example, the value from Step 3 is $750. Let’s say that the car has run 70,000 miles.

The final diminished value will be $750 x 40%, which amounts to $300.

Important Types of Diminished Value

Who would have thought that a car's value drops dramatically after just one crash? But, it turns out the vehicle will never be as good as new because of all the damage done in accidents. Repairing cars with OEM parts can help lower this loss, but not completely eliminate its diminished worth due to being involved in an accident.

The diminished value of a vehicle is not due to repairs with aftermarket parts but rather because it was involved in an accident. This lowers its perceived worth on future resale markets and means less money for the seller. Now that you know how to calculate the diminished value, below are the three main types of diminished value.

Immediate Diminished Value

This is the perceived value of a car right after it has been involved in an accident before any repairs are done to fix damages on its body, interior, or engine.

Inherent Diminished Value

It's important to know that even if your car was repaired, it will never be the same. If the accident is put in the record, that will factor in how much value can decrease from repairs, even if done by professionals.

Repair-Related Diminished Value

Repair-related diminished value is the lost value resulting from a bad repair job, like using cheap aftermarket parts and not matching paint color correctly.

If You Know Your Diminished Value and Ready to Get Rid Of Your Car, Sell Your Junk Car To Junkcarsus

If you just crunched the numbers on the auto diminished value calculator and the payout is not that big, consider selling your automobile to Junkcarsus.

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