There’s an old saying that a lot of folks in crisp, white-collar offices have forgotten: Work is not a four-letter word. Every single day, millions of people get up, put on boots, and do the heavy lifting that keeps this country moving. They are the mechanics, the technicians, and the artisans of the skilled trades….
You did everything right. The car went to a good shop, the paint matches, and it drives the way it did before. Then you asked the other driver’s insurance company about diminished value, and the number they came back with barely covers a car payment. That number probably didn’t come from looking at your car. It came from a formula.
If you’ve put real money into a vehicle, a crash costs you more than the repair bill shows. A good shop can make the car look new again. It can’t take the accident off the car’s history, and the more the car is worth, the more that history costs you. Diminished value is the drop in a car’s resale value because it now has an accident on its record, even after quality repairs. Buyers pay less for a car that’s been wrecked. That’s true for every vehicle on the road.