Original Paint Depreciation

70-SS/RS-L78 · #1 09-18-2010, 09:08 AM

I have a 1987 GNX that has 1075 Miles on her and she still has 100 percent of the original paint and it is in extremely nice condition. If for some horrible reason I would have to paint this car or even a few panels it would depreciate the value. Original paint GNX’s are hard to find. Most were repainted due to the horrible finish GM put on these cars when they built them.. Is there a policy to cover the depreciation of a survivor collector car that has to be repainted due to an accident or if some IDIOT keys the car while at a show. I know they will pay the repair claim but what about the loss of value due to the repaint?

Drew Papsun · #2 09-18-2010, 03:45 PM

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: 70-SS/RS-L78</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I have a 1987 GNX that has 1075 Miles on her and she still has 100 percent of the original paint and it is in extremely nice condition. If for some horrible reason I would have to paint this car or even a few panels it would depreciate the value. Original paint GNX’s are hard to find. Most were repainted due to the horrible finish GM put on these cars when they built them.. Is there a policy to cover the depreciation of a survivor collector car that has to be repainted due to an accident or if some IDIOT keys the car while at a show. I know they will pay the repair claim but what about the loss of value due to the repaint? </div></div>

Hello 70-SS/RS-L78,
Bloomington Gold Corvette Survivor Award standard is 50% original paint.
National Corvette Restorers Society Bowtie/Star Award standard is 80% original paint.
Regards,
Drew Papsun

**Salvatore** · #3 09-18-2010, 07:24 PM

best insurance for that Mark is to not take it out. I would try to get it insured for as much as you can to cover the survivor clause.

**tom406** · #4 09-21-2010, 12:39 AM

Your fears are valid but the path to getting coverage can be a little murky. You're basically looking for DIMINISHED VALUE coverage, to compensate you for the loss of value due to the repaint. Its essentially the same as if your new Corvette took a $10K whack in the front end and now is worth 20-30% less on the market or on trade now that it has that Scarlet Letter on its Carfax. Diminished value is becoming more common as a claim, but is being resisted by the insurance companies because if suddenly every significant collision is followed by a 25% diminished value check, their bottom line suffers greatly.

Talk to your agent about your concerns, and ask how the company would handle a claim on your car. Be prepared to state how much value you think your car would lose by being say, 20% repainted or 100% repainted. Also be prepared to demonstrate that with real world examples (ads, auctions, etc). If you have an appraisal done, see if your appraiser would like to tackle that argument in the appraisal document while he speaks about the value of original paint. Again, ask the agent what he and the underwriter think about all this. Its easier to spell it out beforehand rather than in court later.

Good luck.

Tom Breske
Vintage Viewpoint Vehicle Appraisals
Seattle, WA

70-SS/RS-L78 · #5 09-21-2010, 01:00 AM

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: tom406</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Your fears are valid but the path to getting coverage can be a little murky. You're basically looking for DIMINISHED VALUE coverage, to compensate you for the loss of value due to the repaint. Its essentially the same as if your new Corvette took a $10K whack in the front end and now is worth 20-30% less on the market or on trade now that it has that Scarlet Letter on its Carfax. Diminished value is becoming more common as a claim, but is being resisted by the insurance companies because if suddenly every significant collision is followed by a 25% diminished value check, their bottom line suffers greatly.

Talk to your agent about your concerns, and ask how the company would handle a claim on your car. Be prepared to state how much value you think your car would lose by being say, 20% repainted or 100% repainted. Also be prepared to demonstrate that with real world examples (ads, auctions, etc). If you have an appraisal done, see if your appraiser would like to tackle that argument in the appraisal document while he speaks about the value of original paint. Again, ask the agent what he and the underwriter think about all this. Its easier to spell it out beforehand rather than in court later.

Good luck.

Tom Breske
Vintage Viewpoint Vehicle Appraisals
Seattle, WA
</div></div>

Thanks Tom,. That is exactly what I am thinking. I guess I will now have to gather some "Real World" Comparable vehicle recent resale price info.

**firstgenaddict** · #6 01-20-2013, 01:57 AM

As stated it is much better to spell it out in the contract before than to let the lawyers argue it later. I would think a classics insurance company could make quite a business by offering such policies.
As stated it would make the case of diminished value before any claims on the policy OR in case of being run into by a negligent driver and RUN OF THE MILL INSURANCE CO starts fighting over it, which is much more likely.

Jim Ferron · #7 03-13-2013, 04:35 PM

This is a little off topic, I'm a used car dealer, couple years ago I got sideswiped by a drunk drive in an original paint late model deville. Insurance company[not MK[ wanted to allow me for a used driver side door..

So i went from a cherry all original Caddy to one with an aftermarket front fender, painted hood and complete driverside and a used drivers door...and NOW a bad carfax report...Insurance company didn't care one little bit.

I sold the car 'hit' and lost a fortune.

acelr8 · #8 03-14-2013, 12:20 AM

Here it is called loss of resale value and I have collected for it on my aerocoupe. Jeff

**Lynn** · #9 03-14-2013, 02:19 AM

Oklahoma calls it diminution in value, but... OK Supreme Court says you can't recover for it (at least that was the law 10 years ago - out of my area of expertise).

**owners2** · #10 04-03-2013, 02:38 PM

Insurance companies are trying not to pay out Diminished Value anymore these days , saying if your Collision repair shop did a proper job there shouldn't be a Diminished value as most cars on the road today have been in a body shop. I would have to find the article in Body Shop Business magazine to be exact but it was somewhat stated that way, this is the qiuck 1 sentence version of the article that was from at least 2 years ago or so. Big Insurance is always looking to backpedal there way out of proper payment owed & put the pressure on someone else.