Diminished Value Calculator
After a car accident, your vehicle loses resale value — even after repairs. Insurance companies use restrictive formulas like the 17c rule to lowball your car accident diminished value claim. Enter your vehicle's details to see what they'll offer, versus what your car's value loss is actually worth.
Diminished Value Estimator
See what the insurance company's formula says your claim is worth.
Disclaimer: This calculator provides a rough estimate based on the insurance industry's standard 17c formula. It is not a certified appraisal and does not guarantee settlement amounts. Only a licensed auto appraiser can determine actual diminished value through a certified market analysis.
Why Your Car Is Worth Less, Even After It's Fixed
Most people are surprised to learn this: once your car has been in an accident, its resale value drops permanently — even if repairs are flawless. The moment that crash shows up on your Carfax or AutoCheck report, dealerships and private buyers will offer you less. That's just how the used car market works.
Insurance companies know this, but they use a formula called the 17c rule to calculate your car's loss in value in a way that protects their bottom line — not yours. It caps your payout at 10% of your car's value, then applies mileage penalties that can shrink your check to almost nothing.
At DVHIVE, our licensed independent appraisers look at what comparable cars are actually selling for in your local market — with and without accident histories — to show exactly how much value your car lost. That's the number you're legally owed. That's the number we fight for.
Once you know your estimate, learn how a certified diminished value appraisal turns that number into an insurer-accepted claim, review our appraisal pricing, or start your free estimate in under 60 seconds.
Diminished Value Calculator FAQ
Is the diminished value calculator free?
Yes. The DVHIVE diminished value calculator is completely free and requires no email or sign-up to see your estimate. It gives you an instant, comparable-sale-based estimate of your vehicle's post-repair loss of value in about 60 seconds.
How accurate is it compared to the insurance company's 17c formula?
Insurers often use the 17c formula, which caps your payout at 10% of your car's value and then applies mileage and damage penalties that shrink the number further. Our calculator instead estimates loss the way the real market behaves — using what comparable vehicles with and without accident histories actually sell for — so it typically reflects a far more accurate, and higher, figure than the 17c shortcut.
What is the difference between the calculator and a certified appraisal?
The calculator gives you a fast, free ballpark of what your diminished value claim may be worth. A certified diminished value appraisal is a court-admissible, insurer-accepted report prepared by a licensed appraiser with full market analysis and a demand letter — the document you actually submit to recover your money. The calculator is the starting point; the appraisal is what wins the claim.