As I transition into auto damage appraising one question that I get asked a lot by the customer is “why do you have to measure tire tread depth to write an estimate”? Especially if it is hail damage or a minor fender bender.
My answer is that I treat every job like it is a total loss. The last thing an appraiser wants is to drive an hour or two, not take all of the needed photos and get back to the office to discover that the vehicle is a total loss after completing the estimate. If this happenes the appraiser would have to drive back to the vehicle location to take the photos at the expense of the appraiser.
Another good reason to take all of the necessary photos is to develop a photo sequence so that a photo is never missed. It sounds simple, but it is easy to miss a photo, especially when the vehicle owner is talking to you the entire time.
There are other required photos, but I wanted to touch on tire depth for this post.
Why Do Insurance Carriers Want Tire Tread Depth Photos?
If the vehicle is a total loss the appraiser will need to do a total loss evaluation and condition report. It is only fair that if you just put a new set of tires on the vehicle that the insurance knows and pays you accordingly. By providing the tire depth information the insurance will know how much wear the tires have.
Regular car tires typically have 11/32 of tread depth, which would be considered new. Then every 32nd less than 11 you loss approximately 9 percent. For example, 10/32 would mean that there is 9% wear leaving 91% of life remaining. Once the tire wears to 2/32 the tire needs to be replaced. This is required by law in some states.
Obviously this calculation is not going to work on some truck winter or mud tires. Tread depth on some of these tires start off at on inch or even 1/1/2 inch.
How To Measure Tire Tread Depth
There are some cheap gauges that can be used to read tread depth. They also make digital gauges that are not much more expensive. I like the one in the photo because it is easy to read and easily seen in a photo. However, they all work the same way. Part of the gauge is pushed down to the bottom the the tread grove while the rest of the gauge rests on the top of the tread, which gives you the reading.
Now you know why an appraiser may be taking photos of your tread depth.
If you would like to learn more about the gauge photoed I have a link to Amazon where you can read more about it, but there are cheaper gauges for as little as $3.00 https://amzn.to/3UCHuy8
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