Macster

FYI, here's a pic of my new (4 week old) 2008 Cayman S. As you can see it took a hit in the a-pilar area. The car was declared a total loss even though it was new. The exotic auto adjuster stopped counting when the damage estimate reached aroudn $45K. The car cost $50.6K. (it was discounted down from $62.6K by the dealer -- car sales were *flat* and prices were quite reduced!)

5CHN3LL

I realize this just just semantics, but I don't think you can pin this one on the pole.

As for the car - it's done. Look at the rippling in that rear panel ahead of the rear tire - the entire side of the car has been pushed inward. The 996 is INCREDIBLY strong along the door sills. Given the amount of sheet metal and structural members that would need to be cut out and replaced from a donor car, it just doesn't make sense to fix. I can't imagine that car ever going down the road straight again. Notice how the door glass is now six inches behind the B pillar? That isn't supposed to happen. See how the broken parts of the rocker cover (side skirt) now overlap by several inches? I suspect the wheelbase on the right side of the car is probably a couple of inches less than the left side.

If this was an Enzo or an F40, maybe it would be worth fixing - but not a 996. Find someone who is motivated enough to part out whatever can be salvaged and sell it to him - or have your son do it, since he just scrapped your 911. I wouldn't even buy the motor from this car considering the dynamic forces that were applied to the motor, presumably while it was running.

Richard Bedard

I got it in the back two weaks ago, 7000$ of damage and its only cosmetic.

5CHN3LL

I can't believe how clean the wheels were on OP's car - the car must have been immaculate prior to the collision.

If that pole had hit between the A and B pillars instead of firmly against the A, anyone on that side would have been in serious trouble. In another car with less massive sills, probably a fatality. This is the third or fourth thread I've seen that really demonstrates how solidly the 996 is built.

Wasfi Khundaqji

thank you all for the great replies , the dealer said they would able to fix it, the bend on the frame isn't that extreme the transmission and engine are still in good working condition it scored 98% ,
the insurance wont get involved , cause they only insure sport cars as a third party which sucks ,
i will take my chances on fixing her, and i will try to convert the car to the turbo body style

i might need some help from you guys in sorting the interior parts such as " door panels front dash steering wheel" front glass, front fenders, front bumper and the door, and finally the turbo wide rear quarters
and also looking for performance parts for the car

Woodman71

Wow. That dealer is brave.

5CHN3LL

I would recommend a binding quotation with some metrics for verifying success before you start paying someone to undertake that restoration. I cannot imagine how repairing that car will be anywhere close to what it would cost to replace it. The "bend in the frame" isn't a bent frame at all; it's a mass of deformed sheet metal. You can't straighten that like you can the frame of a body-on-frame vehicle like a truck; the damaged part will have to be cut out and new sections welded in. I didn't realize that subframes and all of the sheet metal components could BE ordered; I was assuming a donor vehicle would have to be used. It blows my mind that a dealership has agreed to undertake this repair.

If you go this route, I wish you good luck - but I advise you to seriously consider a second opinion before you start funding this endeavor.

One of the reasons your son walked away from what could potentially have been a fatal accident is the tremendous strength of that chassis. If you have ANY concerns that the repaired vehicle won't be as robust...don't do it.

What does the 98% score indicate?

Copilot

98% sure the dealer is going to make a LOOOOOOOT of money on this one

Cuda911

I recently broke a suspension mount bolt, so I can relate.

Sorry to see all that damage. As others have said, I wouldn't want this car to be fixed. It will never be "good as new." Never.

alpine003

I'm guessing he's not in the US.

US folks generally replace things. ROW peeps tend to repair or fix things and keep it, whether it would be appliances, cars, toilets, etc... Different mentality

Slakker

Our country wasn't always this wasteful. It's just a by product of excessive prosperity.

alpine003

It's a byproduct of being the number one consumers in the world. We like to consume rather than repair or make do with what we have.

Even the one's that aren't prosperous are spending their food stamps on big screen tv's...

gnat

I think it's more a by product of cheap crap.

I loved my old Pioneer Plasma, but when the screen broke the cost to get it fixed was more than I paid for the OLED screen that replaced it (which is inferior to that old Plasma ). Those are high end items too, if it was a $200 LCD TV that broke, financially speaking you'd be nuts to get it fixed out of warranty.

As far as large items like cars, I'd argue that our willingness to write them off goes to show that the prosperity is only skin deep. Basically we have enough to make it look good, but if we have to foot a large bill like this the subject of this thread will be, most just don't have the means to do it. We see it all the time in the "my engine just failed" threads too. That's not meant to be a knock to anyone, just my view on American consumerism as a whole (of which I'm not innocent).

5CHN3LL

Yeah, I definitely get that, and being in a place where labor is not prohibitively expensive definitely makes jobs that are not practical here much more practical elsewhere. As Exhibit A, I present...MB Motorsports.

Construction in Mexico is often DIRT cheap compared to similar construction stateside...the trick is ensuring you get the same outcome when you're not willing to spend the same amount of money.

I genuinely HOPE op gets his car back to like-new, but I'm reluctant to believe it's going to be as good as new.

Cars are one of those things that will ALWAYS cost more to put together part-by-part than buying it whole. Just imagining the stack of body panels that will need to be replaced (I can't imagine trying to hammer, weld, and Bondo those panels flat) and the $$ required to acquire them - it seems almost certain that a donor vehicle will be required to put that car right again. At the point they're going to disassemble a donor car, put all the crap on the totaled 996, and fix some REALLY extensive "frame" damage, finding a cherry roller 996 and having it shipped starts to sound like a phenomenal deal.

Then again, if OP has an emotional attachment to that car, all bets are off. I know I'd spend $50K rebuilding my Mom's Corvette if I wrecked it, even though the same money could buy 5 ragged-out examples or a couple of flawless ones...

Wasfi Khundaqji

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