I MISS MY CAR - a blog/post
08-15-2007, 01:02 AM
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I MISS MY CAR - a blog/post
The 968 is my second Porsche, my first was an '87 944 Turbo, which I drove for three years before wrecking it by driving off the road at about 35 mph while talking to my son in the back seat and missing the first corner from our house. The raised roadbed and fencepost totaled my car. It was such a stupid accident, I felt I did not deserve to drive a Porsche ever again. But after about 4 months of driving something else, I couldn't stand it and had to go find another. At the time there were no 944 Turbos for sale in my area, and I didn't have the patience for an extended search, so after a bit I decided to "settle" for a 968.
The 968 has cost me more in repairs then the 944 did, and at times I have considered selling it, and indeed, it is still posted in the for sale section on 968Forums. I've now had it for over three years as well, but currently find myself without the daily satisfaction of driving it. Not being able to drive my 968 for over six weeks has reminded me that indeed, there is no substitute.
As close as I get to the 968 experience right now is reading the forums, and while I enjoy the discussions, its not the same
Why am I Porsche-less? On June 29th, while proceeding southbound on a road that goes from one lane to three, splitting into a left turn lane, a straight lane and a right turn lane as it neared a major intersection. I was in the right-most lane, which was completely clear and so I was driving at around 25mph. A lady who wanted to turn into the gas station I was passing and she hit me in the drivers side front fender. The brunt of the impact was taken by the wheel, which sat at about a 15 degree angle after the hit.
I put the car on a trailer and took it to the body shop that the local Porsche dealer referred. I checked up on the progress occasionally but didn't get too excited until the day after they had told me they expected the replacement fender to get in. Since they were going to be doing some suspension work as part of the repair, I told them that whatever they replaced on the drivers side, I would pay to have it matched on the passenger side, so all wear parts would be worn equally. The fender was due July 26th. On July 27th I stopped by to check on it, but not only had they NOT received the fender, they no longer had an ETA for when to expect it. Since they had ordered the fender from the Porsche dealer, they suggested maybe I could check there to get more information (they weren't actively doing anything about the situation). So I checked with Sunset. Turned out the 7/26 was originally an estimate on getting a fender from Germany since there were no new OEM fenders to be found in the US on the dealer parts network. Problem was they found out there were no fenders in Germany either. So they were waiting for Porsche to make more fenders. The parts guy mentioned that there is no schedule on when Porsche may decide to do a production run of parts on out of production cars and told a story about some parts that had been on order for nearly two years. Well I am not going to wait two years to get my car back! I call the body shop and say I appreciate that they were going for new OEM replacement parts, but that used would be fine if it was straight and rust-free. I even offer to help them source a used fender, an offer they take me up on. A call to parts heaven yields a fender from a car that had no front end damage, and a few days to truck it from northern california to oregon and we should be back in business. Except that there are a couple of bent support brackets for the fender that the body shop didn't put on the original estimate. So they have to get approval for the additional work. But the field adjuster in on vacation. The insurance company still hasn't sent anyone as of this writing so my car sits
I MISS MY CAR!
I'll post updates as it progresses from here. I am hoping that I can get a rental car allowance from the insurance company to come close to the amount I will pay for the extra work. I look forward to the new suspension parts and flawless front end.
What you can learn from this post? 1) There is no substitute for driving a Porsche, 2) There are no new 968 fenders to be had, should you find yourself needing one, so be prepared to go used, 3) That it pays to keep checking up on shops and insurance agents who should be more proactive on fixing your car if you ever want to see it again.
Did I say I miss my car? :-)
-Brett
The 968 has cost me more in repairs then the 944 did, and at times I have considered selling it, and indeed, it is still posted in the for sale section on 968Forums. I've now had it for over three years as well, but currently find myself without the daily satisfaction of driving it. Not being able to drive my 968 for over six weeks has reminded me that indeed, there is no substitute.
As close as I get to the 968 experience right now is reading the forums, and while I enjoy the discussions, its not the same
Why am I Porsche-less? On June 29th, while proceeding southbound on a road that goes from one lane to three, splitting into a left turn lane, a straight lane and a right turn lane as it neared a major intersection. I was in the right-most lane, which was completely clear and so I was driving at around 25mph. A lady who wanted to turn into the gas station I was passing and she hit me in the drivers side front fender. The brunt of the impact was taken by the wheel, which sat at about a 15 degree angle after the hit.
I put the car on a trailer and took it to the body shop that the local Porsche dealer referred. I checked up on the progress occasionally but didn't get too excited until the day after they had told me they expected the replacement fender to get in. Since they were going to be doing some suspension work as part of the repair, I told them that whatever they replaced on the drivers side, I would pay to have it matched on the passenger side, so all wear parts would be worn equally. The fender was due July 26th. On July 27th I stopped by to check on it, but not only had they NOT received the fender, they no longer had an ETA for when to expect it. Since they had ordered the fender from the Porsche dealer, they suggested maybe I could check there to get more information (they weren't actively doing anything about the situation). So I checked with Sunset. Turned out the 7/26 was originally an estimate on getting a fender from Germany since there were no new OEM fenders to be found in the US on the dealer parts network. Problem was they found out there were no fenders in Germany either. So they were waiting for Porsche to make more fenders. The parts guy mentioned that there is no schedule on when Porsche may decide to do a production run of parts on out of production cars and told a story about some parts that had been on order for nearly two years. Well I am not going to wait two years to get my car back! I call the body shop and say I appreciate that they were going for new OEM replacement parts, but that used would be fine if it was straight and rust-free. I even offer to help them source a used fender, an offer they take me up on. A call to parts heaven yields a fender from a car that had no front end damage, and a few days to truck it from northern california to oregon and we should be back in business. Except that there are a couple of bent support brackets for the fender that the body shop didn't put on the original estimate. So they have to get approval for the additional work. But the field adjuster in on vacation. The insurance company still hasn't sent anyone as of this writing so my car sits
I MISS MY CAR!
I'll post updates as it progresses from here. I am hoping that I can get a rental car allowance from the insurance company to come close to the amount I will pay for the extra work. I look forward to the new suspension parts and flawless front end.
What you can learn from this post? 1) There is no substitute for driving a Porsche, 2) There are no new 968 fenders to be had, should you find yourself needing one, so be prepared to go used, 3) That it pays to keep checking up on shops and insurance agents who should be more proactive on fixing your car if you ever want to see it again.
Did I say I miss my car? :-)
-Brett
08-15-2007, 10:57 AM
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Welcome to world of 968. It does get old. I went through the same issue looking for a hood after my car was hail damaged. I ended up getting two used hoods before I received one that could be used. The next issue was getting a body shop to work on an "old Porsche". Finally found a Father-Son shop that was excited about working on it and did a great job. Hang in there, hopefully they will get to it soon.
I am currently waiting on an oil cooler to be shipped from Germany. Naturally it is unique to 968.
I am currently waiting on an oil cooler to be shipped from Germany. Naturally it is unique to 968.
