egparson202

Marine Blue

981's have an aluminum chassis which makes them much more difficult to repair and also limits the shops that can perform the repairs. I would try to find out what was replaced to establish the extent of the damage.

911661

981s have aluminum panels not chassis.

Mr Michael B

Marine is right. Like the new 911, the chassis is an aluminum-steel hybrid construction. Aluminum comprises 46 percent of the whole body-in-white. These parts include outer panels like front bonnet, engine lid and doors as well as stressed structure like floorpan, bulkheads, door frames, the frame for mounting rollover hoops and nearly the whole front and rear structures. High-strength steel and baron steel are used mainly around the survival cell to provide the necessary crash protection at minimum space engagement. Besides, the dash support and the frames of soft roof are made of magnesium.

With that said... You would want to be sure it was repiared corrcetly or had minimal damage to begin with.

egparson202

sghokie

Without seeing the damage on your potential car it is impossible to discern what the full extent of the damages were.
Lately, I have been watching youtube videos by this fellow samcrac where he buys salvage cars from auctions and rebuilds them,
He has a lot of tips about buying and fixing up cars in his videos. He also shows you how you can use autoauctions.io and find the original listings and pictures for salvage cars.
Right now I think he is rebuilding a 911, but the damages on that car were minimal.

fast1

Will they permit you to test drive the car? If so and there's a track nearby, you can push the car to near its limits.If the car feels stable, I'd buy it. The biggest problem with a totalled car is its resale value, but as a track car that shouldn't be an issue for you. Also, you can probably negotiate a lower price.

Feld

I find it hard to believe the unibody did not have some damage with fenders hood and rad support damage. It does not take much to have the front structure out of spec, I bet it was straightened in order to get the new panels to sign up. And since it was a rebuilder he did not have to disclose all the damage to repair the car, unlike if it was an insurance claim the shop would supplement in order to get paid.

Voyager6

When you see it, check the frunk carefully. Bring a tape measure and measure the frunk opening top left to bottom right and top right to bottom left. The measurements should match within 2mm if done correcty. If they don't, run away. Even then, there are glued and riveted panel seams that have to be done properly and generally requires special assemby jigs that only a certified shop wuld have access to. You might have to pull trim to check these seams. Finally, I'd compare lengths diagonally from the windshield to some fixed point in the front. Finally, get a wheel alignment check to see if front wheels are in line with the rear wheels.

If anything, it will show the seller that you know what you are doing and are serious, and perhaps he will then be moire honest and willing to deal.

V6

Marine Blue

+1

If you don't have confidence to perform this task I would find a certified Porsche shop and get the car inspected by them. If the aluminum was damaged/fatigued and not replaced it won't last very long, especially with the forces exerted at the track. If it was properly repaired then no big deal but the proper procedure is far more costly than your average steel bodied car.

badabing

I have some experience in this area (was involved in repairing a 987 with damage to the frunk tub) and I also did some research on the subject of repairing a totaled 981.

Being in the automotive repair business (not collision/autobody however), having access to buy salvage cars from Copart and IAAI, and having had a very detailed look at what was required to repair a 987 with front end damage, like you I thought buying a totaled 981 was a great way to buy a 981 for track use at a discount as well as not having to 'worry' in the event of a track 'incident'


I found a 981 that had similar front end damage as what I was familiar with on the 987. My plan was to strip the front clip down to the frame, buy any parts needed wholesale from my local dealer and sub-contract any structural repair and straightening to a qualified body shop and then reassemble the car replacing any damaged parts like radiators, headlights etc.

What I learned is that the unlike the 987, the 981 indeed has structural components made of aluminum. Further, Porsche restricts the distribution of aluminum parts. My dealer explained that he could not sell me the parts, and that they can only be sold to Porsche authorized body shops certified in aluminum repair procedures. In fact, the distribution is so closely controlled that when such parts are ordered, they are drop shipped directly to the body shop as to not allow the dealer to sell them to anyone else.

Also, the body shop must keep very detailed records of the repairs done to each vehicle.

No biggie, I would let the body shop handle the frame repair and pay their markup on the parts.

Unfortunately every body shop I contacted was not willing to do only the portion of the job I wished to subcontract. Each one was only willing to repair the car complete start to finish including any mechanical repair and final finishing. Each shop citing the significant investment made in the equipment and training necessary to obtain Porsche certification as well as the detail record keeping and auditing requirements imposed by Porsche on the repairs done as the reason why they would only accept the job as a whole.

At that point I realized I could not accomplish this project in a financially viable way.


So, my recommendation is that you hire an authorized and experienced body shop to inspect the car, directing them to specifically look for and evidence of structural repair.

My guess is that any car that was totaled from a front hit has structural damage. At the very least the front tub, which is not well protected, especially from impacts with objects below the front bumper bar, has most likely been damaged.

The front tub is critical because the front subframe is bolted to it and that is what the control arms and other suspension components are attached to.

If the body shop finds no evidence of structural repair then I would take the gamble as everything else is bolt on.

If there was structural damage then it has to be understood how it was able to be done considering the restrictions in place on parts and the special tooling required to complete the job.

egparson202

Marine Blue

That car definitely looks like it's had tub damage and likely the drivers side frame was damaged. Is the shop certified by Porsche and can they show you a receipt for the parts used to rebuild the car?

Suicide Jockey

Answer: A

Run away, don't walk. Too many other fish in the sea. The right one will come along. If it means having to take a little more time to save up for a car with an unblemished past, do it. You won't regret it.

My $0.02. Good luck.

Feld

Being a long time damage appraiser I can tell you this car has certainly structural damage, unless there are specific pics of the damage and the repairs I agree with the above post RUN.....