Tips for collision repair?
 

First of all, I haven’t posted, or not in a while, but I read this forum all the time, thanks everyone for all I’ve learned here.

Unfortunately, today I was in an accident with my 2017 C2s. No one was hurt, thank goodness.

I exited off a highway in Maryland to stop for lunch, and was in the wrong place at the wrong time, while driving at probably less than 10mph, looking for where to turn into a shopping center, I was hit on the drivers rear corner. A gentlemen had gone do the doctor about his Achilles injury, had been put in a walking boot, and then got in his car, not realizing the boot would interfere w/ his operation of the pedals, he lost control of the car and couldn’t stop, etc. Anyway very nice guy, apologetic, etc., couldn’t be hit by a nicer person.

Pic below, but the car was hit hard enough on the corner that there appears to be a bit of intercooler turn through the bodywork, and the quarter panel is very bad, the rear tire was torn, etc. The car ran and wasn’t leaking anything, I was able to park it, etc.

I have an accident report, his info, he’s insured, the police officer and he both stated he was clearly at fault, etc.

I’ve contracted w/ a towing firm (>$1000 for 211 miles, hopefully addressed by the insurance payer) to have it delivered to my local Porsche dealer (Paul Miller Porsche in Parsippany NJ) who said they can help me manage the repair process, etc.

I’ve noticed on the board that people have written about reduced value claims, which I’ll study, thanks for the heads up on that, but I’m just curious for anyone who has been through this process, any advice on how to make the most of the next steps, make sure the repair is ultra high quality, etc?

I’m trying to keep myself busy learning so I don’t get too emotional, but this car has been just amazing, perfect for me in about every way, so I want to do things right.

Any advice?


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...ed495330b.jpeg

Very sorry to see and hear your story. Sounds like you have a good attitude (at least so far).

Starting at a dealer is a reasonable start. I would suggest you also engage the right body shop, not just Porsche-certified but with a proven reputation for quality work and customer satisfaction. And like you probably already know, before removing the bumper cover and other parts, it is not possible to assess the damage.

I would first see if the insurance company would declare it a total loss. And just start over.

My condolences. Just looking at that makes me sad.

ouch. so sorry bro :-(

as he stated above, maybe the insurance will total it. happened to my RS5, once they removed the bumper they decided it was too complicated and $$$ to try.

Good luck to you

Not getting my hopes up for a total
 

While I’d be fine w the car being totaled if it came to it, I don’t think I should set an expectation in that, I think it would have been appraised at around $90k pre-accident (it is fairly loaded, sport + premium packages, 4ws, leather, etc, with 10k miles), and so getting to 70% repair costs would need about $64k in repairs, from what I’ve heard.

Rather than focusing on how I’m worse off than I was yesterday morning in terms of an accident free car and what they’re worth, the risks of it coming back imperfect, etc, I’m trying to think along the following attitude: the car is a very special machine, that was engineered incredibly and born to drive.

It’s hurt real bad right now, but it will feel great to give it its health and capabilities back, and I know we can do that with top notch work (and gobs of insurance money).

And it will be an incredible relief and pleasant surprise if they total it ;-)

dminished value
 

Is the correct term, I would use their terminology. They will fight a DV claim and you will need ammunition in the way of an appraisal. There is probably a DV appraiser in your area ask the local PCA guys or even an insurance agent (not theirs or yours). You may want to get a DV lawyer at the amounts involved. Once repaired, i would sell it and start over.

The good news is MD allows DV claims. Not all states do.

https://www.collisionclaims.com/mary...inished-value/

Push to get it totaled. Back it into a few fire hydrants if you have to. Kidding aside, you don't want to live with that car even after being repaired. At least I know I wouldn't.

Best of luck to you.

Cars like this get fixed every day. If there is no frame or mechanical damage the car can be fixed. The diminished value claim will be big. That is the scary part. I would get an attorney involved

What others have posted: Porsche-certified collision repair with a good reputation.

If you want it fixed 'right' you will need to be involved in the repair process. Here's a primer: https://rennlist.com/forums/991/7603...r-job-huh.html

But, this will not be an inexpensive repair. I'll go on a limb throw out $50k minimum. Here's why:

The body is wrinkled under the rear quarter window. This pretty much means that nothing's straight aft of the driver's seat. A correct repair will probably need to touch almost everything in the rear from body to sunroof to suspension.

Everyone, thanks for sharing your experience/perspectives, very valuable.

I also got some special help from one of you via PM, writing me at a very, very early hour and helping getting the car to a top certified bodyshop that someone had extensive experience with and a relationship with, so far, they’re treating me as one enthusiast would treat another.

Waiting now for an initial assessment from the body shop to understand where I stand, and expect to start discussions w the other party’s insurance claim rep tomorrow after some missed calls. Ive heard this insurance company is very reasonable but regardless will make clear that I will need an appropriate rental and be pursuing a DVC if it looks like they are inclined to repair the car, hopefully they aren’t inclined.

gentlemen, thanks again and I will continue to monitor the thread if someone has additional insights to share or if you’re interested in updates.

sincerest regards,
ed

As the car is a '17, I would suggest you pay close attention to the remaining warranty in regards to your repairs. When my '18 GTS was rear ended it was only 3 weeks old, so warranty considerations were paramount. I can't swear to this, but my understanding was the only sure way to guarantee the full warranty going forward was to have the repairs done at a PACC, and the car then cleared by their sponsoring dealership. There aren't an abundance of PACCs, so you probably won't have many to choose from.

The closest PACC to me was 75 miles away in Orlando, so that is where I took the car for repairs. It took a while because the supply chain of parts here in the states sucks, and they had to keep going to the Fatherland for parts. When repairs are finished, they check the car for any codes that may have been thrown. Any that show up have to be cleared by the sponsoring dealership in order to give the car a clean bill of health for warranty purposes. In my case there were no codes thrown at all, so they didn't have to send it to their sponsoring dealership.

After getting my car back, I checked with the service manager at my dealership, who was not the sponsoring dealership of the PACC that I used. He assured me there would be no issues going forward regarding the warranty.

Once again, I can't attest to this being the only path to ensure an intact warranty, but it is the path I was led down. I was definitely going to have a PACC do the work regardless, so the process was seamless to me.

Warranty considerations
 

Thanks for this, I do have it at a Porsche certified body shop, cavallo’s in philly, thanks to the advice of a forum member. If it ends up set to be repaired I’ll be sure to consult w the dealer on making sure there’s no issues w the warranty.

Diminished value is tough to assess. The best thing is if your dealer is willing to get involved. A car with an accident like this will have a negative Carfax which makes it of no interest to most Porsche dealers if you ever wanted to trade it, etc.

Here is a car that lost close to 25% of its value because of an accident.
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2018-porsche-911-gts/

There has to be at least $20K in diminished value in a late model car like yours.

Thank you!

This is a really good example I can use if I have to do a DVC: a car w probably less damage than mine, that very clearly was repaired to the highest standard by a HQ shop and a seemingly particular owner, that has a very easily measurable inherent diminished value (Once I find similar “clean” cars w/ 4,000 miles and their depreciation). Please tell me if you guys have other sale examples as perfect as his one.

Still waiting on the assessment from the body shop btw, excited/anxious to hear what they find.