aquanaut

If you go through insurance, it almost certainly will say "damage reported" which will absolutely depreciate the car and will definitely make it more challenging to sell.

Icegrill

Typically it’s the body shop or a police report who reports to car fax. Not the insurance. From my experience high end body shops could care less about reporting to carfax. Carfax is a business and they pay ‘spiffs’ to businesses for submitting reports, even as dumb as glass coating.

garthg

We were rear-ended. The bumper cover alone was $3,500, and that was before paint or labor.
The damage is definitely more than $2,500.
I took our car to the Porsche-certified body shop, and it was fixed just fine.
No need to feel heartbroken. It's just a car. It can be fixed. You'll never be able to tell once it's done.

remington

Very sorry that happened, it will be fixed and will be great again, the damage is far from catastrophic and won't alter the car after a quality repair.

Not to pile on during your difficult time but as a member of the no-PPF club this is another example of where PPF can add cost, complications and significant expense to what is a fairly common event, while providing zero benefit in this case.

colnagoG60

The bumper can be "repaired" (check youtube for "cracked bumper repair" vids). But the cost for a decent repair, plus repaint, you'd need to weigh vs. replacing + painting. My GT4 bumper is about $1,200. Check:

www.getporschepartssilverspring.com (forum sponsor) for prices. They are typically a bit less than dealer.

jlegelis

>> I've been heartbroken over this, and I'm starting to feel a bit better now that I'm having a better understanding of how to proceed!

Animal contact, parking lot damage, chipped windshields, potholes etc are all just normal parts of car ownership. I might suggest examining your relationship to and expectations for the car and how to process future unplanned events so you can mentally enjoy your marvelous machine!

Icegrill

So you’re saying you wished you would have installed ppf on your new car?

Tsobocop

I hope one day I have the vantage point to just not sweat it, and have an “it’s just stuff and can be fixed” mentality, but I’m not there, and honestly that’s not me, not for this car or point in my life at least. If that’s how you look at it, power to you.

MoeMistry

+1

find a reputable repair shop, call/visit the places you’re considering, you’ll know which one resonates with you

get an estimate, call insurance company/agent and ask if this will affect the rates, then make assessment

if running through insurance, carfax will now have repair on it. This may impact resale if that’s of importance to you

hope this helps

make sure to document and take photos of damage/repair…this is not a collison repair, so future buyer may not care too much if repaired properly and on carfax

garthg

You can see no evidence of the repair on this car.

drcollie

It's just a car at the end of the day. That is an expensive repair, because you will need a new Radiator and either a new bumper cover OR someone good at plastic welding. My guess is about $ 6,000 less your deductible. Run it through your insurance, that's why you have it. Animal strikes don't raise your rates with any decent insurance company.

Tsobocop

Sounds like my rates won't go up, but there's some conflicting accounts as to:
Whether it will show up as repaired on CarFax
Who would report that information to CarFax, and lastly (from another related thread)
Whether or not that would cause depreciation; in the other thread, they said with the proper pictures/documentation of the repair, that "with proper documentation nobody will care about the accident"

Needless to say, I'm a bit confused on what's conjecture, what's opinion, and what's fact.
I could really use some firsthand accounts from anyone who has gone through this before, because it will greatly change the direction I go.

If it's the insurance company that reports this info to CarFax, would it be helpful to research whether there's a "Diminished Value" claim clause in my policy?
If it's the shop that reports it, I'd obviously try to find a shop that wouldn't report it, but I'd guess there's no guarantees there. I don't understand why a shop would need to report it though... if I wanted an aftermarket bumper, or a GT3 bumper, nothing would be reported. Should I just go that route of "modification" vs "repair"?

Any help clarifying with firsthand experience (or you're in the line of work to know the facts) would be GREATLY appreciated!!

-Chris

KenTO

I had this happen with a McLaren, just go to an authorized repair shop, talk to the manager, tell him you want it fixed, you will pay cash and don't want it reported on Carfax. Usually no problem. Sold my McLaren later for more than I paid.

Icegrill

once again, from my experience on several damaged cars over the years.

drcollie

Pretty hard to get diminished value compensation from the Raccoon! He’s dead, Fred.