Dave R.

Just got off the phone a few minutes ago with a good friend as his tow truck arrived. He hit a slick spot turning at the Willow expressway near the Dumbarton bridge, he was only moving at 15-20 mph but the car ultimately went into the center divider. My friend appears uninjured. Not so the car ('98 C2S). Nose spun into the divider. Airbags deployed, front hood is crumpled, (both?) front fenders mashed, sunroof bulging. No apparent damage to the glass, doors open shut as they used to, no oil leaks, and the wheels were apparently unscathed. He loves the car, so he'll want to return it to pristine condition.

Any recommendations for a body shop in the San Francisco Bay Area?

I did a quick search of the archives, recommendations included (in no particular order):

1. "a shop right across from Grandma's Garage in Berkeley"
2. Bay Auto Body (in Concord?)
3. Haw's Auto Body (Concord)
4. Cook's
5. Dell's in Campbell (408-295-7446, only does 911s and 356s)
6. BodyStyle in San Jose
7. Automotive Perfection in Redwood City (Jack Perkins - owner, 1.650.365.9483)
8. Matthew Carlsen in Palo Alto
9. German Auto Body in San Jose

Thanks
-Dave

JPS

I think Whitman in Marin is supposed to be good as well.

Olav A.

6. BodyStyle in San Jose

They have a good rep.

hal m

Cecil and Carol Beach at BodyStyles are excellent.

Hal

bbeckmann

I used columbus auto body in the city. They were good to work with, and recommended to me by the folks at the stable.

Gee993

Check out babblers.org, which has recommendations for services in the Bay Area. BodyStyles gets good marks.

I went to a few to get a quote on the door strap problem. Columbus seemed high and did a quicky estimate. I also went to Uptown in Oakland, who have great customer service and did a very thorough inspection. Their quote lower than Columbus and they guarantee their work. They're across the street from A.Bauer's.

When I save up enough pennies, I plan on using Uptown. Just more thorough and seemed like a better shop to deal with.

Would be curious what you find with other Bay Area shops.

Dave R.

Thanks guys.

-Dave

Knute

Hmmmm.... The acrid smell of a deployed airbag puts a damper on your whole day, I think! <img border="0" alt="[ouch]" title="" src="graemlins/c.gif" />

I appreciate all the recommendations- after weighing the options, and also on the advice of my mechanic (Don at CT Automotive), Del's Porsche Body Shop in San Jose seemed like the best choice. After having the car towed there and meeting Del, I'm very comfortable with the decision; he's a small shop, pretty much a one-man show, but lots of experience and very meticulous. He's one of the few shops in the area that has appropriate Porsche certified jigs for correctly aligning the unibody structure, although I sincerely hope they aren't needed much for this one.

It's absolutely heart rending to look at the crumpled skin of what was yesterday shiny and pristine, and now I begin the battle with the insurance company to properly restore it back to what it once was.

I was surprised to note, when the car was being gently pulled onto the flat bed using the screw-in tow ring, that the inside half of each rear tire was nearly bald. The rears are so wide that it's normally hard to see the entire width of the tread for inspection, and since the outer half has considerably more tread I'd WAY overestimated how much tire I had left, and I think this would have made a big difference. The rear got a little squirrely coming around the corner (heavy rain last night, wet road, turning from a stoplight), and though it wasn't much of a bobble (and quickly caught) it slid me close enough to the center barrier - as it rotated left on the correction - to make slight contact, and after the left front corner slid along the barrier a few feet it caught on a seam in the barrier (concrete "Jersey" barrier), spinning the car into the barrier further and crumpling the nose.

The left front fender is absolutely toast, the oil radiator is crunched (but not leaking), the nose is crunched, the hood is buckled, the right front fender is out of position (pushed back, with a wrinkle in the top rear near the base of the windshield), and after both airbags deployed, the sunroof is popped up. Both doors open and shut with the appropriate "kerthunk", but the driver's door may be out of position and caused a slight chip in the rear panel from moving backwards during the crash. A visual inspection suggests that the front alignment is now slightly toe-out, which can't be good.

I can't imagine very many scenarios that could cause more damage from a 10-15mph glancing collision. I was MUCH more startled by the airbags than from the collision itself, which was very, very gentle.

Now the hard part- waiting however many months it takes to get the whole thing sorted out and back on the road... I miss it already!

Sigh.

-Knute

JPS

Prepare yourself...guessing 45 days minimum. Don't ask me how I know.

On a more upbeat note, tell your friend it is a good time to consider upgrades...oil cooler, Euro Turbo/S bumper (see <a href="http://www.carnewal.com)" target="_blank">www.carnewal.com)</a> or splitters, etc. Insurance has to get a new nose anyway...likely won't care which one.

Just a thought.

JonSeigel

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">Originally posted by Gee993:
<strong>

I went to a few to get a quote on the door strap problem. Columbus seemed high and did a quicky estimate. I also went to Uptown in Oakland, who have great customer service and did a very thorough inspection. Their quote lower than Columbus and they guarantee their work. They're across the street from A.Bauer's.</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">What were the estimates provided by Uptown and Columbus?

Thanks,

Arthur Del Mundo

Ouch I saw that silver 993 on my way to work on the side of the road with the front fender all messed up. I was going to go on this board and see who owned it. Almost made me cry when I saw the car messed up. I was coming off the bridge and turning onto Willow when I saw it. It was very sad.

Gee993

Columbus gave a "should be around $800-$900". Expected more since I was referred by the Stable. Disappointed since they supposedly had seen a lot of them.

Uptown was a quote for $660, written up and detailed. Owner took a good look (took 20 minutes) to spec it out. Much more confident in the Uptown number.

JonSeigel

Thanks, Gee.

ZCAT3

Del does great work - you will not be disappointed. It is a good time to install a Euro nose sans bumperettes.

Kevin Reilly

Ditto on the Euro nose etc. When my rear bumper got "bumped" in a parking lot I replaced it with the Euro cover from Gert. Insurance company didn't care.

PS Gee....please keep the board posted if you get your door strap fixed at Uptown. Not a problem for me now (knock on wood) but you never know down the road. Thanks