lthatch

Hi all. Leonard here. I am new to Rennlist, but was a longtime (7 year) 993 owner (95 C2 cab Polar Silver/Flamenco Red unmodded) in rural Michigan. When I moved to New Mexico I decided to get something more "practical", so I sold my Porsche and bought a new STI, which I really enjoyed for a while, but I missed the Porsche driving feel. You know how it is.
Anyways, after looking around I ended up buying a lister's 98 C2S, Black/Black with a nice options list and great upgrades, a really well cared for and sorted 36k mile example. Since it had had some paintwork (no metalwork) due to being keyed on the passenger's side and having rock chips painted out from the bumper cover and hood, I felt that I got a great value on a car I could drive every day.
Picking up the car in CA was everything it should be. The car actually exceeded my expectaions in both cosmetic and mechanical terms. It drove really well, much better than my stock 95. I got to spend some time with the PO, who was as straightforward and gracious as he seemed on the phone, providing excellent documentation of the work done to the car. Another Porsche buddy joined us, and a fantastic time was had by all. Just a great experience.
Now the bad part. Driving back to New Mexico, we got hit by a huge windstorm in the Mojave Desert which blasted the car with sand and small rocks. You can imagine, my heart just sank when, at the next gas stop, I saw that the windshield glazing wouldn't wipe away and realized the extent of damage that the car had incurred.
This all happened just over a week ago, and I'm only now coming out of shock about it. I have been to my best local Santa Fe body shop, and they estimated that the car needs a complete repaint, new glass except in the rear, new headlight covers, new plastic front and rear signal covers. It came to $9000 ("Could be even more, we'll have to see how it goes" I was told). I called the Porsche dealer in Albuquerque and they recommended a shop down there, which I visited last evening, and it was the same story ($$$ estimate still pending).
Today was the first day I could bear to drive the car to work like I normally would. I have to say, I still love it! It's exactly what I want in terms of features and performance. I just have to figure out how to recoup the value I've lost and make the car into the best car it can now be for me.
Questions for the forum:
1. Any advice in dealing with the insurance company? I am considering getting a cash settlement and driving the car as is.
2. If I did pursue a full repair on the car, where would you advise me to go? I have no confidence in my local body shop, and really don't know too much about the Albuquerque shop. If I end up paying for the repairs out of the settlement I would like to go with a highly experienced shop that might do a better job and, perhaps, be more cost-effective. Suggestions?
3. I would like to transform this unfortunate experience into an opportunity to be creative and have some fun (Believe me, it's not been any fun yet). I have considered having the car repainted in one of the beautiful classic Porsche colors of the 50's, 60's, 70's, or even 80's, but not original to 993s. The body shops have all warned me against it; decreased value, expensive to do right, etc. What do you all think? Ivory? Sand?? Ice Green Metallic??? Pearlescent???? Tangerine????? Can this be done to a Black car? How much more do you think it should cost to do this kind of repaint properly vs. just a Black exterior repaint? Where would you go for this level of service?
4. What do you think about the resale on a car that has this history? Can I talk with my insurance company in terms of a 20% decrease in resale value to the car after the work is properly performed, and will they even care?
All suggestions welcomed. Thanks.

graham_mitchell

Sorry to hear about that most unfortunate incident! How disappointing for you, especially with such a new toy.

Out of the colours you listed, I vote for tangerine, but black is a great colour and easy to resell. It just doesn't make a lot of sense to convert from a popular colour to a less popular one. The other way around would perhaps make sense.

As for paint shops local to you, I can be of no assistance, but this forum rarely disappoints. Welcome to Rennlist!

993Dave

Congratulations on finding the car and this site, and an incredible bummer about the sand blasting. You might try getting in touch with fellow Rennlister Lon, who I believe went through something similar a few months ago shortly after he bought his 993. If I recall correctly, he was going to use the repaint job as an opportunity to do some tasteful mods: turbo S ducts, bumperette-ectomy.

Welcome, and good luck with the repairs.

jrgordonsenior

There's a guy on here with a 993TT who operates an aftermarket/tuner shop in Albuquerque. His name is Tripp, and his online name is "WhyBSecond". He should definitely know a reputable body shop for you...His website is:
http://www.speeddream.net/

mnmblu

You're a big help John... hehe.

jrgordonsenior

Look again smart a..
Alan we saw your car on the Porsche Dealership lot in Palm Desert this past weekend. I took several pics, but somethings wrong with my software and I can't upload. It was a beautiful 96 w/tip and 45k mles. Looked really pretty sitting up on a faux rock-ramp in front of the shop!

mnmblu

Smart a.. that's me.

Hey, I wasn't in Palm Springs this weekend. Very unusual, can't believe there is actually another one. Is it a cab, does it have light grey interior, black carpet? I must see these pics. Make it so, John.

paradisenb

Leonard. Welcome to RL. Congrats on the car. Bummer about the sand blasting. Color change will lower its value. Think long and hard. If it is truly what YOU want go for it.
Good luck

jrgordonsenior

Alan their on my smart disc in my G-1 and they're not going anywhere. I have either a cabling problem, or a driver problem, and I'll figure it out soon. I have a 1meg disc so they're safely stored till I figure it out. It was a cab, with a black roof and grey interior....

os993

Was the damage so bad? Do really have to re-paint? Make sure before you plunge.

Van1

Leonard, same thing happened to me a few years back in my black M3. I was east bound on I40 at the AZ/NM border when the wind kicked up a bunch of dust and rocks right in front of me. I couldn't help but drive into it. At the next rest stop I got out of the car to see what had happened. I could see several little rock chips all over the drivers side of the car and my nearly new BBS wheels had several chips in the clear coat. It was hard to really assess the extent of the damage as the car was dirty. My new windshield suddenly became a 100k mi windshield. I was bummed. After cleaning the car and buffing it out, some of the rock chips dissappeared as I think they were just small nicks in the clear coat. But close inspection revealed that there were still lots of chips. Kind of hard to hide that with black. But from 10 feet away, the car looked fine. So I just learned to live with it. I know that was easy for me to say as a '98 M3 is only about a third of the value of a '98 C2S, but really analyze it and see if it is worth spending $9k to fix. BTW, several months later I got the passenger side to match when I went off the inside of turn one at Willow Springs. Didn't feel as bad since the car was already "baptized".

lthatch

Thanks for the info and suggestions, guys. I am going to meet with the State Farm adjuster on Monday. By then I should have two body shop estimates for the repairs, and I am inclined to go for a cash settlement and drive the car as is. Yes, it's pretty bad, but here in New Mexico the elements are extremely hard on a daily driver car and the vandalism quotient is really high, too. This being the reality of where I live and work, I can enjoy driving the car without the same degree of anxiety about keeping its' exterior perfect.
I will keep you updated on the outcome, of course, and will post pics soon.

SCMomentum

Seems to me that I may not bother with the expensive paint job if I lived in an area prone to the types of weather phenomena that you experienced. I'd be afraid that it would happen again. Do you plan on living in N.M. for a long time or do you see a move to another part of the country in your future? If so, I would wait until then.

OldGuy

LTjatch. If it was another company you could get diminished value too. Take lots of pics to document
no body damage to keep incase you sell. Be a pain in the *** to the body shop and make sure they do it right.
I got sandblasted and AAA handled it fine( on my Landcruiser)