ARM993

Man that sucks Alex. Sorry to hear about your bad luck.

I think all the gizmos and safety features on these new cars are making for a lot of terrible drivers. Too many driver aids and people don't think for themselves and pay attention anymore.

Goo luck with the repairs.

Porscheologist

Thanks guys! I am going to call a highly recommended paintless ding remover first and see if he can do it. If not then I will try one of the shops you guys recommended. I took pictures. The car is white so its hard to see the damage in a photo. I guess it could have been worse. Anyway thanks for all your kind comments and your input. And remember....beware of SUVs!!!!

Ouch!

Terry Adams

Sorry you got hit, Alex. Since there appears to be a substantial crease, I would insist on a body shop, not the ding people. And consider diminished value. You need look no further than the other thread regarding respray of the passenger side.

I almost got hit by an SUV last month, but I saw it coming. SUV + multi-tasker + phone = a bunch of yellow flags. I got into the ABS, blew my horn, she made eye contact as she rolled through a stop sign, and did not even stop talking.

Rick Sylvestri

Alex,

Sorry to hear about the accident, Ramon at ACM Paint & Body in Escondido re-spayed my '77 targa and did a great job with the minor dings before re-spray.

I almost got the top of my coupe taken off a couple of weeks ago After having my rollbar installed at AutoPower I picked the car up and at a stop sign a large semi with a single trailer was turning and did'nt see me, I saw this jamed it in reverse and burned rubber backwards. After a couple of seconds he heard my car and stopped. I just sat there looking at him shaking my head. I think the accident avoidence drill from the PCA driving school has helped me avoid a couple accidents so far, Stay Alert

Rick

sidned

The picture seems to show a very small dent in the rear fender as well. That one may be best dealt with by a dent guy, but the door I would get done properly by a bodyshop at the SUV drivers expense.

tj90

Forget the dent removal on that damage. I talked to 3 dent guys in SD and they say when the damage is close to a seam - forget it. I assume you are a perfectionist - most people will not see the waviness in the paint but you will and youll be sorry that it was not fixed right. As for that small ding in the rear quarter, the dent guys could take care of that no problem.

brucec59

Just to pile on a dead horse... No reason to try to save money, since it should be paid for by the other driver's insurance co.

You should also demand a complete 4-wheel alignment.

tj90

4 wheel alignment for that small dent in the door? I think the insurance adjuster would laugh you out of the room. You put more load on the tires going around a corner at 15mph.

Don Plumley

Glad to hear only sheet metal was damaged. That's quite replaceable in the big scheme of things.

Assuming nothing inside the door was bent (you really want to check that out), you could have the door reskinned. I wouldn't try to pull/bondo that. A good reskin would be nearly impossible to find.

An alternative is to get a door from a left side hit vehicle. Strip the door all the way down and have it sprayed. No worries about bent internals. For what it is worth, ask the body shop if they'll repair off the car. The sanding stuff just gets everywhere and is darn near impossible to get out of the car. I mean inside the trunk, everywhere. Not only from your car, but from all the other cars in the shop too. A good shop will seal the inside of the car with film or take the door off and leave your car far away from the repair work.

The advice about the pictures is good. Save the before, during and after photos along with the receipt. If I were to buy your car and saw that it was a superficial repair limited to the door, that would help make it a non-issue to me.

Good luck - soon it will be good as new!

Edit - the downside of taking the door off and/or replacing is you'll see the door hinge bolts marked up/moved. Touch up paint will take care of that, it all depends on how picky you are.

Rod95C2

I, too, am sorry to hear about the damage to a prized possession. If you decide that you're not comfortable with any of the repair shops in your area that have been recommended, I have had work done by an outstanding shop in Riverside. The work that Gene Tomazin of Tomazin's Auto Body Shop has done on some of our other cars is really incredible. (No affiliation.) Good luck in getting your car restored to its proper condition.

mborkow

if the paint hasn't been damaged, then there is a decent chance the paintless guys can fix it. a friend's boxster had the a huge dent in his front 1/4 panel. the paintelss guy popped it out for $500 and i can't tell that there had ever been a dent there.

Porscheologist

Thanks guys for all your comments. I took my car to European Auto Body today and they look like a great shop. Forget the ding guy. They will do it on her nickle and do a great job. I parked right next to tj90s car and his car looked brand new! They were about to wash it I think. TJ90 I think you will be very happy with your car. I could not tell were the previous damage was. Excellent work. So I will drop it off on the 8th (these guys are busy) and get a rental (paid by insurance of course). In the meantime guys be careful out there. If you do get damage make sure its someone elses fault. The bill for my fix is 2k!!

tj90

Whew! I would have hated for you to say that the repair job was not that great. I would have been the butt of everyones joke on Rennlist! I am supposed to pick it up at 4 pm today. I tried to get them to replace the stone guards on both sides but they declined. Dont be in a hurry to get the car back, it took them 2 weeks. The standard body shop line is 1 week for every $1k of damage. My fender was $1500 with a $1k deductible. That really hurt especially since it was my own dime. Oh well - could be worse!

g_murray

The PO had just bought the car and had it approx 3 mo. when he was pulling out of Blockbuster. He was paused at the lip of the sidewalk/intersection and waiting for traffic on his left to pass by.
A pair of ditz's -- yes in an SUV -- were yelling at him to MOVE! -- but he needed to wait a bit longer. They were so engrossed in their own yelling that the driver didn't pay attention to the amount of foot pressure it takes to keep one of those 6,000lb monsters stopped.

They hit him.

He moved out of the sidewalk/intersection and drove straight ahead to another parking lot directly across from the Blockbuster and motioned the SUV to follow.

She claimed he reversed back into her, but fortunately there was a bystander, admiring the 993 of course, who saw it all.

The cops were called and statements taken etc.

She did $5,000 worth of damage to the back of his (now my) 993. The whole rear had to be changed out / repainted etc. etc.

FWIW, I think you need to be a hard a$$ here and get YOUR car fixed to the way it was before this bonehead became part of your vocabulary.

G.

ZombiePorsche44

Accept nothing less than perfection in your repair since it was not your fault, after all, do you really care how much the other guys insurance spends? I sure wouldn't.
I was hit broadside in my old 911SC on the 805 in 98' and took it to Phil Therle in Santee for close to 10k worth of frame & body work, the guys ins co screamed but still paid the bill....
ZP44