Originally Posted by JPS

Now that I live in the Northeast, I don't take the car on the roads in the winter. I know Dr. Porsche started an oil cooled engine to survive the German winters for people who don't have garages and all that, but they salt the crap out of the roads here, and then there are the idiots in 4WD who think they can actually fly over ice. I digress.

I made an appointment to detail the interior (btw, did with Detailing Dynamics...they aren't cheap, but did the best job of anyone I've ever taken it to), and picked it up. I was 3 minutes out of the shop, 30 miles from putting the 993 in storage for the winter, stopped behind someone turning across traffic. I heard brakes, and looked in my rear view mirror to see a Subaru locked up skidding towards me. Biff!

Fortunately it was relatively minor (compared to what it could be), and looked to be some cosmetic damage, nothing structural. Christmas was coming, and I had mildly rear ended someone last year (not in the 993) with no damage and they were cool about it, so I thought this was my chance to not be the ******* Porsche guy, Pay it Forward, improve my Karma score, etc. etc. The car was a POS with a lot of miles and the driver...well, she had a lot of miles too. (First time I should have just called the cops).

At first she wanted to just go away, I said, no, you hit the car, I'm not paying for it, but don't sweat it, won't be a big deal. She produces a license, but no insurance card. I repeatedly tell her she needs to show insurance or I have to call the cops and do things that way. She gets nervous everytime I mention that. I finally ask her why, and she says she's been drinking (2nd time I should have just called the cops now).

I'm still thinking not to screw her over (again, was hung up on Christmas coming and all that), and she says her friend (turns out she borrowed the car) lives down the street, how about I follow her. (Third time I should have just called the cops). I tell her no way. We are figuring out what to do and we get the cars out of the way. She pulls forward and doesn't stop, instead turning around to head back down the main street. I write down her plate and put my hands on her car, telling her to just stop, I have her plate, don't be an idiot. She guns the car and pushes me out of the way with it! I call the cops.

I followed her for a bit, but then realized I'm the crazy in the 911 speeding after someone, so I just went back to the detail shop to wait for the cops. Of course I was on hold with 911 the entire time, over 5 min at this point.

A month later, they bring me in to identify her on a printed out lineup...none of them look familiar, so the cop calls the person the owner of the car (a drunk & crack user) loaned the car to (found her in a crack house with suspected weapons they can't yet prove). Turns out she loaned it to someone ELSE, a crackhead/junkie/ex-prostitute who was already in jail, whom I identified. The detective had to first see if she was out yet on those charges to determine whether he had to go arrest her on the hit & run!

Fortunately the owner does have insurance, but from someone I've never heard of, so we'll see how things go. There seems to be some discussion about whether the bumper needs replaced, so I'll be asking under separate posts pros & cons of that.

Moral of the story: Just call the cops straightaway. It is easier to call back and say, "don't bother" if all is ok than to try to turn up the heat later. Pay it Forward AFTER you make sure everyone is forthcoming in the situation.