ACCIDENT! I have some questions.... Pics inside, tell me what you think.....
03-08-2007, 02:54 AM
#17
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USAA is your friend on small items such as this, though not "small" to you. I had them litigate AGAINST me as my OWN carrier in a big suit involving injury (not my fault and injury to me). Yes, they actually held up my case for two years while the other company was willing to pay me the responsible drivers entire coverage. The suit exceeded the kids policy who hit me and so USAA was liable for the excess under "underinsured motorist" coverage. They made my life more miserable for a long while.
Also, if you have another accident (anyones fault in the next three years then you must be very careful. A third claim and it can be three of no fault of yours, in three years and your policy will go up 50%. Consider on any further incidents in the next three year paying for it yourself, if it is modest, to avoid getting put in this box.
Lastly, and you will have to think about this a while because it sounds weird- have you considered trading it as is? I did (on the accident that I was injured on). If you have at all thought about a new(er) car now could be an opportune time. Here's why. If you give a dealer (with a body shop) your car and the insurance check you can get blue book, or as close to it as you would ever have gotten. Why? Because they can then repair it at their labor and parts cost which is WAY cheaper than they will charge USAA. So they get a car, albeit with a history, that is then made whole again and it cost them less than the sum total of the car and work. They can give you blue book (wholesale or trade-in) and they get a car costing less than that, much less. So even with a history on the car, they will dump it somewhere and make money.
If you keep it and later sell it you will lose money because you are selling a car that was in an accident. Of course another monetary incentive is that you are buying a car from them. I didn't dream this up. A body shop guy told me this and it worked for me. I got out of a heavily damaged car, not totalled, but got into a new car and it worked well. Food for thought. Feel free to pm me or email. Glad to cover any questions you may have.
Sorry about the damage, good luck and remember- you can have it repaired wherever YOU want. Not where THEY want.
Also, if you have another accident (anyones fault in the next three years then you must be very careful. A third claim and it can be three of no fault of yours, in three years and your policy will go up 50%. Consider on any further incidents in the next three year paying for it yourself, if it is modest, to avoid getting put in this box.
Lastly, and you will have to think about this a while because it sounds weird- have you considered trading it as is? I did (on the accident that I was injured on). If you have at all thought about a new(er) car now could be an opportune time. Here's why. If you give a dealer (with a body shop) your car and the insurance check you can get blue book, or as close to it as you would ever have gotten. Why? Because they can then repair it at their labor and parts cost which is WAY cheaper than they will charge USAA. So they get a car, albeit with a history, that is then made whole again and it cost them less than the sum total of the car and work. They can give you blue book (wholesale or trade-in) and they get a car costing less than that, much less. So even with a history on the car, they will dump it somewhere and make money.
If you keep it and later sell it you will lose money because you are selling a car that was in an accident. Of course another monetary incentive is that you are buying a car from them. I didn't dream this up. A body shop guy told me this and it worked for me. I got out of a heavily damaged car, not totalled, but got into a new car and it worked well. Food for thought. Feel free to pm me or email. Glad to cover any questions you may have.
Sorry about the damage, good luck and remember- you can have it repaired wherever YOU want. Not where THEY want.
03-08-2007, 07:30 AM
#18
......I would think about getting paid for the decrease in value on the car if at all possible....
Some states allow you to sue for diminished value, but many don't. I don't believe you can collect diminished value from your own Insurance company when you are at fault.
About nine years ago my son rear ended a car at about 10MPH when driving his Infiniti G20. The damages at that time came to around $2500. So at todays prices and with a Porsche, I would expect that the price would be in the $5K - $7K range depending upon if there are discoveries when they go to repair your car.
Anything is possible, but at such a low speed impact frame damage is very unlikely. The way it worked with my Insurance company is that I took the G20 in to their claims adjustor for an estimate and they wrote a check to cover the damage. There were discoveries when the car was repaired and the body shop worked directly with the Insurance company to collect for the additional repairs.
A for OEM parts, many Insurance companies have a provision in their insurance coverage that allows them to repair your car with other than OEM parts. So unfortunately your estimate will probably be based on the prices for substitution parts.
Good luck.
Some states allow you to sue for diminished value, but many don't. I don't believe you can collect diminished value from your own Insurance company when you are at fault.
About nine years ago my son rear ended a car at about 10MPH when driving his Infiniti G20. The damages at that time came to around $2500. So at todays prices and with a Porsche, I would expect that the price would be in the $5K - $7K range depending upon if there are discoveries when they go to repair your car.
Anything is possible, but at such a low speed impact frame damage is very unlikely. The way it worked with my Insurance company is that I took the G20 in to their claims adjustor for an estimate and they wrote a check to cover the damage. There were discoveries when the car was repaired and the body shop worked directly with the Insurance company to collect for the additional repairs.
A for OEM parts, many Insurance companies have a provision in their insurance coverage that allows them to repair your car with other than OEM parts. So unfortunately your estimate will probably be based on the prices for substitution parts.
Good luck.
03-08-2007, 07:52 AM
#19
Burning Brakes
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I also have USAA and will say they have authorized repair facilities where they will tell you to take the car. You can take it some place else but they will only pay for what the authorized repair facility would charge, that is the bad news. The good news is that they guarantee their work and will repair for free anything that goes wrong so ie you own your car for 10 years and in the sunlight 10 years from now you notice the paint has faded, all you have to do is notify and they will repair. This is my experience with USAA in Germany, may be different in the USA but doubt it.
Best of luck and sorry for your car but happy you are OK!
Best of luck and sorry for your car but happy you are OK!
Last edited by rountreed; 03-08-2007 at 08:55 AM.
03-08-2007, 08:41 AM
#20
Drifting
My personal experience with USAA has also been good. My only big claim was an accident that was my fault (on the race track). It was mildly amusing when I filed the claim.
"Where did the accident occur?"
"Oh - Road Atlanta"
"Nearest cross street?"
"There isn't one. It's just a big circle."
"What happened?"
"Hit the wall."
Anyway, that was about 7K (10 years ago) plus medical and I had to go back to them several times for more $$, never had a problem.
I imagine that there are few non-OE parts for a Porsche, so I wouldn't sweat that too much. I like the idea from one poster to keep all the pictures so that when you do sell the car down the road, the buyer can see what happened and what was repaired. And don't count on the comment that if there's no police report, there's no record of the accident - insurance companies do a lot of reporting on their own to insurance industry databases. I assume that CarFax gets most of their info from the DMVs but don't count out other sources. Again, don't sweat it, there's nothing that you can do about it now.
Best of luck. Oh - and next time, stay off the phone when you're driving!
Michael
"Where did the accident occur?"
"Oh - Road Atlanta"
"Nearest cross street?"
"There isn't one. It's just a big circle."
"What happened?"
"Hit the wall."
Anyway, that was about 7K (10 years ago) plus medical and I had to go back to them several times for more $$, never had a problem.
I imagine that there are few non-OE parts for a Porsche, so I wouldn't sweat that too much. I like the idea from one poster to keep all the pictures so that when you do sell the car down the road, the buyer can see what happened and what was repaired. And don't count on the comment that if there's no police report, there's no record of the accident - insurance companies do a lot of reporting on their own to insurance industry databases. I assume that CarFax gets most of their info from the DMVs but don't count out other sources. Again, don't sweat it, there's nothing that you can do about it now.
Best of luck. Oh - and next time, stay off the phone when you're driving!
Michael
03-08-2007, 06:08 PM
#21
Racer
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I also have USAA and thanks to my kids have had to make a few claims over the years. The most recent was replacement of a transmission on VW after my daughter ran it over a parking lot concrete curb. They are very good and if at all possible try to use their shop. It will make things easier. They are very strict with their repair shops and will not allow them to cut corners. Generally they pick the better repair shops in the area.
What I did find out though on the last claim, was that they will only authorize OEM parts for newer cars, after a car is so many years old, they will only pay for after market. With the VW I chose to have the work done at the VW dealer and there was a $300 difference between after market and OEM parts on a $2100 job. The dealer would only use OEM. The VW was a 2002 so at 4 years old they were already dropping back on what they would pay for.
I am sure they will explain the policy in detail to you if you ask. The current issue of Business Week lists them as the number 1 customer service champ in the US.
As for diminished value, you are really out of luck now. As a trade, your car will be substantially reduced. The suggestion to trade as is, might be a very smart move. You have to figure out the dollars and cents, but most Porsche dealers will really reduce your trade value if they know it was hit.
What I did find out though on the last claim, was that they will only authorize OEM parts for newer cars, after a car is so many years old, they will only pay for after market. With the VW I chose to have the work done at the VW dealer and there was a $300 difference between after market and OEM parts on a $2100 job. The dealer would only use OEM. The VW was a 2002 so at 4 years old they were already dropping back on what they would pay for.
I am sure they will explain the policy in detail to you if you ask. The current issue of Business Week lists them as the number 1 customer service champ in the US.
As for diminished value, you are really out of luck now. As a trade, your car will be substantially reduced. The suggestion to trade as is, might be a very smart move. You have to figure out the dollars and cents, but most Porsche dealers will really reduce your trade value if they know it was hit.
03-08-2007, 06:34 PM
#22
Burning Brakes
Sorry to hear about your crash! As you've to change the lights, bumper, fenders and hood anyway, why not going for a 997 conversion kit (seen on ebay for about $3K - unpainted).
03-08-2007, 06:41 PM
#23
Drifting
here's what u do as many ppl have already lined out:
1. take your car to some good places, check it out, get an estimate. make sure there's no things like frame damager.
your option:
1. repair the car to the org. spec.
2. sell the car as is.
3. put GT3 front, xenon lights. etc.
4. update front end to 996 MK II/GT3/997 whatever you want.
either way, you won't out big $$, maybe not ever your detectable.
1. take your car to some good places, check it out, get an estimate. make sure there's no things like frame damager.
your option:
1. repair the car to the org. spec.
2. sell the car as is.
3. put GT3 front, xenon lights. etc.
4. update front end to 996 MK II/GT3/997 whatever you want.
either way, you won't out big $$, maybe not ever your detectable.
03-08-2007, 07:26 PM
#24
Rennlist Member
based on my experience as long as it is just cosmetic and using all original parts and an excellent paint guy... easily 10k and as much as 14k. now i am sure you could get it all taken care of for $5k by scrimping and sell it off .. 
Last edited by Paul 996; 03-08-2007 at 09:47 PM.
03-08-2007, 11:58 PM
#26
Racer
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Got back from the shop that I use. Its a very hi-end shop, alot of porsche, ferrari and bently business, even alot of mosler and other exotics. In any case, there was a 2001 996 with almost identical damage already in there. The bill for it was up to $13k+. Their airbag deployed, mine didn't, so thats one difference, but for the most part very similar, probably looking at $10-13k ballpark. I dropped the car off and they will go thru it, and then also meet with USAA and sync up on a agreed upon initial estimate. I did notice drivers side fender was slightly buckeled, and where it meets the door is not all correct, so maybe a fender replacement on the drivers side as well.
Drove the car over to the shop, let go of the wheel and car tracked straight, no looseness or wierdness in the front end. Bad news is its probably 8-10 weeks of work. I have to wait to get parts in, wait to get on frame, then a week or two on the frame, waiting for paint work and things like that, the shop stays busy.
Found my litronics, just under $1400 for the set New. So I will get like $3k or so credit for my lights from USAA so that will help a bit.
Brian
Drove the car over to the shop, let go of the wheel and car tracked straight, no looseness or wierdness in the front end. Bad news is its probably 8-10 weeks of work. I have to wait to get parts in, wait to get on frame, then a week or two on the frame, waiting for paint work and things like that, the shop stays busy.
Found my litronics, just under $1400 for the set New. So I will get like $3k or so credit for my lights from USAA so that will help a bit.
Brian
03-09-2007, 03:03 AM
#27
Sorry about the accident....hurts to see it...BUT look on the bright side...go for a 02 conversion!!!
Look around on Ebay...I have done a conversion (without accident) and it is worth every penny!!
cost around 4K......you might have to repair the underbody damage first.
Look around on Ebay...I have done a conversion (without accident) and it is worth every penny!!
cost around 4K......you might have to repair the underbody damage first.
03-09-2007, 10:31 AM
#28
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BAsed on a similiar wreck of a friends 996 I will say $15K. His hood was not buckled as bad. The key to the whole thing is the trunk(hood) latch. When you hit something this hard and the hood buckles, it pulls the front support member back with it. That peice will have to be cut out and put on a frame alignment machine.
