rogazilla

2 weeks since I bought the car and it has been emotional roller coaster.

Car window and door lock resolved after the new battery but I think I have seen the central lock light comes up twice in the middle of the drive, not sure what it is about... Will keep monitor it but window has been ok so far granted I think I need to find some time and lube the covertible top and the window? today everything is a bit difficult to move up and down.

Last Monday after work... gorgeous day and I put the top down after work and someone rear ended me in a stop and go I immediate panic but fortunately it was less than 10 mph and now I got crack (spider webs) in rear bumper. Went to the shop on Tuesday and they believe its all cosmetic. We are still waiting for the estimate

I looked up all the possible damage and i was sick to my stomach but I put another 300 miles since then and the car still drives beautifully.

800 miles later I am more used to the engine, the shift point and the clutch. The car felt so much smoother that I am used to it and I am getting used to the control and more and more in tune with this car now.

Tires arrived and will try to have them put on this week. Bought the Screw on filter adapter, oil filter and magnetic drain plug from LNE. Will do an oil change as soon as items arrive. I am at almost 7000 miles since the engine was installed.

What do people use to lubricate the convertible top? Is there anything to do to lubricate the windows? Both windows make some squeeking noise today when moving them up.

Also last 2 fill ups, after about 7.5 gallons it trips the gas gun and I have to pump about 0.6 gallon at a time until full. I searched and found several threads on this. checked E6 fuse which is fine. Wonder if the magnet thing was knocked lose when rear ended?

808Bill

Glad to hear you're enjoying your car, Sorry about the fender bender...

gnat

Sorry about the rough start. You should probably get your security module checked out. Sounds like a PO might have gotten caught in the rain with the top down and the module got wet. Odd things happen as it starts to go and it's probably best to know now rather than having it leave you stuck somewhere and it refuses to crank...

On your bumper, I've had a few in the 996. Don't be shocked if it comes out in the 2-3k range. If the paint has spidered then the plastic flexed. After it does that it doesn't always hold paint well. Might look fine when it comes back, but there is a good chance it will flake and peal in a couple years. Just make sure you get a good shop to take a look at it for you.

Richard Bedard

That sucks and i know for sure, i was also rear ended after two weeks of ownership last summer
7k (canadian) of cosmetic damage

rogazilla

Ouch! I took some pic but its really hard to see the damage on mine... I need to re-take later today.

Good to know about possible rain damage because I am not even sure where to start. Thank you Gnat.

Oh I also bought the front bumper plug

Kris Murphy

Sorry about the accident. I had the same thing happen to me right after I purchased the car.

Cracked tail light, cracks in paint in the bumper, and the worst part, 2 cracks in the Aero Kit wing.

All, in all it was $7500 in repair for damage you really needed to look for. It was originally quoted at $2500 which is why I did the repair. As they did the work, they ended up needing to replace the bumper, and paint all of the way up to the doors to get the paint to match. Had I known it was going to jump to $7500, I'd likely would have lived with the very small damage and pocketed the $7500.

rogazilla

That's my biggest fear... once the opened up the back and find things bent or crunched in. Estimate came back for sit as it is now its $1400 which seems very reasonable. The person who hit me is submitting a claim to her insurance company since it is more than she thought it would cost. Now I wait for the insurance company to call me. I am hoping they are not going to make me take the car to another place and the extra run around.

wyovino

The way it worked for me (three times, unfortunately) is that you it take to a place they work with to get an estimate. If you have the work done there, they will cover any extras that they find out about during the work. If you want to take it elsewhere, the insurance company will write you a check for the estimate and you can do what you want with the money. If other items are discovered during the process you will have to fight for extra money

groovzilla

Bummer - When you go thru insurance it will show up on the Carfax which is another bummer.

gnat

That's what they want you to believe so that you'll use their shop which they have cut deals for lower estimates and final totals.

Go to a good good shop and you'll get all the same warranties and promises. They'll also take care of any supplements that are needed. You rarely have to get involved if you have one of the big insurers (Allstate, USAA, Progressive, Geico, State Farm) and are using a good shop.

You simply get the original estimate from the insurer's and then tell them where the work will actually be done.

gnat

Don't count on that. Our's has 5 claims (4 rear ends) through insurance and 3 had police reports. Carfax still shows it clean as a whistle.

rogazilla

Talked to USAA rep last night and they scheduled me an appointment this morning at a big chain body shop here locally which has decent reputation. Its where local dealership take their cars to or recommend.

The rep was very upfront and told me after I get the estimate from their approved shop, I can still take it to places I want to have worked on my car but we will work out the detail from there (I guess that's when negotiation and will make sure I get detail on if they found more damage after they took the bumper off).

carfax will be a little bummer but I will make sure I keep all receipt and pictures to show potential buyers... I do intent to keep this car for long time to come so it is not too much of a worry.

wyovino

I know you don't have to go to their shop but that's the path of least resistance. In my case it was the service department of a BMW dealership so I wasn't overly concerned that they were going to low-ball me. I took it to a shop that I know to have the work done and they did it for less than the estimate/payout.

gnat

The one time I took a car to USAA's preferred shop (was having a tiff with my normal guy) I went to pick it (my old Escape) up and as soon as we walked out the door to go look at it I could see a giant bubble in the paint from like 40' away. This was the area they worked on.

The shop actually tried to say they worked on the other side and I had to call USAA. For all their "we back the work...blah blah blah" they tried to side with the shop until I sent them a picture and they finally read the claim to see that it is indeed where they had "repaired" it.

Also turned out that they just slapped a bunch of body filler on it (probably painted too soon after which caused the bubble in the first place) rather than replace the bumper skin like they were supposed it. Their answer to that was that I obviously had other work done at an inferior shop. Again USAA backed them on it, but I chose not to fight it as USAA was replacing the bumper again anyway.

The best advise I can ever give is to find a good shop that you can trust, become friends with the owner, and then hang onto them for life. It will save you a ton of headaches.

wyovino

The best advise I can ever give is to find a good shop that you can trust, become friends with the owner, and then hang onto them for life

+996. I have mine on speed dial.