North Shore 911

Sorry for the long rant here, but here it goes ……….. So here I am, feeling pretty smug thinking that my 2010 4S Cab is safely tucked away for the nasty Chicago winter, where it is (theoretically) safe from harm and protected for the elements. I was especially proud of myself for organizing permanent winter storage this year because I just had my whole front end resprayed and Expel film installed in June, with a full paint correction on the rest of the car. So having put the car into storage in November in literally perfect cosmetic condition, imagine my HORROR when I went to pick up my car 2 weeks ago as I walk into the garage and see this abomination:






As you can imagine, I was pretty p*ssed off to see this, so I immediately marched upstairs to the management office of the building to let them know that my car was covered in what I can only describe as a “cementy, salty, limey crust”.The manager of the parking facility (this is a 3-year old residential building with lots of seasonal parkers with high-end cars in their heated, secured facility) walked downstairs with me to see the damage, and she was appropriately apologetic for what had happened.Needless to say, I took a zillion pictures and a detailed video of the damage to my car, including showing the seam in the ceiling where this seepage came from, and the resulting impact on my car. The next step was to get her boss involved as I needed 100% assurance that they were gonna pay whatever it took to get this fixed.

Long story longer: They first said that they would clean it using the car washing guy that operates in their garage - but I said absolutely NO WAY, insisting instead that I would choose the shop to fix it myself (Ivan Rajic from LUSTR Detail who did the paint correction last summer).After I got a quote for the paintwork from Ivan (including a broad estimate on potentially removing and replacing the Xpel film in case it couldn’t be cleaned and if it needed to be removed and replaced), they said I would have to claim it on my insurance!I again said NO WAY, as this was 100% their fault as my car sat in their new, heated, secured parking facility. Then they said that they would pay my deductible, but I would have to claim it on my insurance.I again said NO WAY, as there was absolutely no way that I was going to let their negligence impact my insurance rates with a claim that is 100% on them (with 3 boys under 20 and 5 cars between us, that was gonna hurt).Then they told me to go ahead and get the work done to see what the final bill was, after which they would figure out their response.In the end, the total work came in towards the lower end of the estimate range as all of the paintwork cleaned up perfectly and only the hood piece of the Xpel film needed to be removed and replaced. Ivan did an AMAZING job, and here is my car when I picked it up yesterday after 4 full days of paint correction and film clean up:






I just sent them the final bill for the work. So while I now have a cosmetically perfect car again, I’m now in the uncomfortable position of not knowing exactly how the building owner/facilities management company will make me good on the repair cost. After securing 2 different spots for my cars, I’ve offered to simply take a credit on my account for the 2 spaces that I rent (for the 2010 4S Cab and the 1968 911L), or they can cut me a check. Yesterday they gave me all the right signals that they’ll cover it, but I don’t have that in writing (yet). Any suggestions from you guys on how I may be able to push these guys if they balk at covering the cost of this would be appreciated as I hope for the best but prepare for the worst.

The irony of the whole thing is the fact that I actually bought a brand new Porsche OEM cover back in September to use while I left my 4S in storage, but of course I never even took it out of bag, not to mention put it on the car. In fact, it’s still sitting innocently in my basement, mocking me every time I walk past it…. Needless to say it will get a full winter’s use next winter!

LexVan

Ivan is da man.

Did you store the car sans cover?

The work you did last fall probably saved you from further damage.

nwGTS

Flat_Six_

Smitten

That's a mess, but only slightly worse than I would have anticipated after a winter in an underground without a cover.

KingPinLasVegas

Just curious, What was the total bill to get the car looking great again?

LexVan

I'd say about $1,200 for the car, plus $200 for the cabriolet, and another $400 for the PPF on the hood. So $1,800-ish.

Petza914

Wow, I can't imagine the horror of being excited to get your car out and seek g it in that shape. If the cover you have us not a waterproof outdoor version, it might have actually done more harm than good as that concrete seepage would have saturated it and probably bonded it to the car even possibly embedding the weave or any wrinkles in the cover into the paint or PPF if fully clearbra'd.

It looks beautiful again though and hopefully the garage will step up to do the right thing and cover the full cost.

North Shore 911

Yup, Ivan did a phenomenal job ..... I think it was actually you and NW GTS who pointed me his way last Fall when I was looking for a guy to do the rear end paint correction to match my freshly resprayed front end, so this was the SECOND time in 9 months that he saved my 4S Needless to say, I'll be writing some very positive reviews and testimonials for him on FaceBook/Yelp/Google!

North Shore 911

That's a scary good estimate It was $2,000 all in between the paint correction and film cleaning/polishing, cleaning up the ragtop and replacing the hood film (fortunately all the other Xpel pieces on the front cleaned up really well)

justabout

EdwardB

North Shore 911

nwGTS

it will not. in fact, its not even that great an indoor cover for parking garages.
i know because I have the exact same cover (fit for a wing) that i've used the past two years and while the cover stops most of the big stuff I STILL get the very very fine dust that's in parking garages on my car. I took the cover off it a couple weeks ago and sure enough, tons of the fine dust on it.
probably a good cover in someone's private, attached/detached garage but not for public. Next year I'm covering it in this cover again, AND also tossing one of these over it.

captainbaker

I keep my Gulfstream in a hangar when its not in the air but even then, after a good wind storm the top of the wings and fuselage get a good coating of dust requiring a $1K wash.. Point being I recommend a pure cotton cover and then the silver Porsche car cover while in a covered garage. It will protect from leaking pipes, birds pooping etc while the cheepo all cotton cover will protect the paint.

PS. the all cotton cover can be a Cal King top sheet bought on the cheap.