I was at a light yesterday and someone rear-ended me probably about 10 MPH, I felt a pre substantial impact and the car jolted forward, when I went to go asses the damage it appears the 2 posts that are on either side of my license plate took all the damage and there is just a touch of paint damage.

Has anyone had experience with this? I'm going to take it to a body shop to get it assessed properly, Is there anything behind the bumper that could have gotten damaged? The rear bumper on my car seems softer than most other cars i can just push it in and it will depress easily.

Thanks!

 

Not trying to spook you or anything, but there was a thread a few years ago about a guy that got rear ended in a relatively new 991. The damage appeared very minimal on the outside, but when they started tearing it down it had frame bent and damage that was some crazy high amount. Make sure they look under the bumper cover and at the frame and etc. very well. It gets expensive quickly to repair damage in the rear end of 911s.

 

Sorry to hear it - I know how incredibly frustrating it is. Had similar happen to me at a stop sign...I was tapped at maybe 5mph and felt like nothing but hit at a bad side angle that did the damage you can see here.

They'll have to take off the bumper to see what's going on behind it, but can see in my photo here there was a tiny area that apparently needed patched (I took this shot checking on the car while being worked on).



I made sure the repair was done at a Porsche certified repair center and no expense was spared to fix properly. It was close to $3k for this little tap. I didn't effect anything engine or exhaust wise, really just cosmetics and believe the driver side post/bumper was replaced along with the bumper. I also submitted a diminished value claim on the accident and got around $1,400 from that - so know may be an option as well but believe this varies from state to state.

It sounds like with your situation were fortunate the posts balanced out the force of the hit minimizing damage, but will need to get the cover off to confirm the extent of the damage. I'm certainly not a collision repair expert, but imagine the posts will need replaced and a bumper cover respray. Good luck...

 

Yeah i'm looking for a Los Angeles area shop at the moment. Thanks!

 

Gee, this sounds familiar. Seemingly low speed hit but I felt impact, hard hit. The bumperette had some blue dye from the striker's license plate, but the rest looked okay. I was thinking the shock tube must have ruptured. So I took the rear bumper off and found all of this. The aluminum bumper did a great job of absorbing the hit . The bumper was replaced.

 

Here's that thread. https://rennlist.com/forums/991/7603...r-job-huh.html

External damage is barely visible at first glance but once the bumper cover was removed, frame damage was discovered. Requited engine removal and frame replacement. The good news for the OP is that the 997.2 has steel frame and I believe the 997.1 does too. The 991 has aluminum frame which requires all out replacement if damaged.

 

Dang, did not realize it was that long ago. Do you recall what the final bill was for that damage?

 

Thought the same thing when I pulled the thread up. Thought it was a couple of years ago. Total cost came to around $30,000 as I recall it. Hard to believe looking at that little dent next to the license plate but obviously turned out to be a big job, well documented at that.

 

There have been a lot of threads about this - but a 10mph rear end on a 911 can easily be a whole lot of damage with all the things behind the rear bumper.

I had to go through with it, and what was a small rear end for any other car was a 6 month $20k ordeal.

Whatever anyone else tells you - diminished value for a 911 that was rear ended is a real thing and I hope you have thick skin to fight it.

Did your seat belt cartridges go off?

 

Any component welded (not bolted) to the frame itself would be considered structural damage, so check all components immediately connected to the rear reinforcement.

Sorry to hear about this!

 

Yep, first est was around 1k. Took bumper off and all the bumper tabs and parts were broken, ended up well over $4k

 

Now I know why the 991 is lighter than the 997. I think i prefer being a bit heavier but more solid structurally and less expensive repair bills if I ever get hit.

 

There are a few Porsche approved body shops in LA you can look them up on the Porsche website. Collision consultants in Culver City is one of them. They are slow but good work. If the bumper reinforcement bar was also impacted be prepared for a potential engine out repair. Could be over 15k if that’s the case. Side mufflers could also potentially be impacted. Have them check everything. Take it to an approved shop that will be willing to fight for even minuscule things to be covered

 

Why?

 

Because I've been through it before.