boolala

Ouch!

That hurts just looking at it....

raffi

plus loss of use and rental car. then there is the neck injury...
any other tips would be helpful mglobe.
my mom had a dv and loss of use case about a year ago for her brand new sl500.
she had a guy that specializes in this stuff help her out a great deal, you pay like 500 bucks to some appraiser after the repair and he decides how much less the car is worth.
i am going through something similar, looks like the OP's damage was to the same area as mine but greater impact.
they are changing out my front fender, repairing bumper, blending paint into the doors hood etc. also radiator damage, initial estimate is around $8K

nkhalidi

Of course the body guy would say that: he has a buck to make. Now that you used the phrase "total loss" with him, he's going to lobby the adjuster to let him mend the car. If you really want the car totaled, it'll probably be an uphill battle between you and the adjuster. Adjusters and body shops are practically peas in a pod; adjusters are the main sources of income for body shops.

I remember a body shop in Miami I visited after a kid ran a red and hit my old Audi, and I asked about getting the car totaled. The shop gofer laughed and told me that they NEVER totaled out cars, as if it was a bragging point.

Hopefully the other guy's insurance company (the gov't) is paying your medical bills as well. Best wishes.

eilig

It is indeed a 2005 launch car. Only has 8,800 miles on the odometer.

X-rays came back negative for any neck fracture, so that's great news. If I'm still feeling this way in another week, they'll do an MRI.

Just got off the phone with my State Farm Agent. When I brought up the topic of Diminished Value, she took a slightly sour tone, and told me that my contract with State Farm only provides that they return the car to the condition it was in pre-accident. I asked if they would subrogate against the negligent party on my behalf for recovery of Diminished Value. She stated that I would have to take this on myself, as this is not something they would do. She also mentioned that if I chose this route, she'd advise very strongly that I wait and take it up later, once everything is complete -- else it might have a negative impact on State Farm achieving a successful subrogation process.

Could it be that laws regarding Diminished Value vary state to state?

Also, I asked if the estimate is in. As it turns out, the estimator at the Porsche-Certified shop where I took the car is "certified" with State Farm as well. The shop is a "select service shop" with State Farm, which apparently means they have carte blanche to proceed with repair, and State Farm doesn't even need to send their own estimator over to look at it. When I spoke with the manager of this shop the other day, he said that he won't know the exact dollar amount until he gets the car apart, and is able to fully see the extent of the damage under the body panels.

Wish only the driver's side airbag had deployed. Like you said, it would have reduced the amount of damage to the interior. And maybe my ears wouldn't be ringing so loud!

Streamlined

Don't forget to keep track of all time you lose off of work (even for Dr. appts) and any other ways the accident and injury has impacted you; they will compensate you for time lost from work (other things might be considered punitive but worth tracking) it is much easier to note it along the way then try to go back and remember it later.

I would advise getting a lawyer involved quickly just to be sure your best interests are covered and all the details attended to. The insurance companies are simply going to try to settle it as cheaply and quickly as possible and the reality is that you do not really know at this point how long a haul it is going to be dealing with all of the related issues resulting from the accident (your health as well as being certain the car is repaired to your satisfaction). In my case the soft tissue and disc issues took a long time to deal with, you just never know.

I think they should cover the rental on a car 'on the level' of your 997, you might want to check into this.

Good luck, I hope you recover quickly, I don't wish the long term pain I had on anyone.

THPorsche

Check with your policy, rental car expense is addtional to your basic coverage. I declined that option as I do have an extra car to drive and they only give you like $20 per day anyway.

Streamlined

This is true, although with my State Farm rental policy I'm pretty sure we get more then 20 bucks a day - however what I meant is the insurance of the at fault party that caused the accident, not his policy. I think his insurance can obtain that for him, or at the worst I think he will get remunerated after the fact - something to check on with insurance and/or lawyer.

spiderv6

Does this mean the shop is used to dealing with Porsche? I had to replace one fender recently after a minor ding (cost almost $3K) and I argued with the insurance company to take it where I wanted, not them. Ended up taking it to a shop used by the local P-dealer and recommended by the local P-club. I wasn't happy letting the insurance company decide where it gets fixed - at least in NJ they can't force you to use "their" shop.

I certainly felt a lot better pulling into the shop when I saw a row of P-cars and other high end marques.....

texas911

It doesn't look TOO bad. But its going to be on carfax forever, so definitely get the reduced value taken care of. We're not talking about a Honda Accord here.

Good luck with your pain. Make sure to document it all incase you something serious comes of it.

YYC930

Glad that you are OK bud !!!!

Airtbags are pretty impressive when they inflate eh ?

BC

Immediately going into subrogation mode when you are in a not-at-fault accident, is not always the best plan for future reference. Immediately calling the offending person's company is number one, and then only if there are problems do you involve your own company.

mdrums

WOW, those are sickening pictures..what a mess. I see your car is from Brumos Porsceh with the Hurley Haywood sticker. i was just there on Tuesday poking around and taking pictures of the race cars on display.

mglobe

I had a similar response from insurance when I raised the DV issue. They will try to down play it, pretend that they don't do that sort of thing, tell you it's really a nominal loss of value anyway, ... From what I've read, there are differences from state to state on the issue of DV, so you might want to research it in your state.

I had the same experience also with respect to the repair costs. They just can't tell until they get the car apart. I think stuff is so tightly packed in there with the Porsche's that it is very hard for them to know what has been damaged until they dismantle. It leaves you feeling very uneasy as they take your car apart without telling you what it will take to fix it. I wasn't able to, but hopefully you can relax about it. It all turned out fine for me in the end, and I'm sure it will for you too.

Hope your neck feels better soon.

DJ23

I can't believe that this isn't a total. For you legal guys out there what criteria do you have to satisfly in order for a car to be "totaled ?" You can't tell me they can put this car back to the exact specifications it originally was. Take a look at my $10,000 repair including new alignment and my insurance company didn't have dimished value coverage. I have Travelers by the way. The only nice thing is that I was able to get my $500 deductible back through subjugation.
Hope this all works out well. Good luck.

Jay

OCBen

It really doesn't look that bad after seeing the pics. From your "heavy front end damage" description, I was expecting to see the entire front end crumpled. But it's only the right front corner that was damaged. Far from being totaled.

The right front fender will need to be replaced, as well as the bumper cover, and possibly the hood, though it looks repairable, as far as body panels are concerned. I'm guessing $15k, give or take 5, from the visible damage. If the frame is slightly off they can straighten it back to full spec with the special machines they have nowadays, but the frame may not have been affected at all.

I had a similar accident in my Z car and the frame needed straightening afterwards. After they put the car back together it was as good as the day before the accident. What sucks is being without your car for a few weeks, if it's your daily driver, as it was for me.

Hope you take it to the best shop around and hope you get it back soon.