Soulteacher

Thanks so much for all the feedback! Rennlist always comes through. I also received a couple of PM that were incredible. I'll wait until I get the insurance information from the police report and go from there. The most important thing: I'm feeling pretty well this morning.

peterm

my 996 was rear ended - didn't look so bad but I still ahd 20 miles to home, byt the time I got home you could smell the burning plastic as the heat shields were pushed up against the bumper

saltydawg

Sorry to be cynical, but beware of any PM's if they are coming from lawyers.

Soulteacher

You are going to get into trouble with the lawyers here... No, but they weren't... it was experiences from others who have gotten into accidents... important information for dealing with the other insurance when you don't want to use a lawyer.

ADias

I think that you should have the bumper removed and the attachments thoroughly inspected. It would be helpful to snap a photo of the structure behind the bumper cover and post it here.

MartyB

Yes Wolfgang - be very, very afraid. God forbid that you might get some free advice from those who actually know what they are talking about, versus some of the know-it-all mouse jockeys that exist in all corners of cyberland.

Minok

Thats, great, and all usefull information. By removing the info that identifies the source, would you be willing to post the 'experience' on the forum for us all to learn from (would the original PM writers be OK with that?)

I'd rather absorb that experience now, rather than having to ask for it again if and when I get into an accident myself.

Minok

Well, I'll pile in here and say that in this country, with litigation destroying what we call a health care system, as well as driving the cost of so many things up, I would point out that: just because you can do something does not mean you should do that thing. Life is a risky existence and we all get dinged occasionally and I'm not in favor of constantly making sure that every penny of a bad thing that happened to me get pinned on every other person.

saltydawg

The legal profession's reputation just below pond scum was awarded to them on the basis of their own actions. If the lawyers want to give free good advice, they can post it publicly rather than in a PM.

I have also had a prior accident. The end result of this accident was an avalanche of phone calls and letters from lawyers selling their services after they did their daily sifting through the public police records trolling for business.

I stand by my warning.

997, esq

, but let me just say that some scumbags, particularly on the plaintiffs-side, give the profession a bad name, but this type of general lawyer bashing is silly and usually reflects ignorance regarding the variety of services lawyers perform. Some of us do defend frivolous suits, defend the wrongfully accused, put criminals in jail, etc. OP said he got helpful advice via PM. Who cares if it came from a lawyer? Besides, I would bet that no lawyer who drives a 997 is itching to get involved in a case involving a glorified fender bender, and no one who is sane would want to pay the 997, esq's hourly rate to handle such work! There are a lot of reasons that you might not want to give "advice" publicly. It's generally not good to go around ***** nilly giving advice to people or broadcasting it to a bunch of people. FWIW, it looks like the OP is on the right track and that he can handle this situation by himself, but OP should not consider that statement advice

MichaelL

I don't think you need a lawyer here, unless you have injuries. The insurance company should pay diminished value of about 50% of the repair cost. Document everything in detail for the future.

saltydawg

997 esq, I agree with your statement. I have worked with several lawyers that have provided invaluable assistance in various business matters. Unfortunately, it is the ambulance chasing segment of the legal profession that has tarnished the entire profession. I should have not generalized my statements to all lawyers, and I apologize for that.

Soulteacher

Thanks so much again for all the feedback, everyone! Just as an update, I feel completely well physically and emotionally. Still remember the smack, though, and still can't believe it doesn't show up more, other than on the bumperettes.

As for the friendly requests, I will try to snap some pictures when they get to work on her - hopefully next week. I'm curious myself. I tried to get the police report today but it wasn't done yet. I've quit driving the 997 for now because I'm imagining all kinds of things (sounds and wobbles)... so my "what-is-supposed-to-be-the-DD" (an '08 Tribute) is finally getting a run for its money, after usually just standing and slowly decomposing in the garage...

Oh, and the two PMs I received were simply very kind and encouraging. Just nice stuff to say. Nothing that hasn't been said here either, and no lawyers. But I agree, 99.9999% of lawyers are cool. And you find scumbags in every profession, including mine. Actually, Clare's (my passenger's) father is a corporate lawyer in town... but as I said in my OP, I was just wondering if I needed an attorney's expertise or not... and I realize I don't. I'm not in to make any money. I consider accidents an unfortunate fact of life and since I hadn't had any kind of accident in 20+ years, I view myself very lucky. As long as I can still walk and talk and see and hear, I don't have anything to complain about anyway.

The weird thing: I found out today that my 76-year old mother had the identical accident in Germany yesterday (rear-ended while standing at a red light). She, too, hasn't had an accident in decades. And she, too, got lucky overall. But it took the cops 56 minutes to get to the scene (versus 1 minute in my case), and the only reason they came at all was because the other driver did not have any papers on him. At least he did not run, though, and didn't argue or anything - had just gotten his driver's license a couple of months ago, so he's still under probation, poor dude. Will probably have it revoked for a couple of months.

_Nathan

That's an important point. My wife's BMW had cosmetic damage after a minor accident and we had the hood replaced. The new hood was perfect but the paint job on the new hood is not nearly as good as the original paint. That was several years ago and it still bugs me every time a look at it! So remember that no matter how minor the body damage, a bad paint job can make your car look like sh*t.

MartyB

WOW! - the insurance industry propaganda got you hook, line and sinker, eh? A little hyperbole there? Malpractice insurers promise lower premiums on professional liability insurance in exchange for "much needed" tort "reform" (deform is more like it) legislation that is unabashedly designed to gut the civil justice system under the pretense that the ends justify the means. F**k the Constitutional right to trial by jury and all. Problem is, once the "reform" legislation passes, premiums don't even stabilize after a brief "payback" period - they continue to go up and insurance profits continue to set all time highs, DESPITE caps, immunity, etc. They sucker the unknowing public like you AND the medical providers. To seriously believe that the miniscule percentage of incidences of medical negligence that result in some sort of recovery by the patient has anything to do with our broken health care system is crass, plain and simple. Lawyers are below pond scum until YOUR wife/daughter has a horrific life-ending or life-altering outcome due to the medical equivalent of firing a loaded gun with your eyes closed in a crowded room.

Sorry for the thread hijack.