gpjli2

Obviously not a candidate for a paintless repair. Since her ins co will pay (enough?) the shop should not scrimp. A new skin may be best. Do NOT tolerate a wavy body panel. That will be murder on any resale plus it will drive you (me-I can spot that stuff from a 1/4 mile away) nuts. The paint is another issue. To match it they will likely have to paint all adj.(sp?)panels and blend. The longer you keep the car the less important the repair will become. Have it done right and to your satisfaction and it should be ok. Btw the dealer is always having dinged cars repaired and they will use the best shop. Be surprised how many new cars are marred in shop and in transport. Keep pix in case someone wants to see what the damage was later on.

Kuhan

Here's a story I just heard from a colleague - he bought a BMW new from the dealer and now he wants to sell it. When looking for a buyer, the Carfax shows accident damage hence a reduction in expected value yet he has never been in an accident.

Turns out that a bus ran off the road and hit about 15 BMWs that were parked at the BMW storage lot. The car he ended up buying (sold as new) had very minor damage that was just buffed out but it was added to the police report along with all the others cars that were hit.

This report of accident damage has seriously affected his ability to sell the car since all buyers just walk away (I guess there are no shortage of 2nd hand BMWs).

As a side note, BMW are not willing to compensate him for any loss in value so he's talking to a lawyer.

Leader

Yeah, Carfax has been a boon to buyers and a bane to sellers.
Minor damage, professionally repaired, shouldn't affect a car's resale value, but in today's market, it does.
My MINI Cooper S got clipped in the left front wheel. It was drivable after the accident. Initial estimates for repair = $2500. Nine weeks later, when it was finished the grand total was up to $14,000! Front wheel drive, and all that...
Wonder what that's going to look like on the Carfax when it comes time to sell it?
By the way, the car is good as new...not a rattle or a squeak, and I've put 3K on it since the repairs.
I'd crap if something like that happened to my 911. Very sorry for the OP's situation.

waiting for PDK

Its been a while since my college summer jobs at a body shop, but that dent looks really fixable. The steel door sheet should pop most of the way back to original [with pressure from inside] and might need a just a bit of bondo. The good news is that all the scraping seems to be pretty confined to the door. Black is an easy paint to match and blend so you should be in good shape. [Silver and lighter metallics are worst.]

If your car had to get hit, this is really about the best possible scenario.

You actually don't want a whole new door panel as it would have to be welded to the existing door structure and all the underlying rustproofing aspects will never be as good as factory.

BHMav8r

Talked to the officer today when I picked up the report - he said she blew a .21 blood alcohol.

sandwedge

I don't often sympathize with dealerships making excuses for paying less for the trade but I think Porsche has guidelines that prohibit them from certifying a used car that has had certain sections of the car repainted. Not sure exactly what those guidelines are but I'm pretty sure the quarter panels must have factory paint and the hood doesn't. Rear bumper must be excluded too since the -06 I just traded was certifiable despite both the front hood and the rear bumper having been repainted. I can appreciate that a car they have to tell customers can't be certified will be worth less to them.

gpjli2

Black may be easy to blend but it will show any repair using a patch. What looks worse than a rippled black panel? New door skin will certainly not weaken anything if done properly. I agree that replacing a panel is more intrusive but if it were my car I'd fight for it. But thats me.

Mike in CA

Very interesting.

Kuhan

I think I read it here but I believe they can CPO a car that has had one panel repaired/replaced. Any more than that and it can't be CPO'd.

BHMav8r

Do they replace the door skin or the whole door shell?

Macster

I do not know where you are and what the laws are regarding repairs in your area are.

In CA we are free to take the car where we want for repairs and the shop is required to repair the car as good as humanly possible. Further the body shop must warranty the work for as long as you own the car.

If the 'estimator' you mentioned above is in any way tied to the other driver's insurance company dismiss whatever he/she says.

The qualified body shop's estimator who is probably the owner of the shop will tell you what is required will give you an estimate, a written estimate.

Most shops use the same estimator software program to fetch parts prices, time to repair, prep, paint and reassemble.

Now the door skin may be pushed out but I do not think Bondo is appropriate to bring the door's surface smooth.

I'd argue a new door is required. Now what I've been told is the factory maintains very tight quality control on its body panel fabrication jigs/fixtures and body panels made today for the older cars fit just like the factory panels. The same goes for the newer models.

As a side note I've had several Porsches that have been involved in accidents. In a few cases initially the body shop went along with the other driver's insurance company and tried to find/fit salvaged parts. (This for a Boxster that was long out of any factory warranty.) The body shop of course found the salvaged part's condition unsuitable for use and the fit was terrible. The insurance adjuster was called back and viewed the car and then had to authorize a new body panel be used. It is a dance, a ritual that happens and the body shops are very good at this.

Anyhow, a new door has an undamaged skin. It has no bondo. The body shop will prep and paint the new door and once the reusable door parts from the old dor are transferred over and the new door hung and aligned you won't be able to tell the difference. Essentially there is no difference.

Sure, there will always be a stigma attached to the car after and you can't get away from that entirely. But you have pics that document the extent of the damage, and pics of the old door being removed, the new door ready to paint, the new door hung and all the paperwork from the repair, so you can show the prospective buyer the car has been repaired to factory.

This means you should do as I did and keep in contact with the body shop and arrange to visit the shop at various times during the repair process and take pics. I took lots. Neary 100. I have pics of the car torn down (bumper cover removed) and pics showing no damage behind the covers to the body. I have pics of the new factory parts with the factory labels/stickers on them. I have pics of the panels after painting. And pics of the final result along with of course pics I took of the car before anything happened so one can see the gaps/fits/paint before and after are indistinquishable. Sure it takes a bit of extra work but I get a car repaired properly and the repair documented.


If you want to go after a DV one trick the insurance company can use is to force you sell the car and then try to back up any loss of value. Thus you would have to know what the car would have sold for prior to the accident and then use this to determine any DV (as compared to say a drop in value due to the car's age and other non-accident related factors).

Without having sold the car before the accident you can't know what it would have gone for thus a claim for DV is hard to come by.

Or the insurance company will make a token offer just to get you to sign on the dotted line.

Get the car fixed right. Document the process through pics and paperwork. This is your best defense against any DV and further ensures the car will be just fine for the time it remains with you. This is after all the most important thing.

Sincerely,

Macster.