I haven't called the insurance company yet. Some guy cut me off from two lanes over and I hit him hard enough to pop the airbag. Hood is bent... etc...

Anyway, do I need to be ready to discuss a diminished value issue with them in the AM? How about loss of use?

Oh, I'm in Austin. Where do I get it fixed? I assume Farmers will have no idea how to fix a car like this.

 

sorry brotha I feel your pain
at least no one was hurt.
hope your car is restored soon.

 

Ouch!

 

Every Porsche owners NIGHTMARE! Sorry man.

There was a thread titled "Diminished Value" last month. To sum it up, the concensus was 10% -20% reduction due to an accident. Of course getting that could be another story.

Good Luck

Ken

 

guessing that yours isn't the first P-Car Farmers has had to take care of.

 

Berli's in Pflugerville deals with high priced cars - outstanding work. May take a while though since they are usually backlogged. Ask for Chad.

http://berlisbody.com/

 

Keep in mind that insurance companies have the info to get cars repaired to their satisfaction , not yours or what the policy allows on the other end of the contractually compliant range.

 

Don't even get me started on Farmers. A woman sideswiped me in November and we're still playing games. Fortunately, for both of us, not the Porsche.

 

Yes ask for diminshed value from your insurance company. They'll know what you're talking about it being a P-car and with the damage you describe it definately should apply. You gotta ask for it tho...lots of guys don't ask and they often don't offer it if you don't mention it. My wife's last Cayenne S was hit back in 2010 by a hit and run driver and we claimed diminished value and got about 8% current market value reduced I think by the calculations.

Sorry bout your car but whomever fixes it make sure they do it right and have worked on Porsche's before otherwise you may have "other" issues. Also remember that your idea of properly repaired and the insurance company may differ so be prepared! GL

 

Sorry man... I've used Berli's for my wife's Lexus(rear bumper) but I really like the work Sterling did on my old M3 years ago. http://sterlingautocollision.com/#home They were meticulous and took a month but they made it looked better than new. Not sure if they are still restoring/repairing Porsche, BMW, Ferrari lately. BTW, my accident did not show on carfax even though Sterling did $9K in body work and my indy did $5K in engine - everything covered by Allstate. The true test was selling the M3 last year. No one could tell it had been in an accident including Carmax. Good luck with the repair.

 

It's becoming nearly impossible to drive our beloved cars without getting it damaged on the road with all the craziness around us. We all empathize with you/your car. Have it checked thoroughly for chassis damage by a certified Porsche repair shop that your dealer uses. Thankfully you are okay.

 

Unfortunately, right before Christmas, a woman hit my car with a Chevy Tahoe while I was stopped at a stop sign....a significant impact and the car held up wonderfully and I was unhurt.

But my car incurred some significant damage and it's not as simple as using the body shop that Porsche recommends. Consider them but do your own investigation. I visited many body shops including the one my dealer recommended and was not satisifed with any of them including the dealer recommendation but I felt stuck with them.

Then while on another forum someone (lovely, generous and caring people that populate out Forums for the most part) suggested one that I called and spoke with and they have my car now and I'm thrilled that they do. They've been wonderful and their customers rave about them all over the internet.

A few years ago a good friend of mine and a salesperson for Porsche who sold me many cars over the years told me something that makes a lot of sense now. He said to me "Tom if you drive 12-15K miles a year you can't own a Porsche......lease them but don't buy them because if they get hit and you own them you're screwed. Buy a Porsche when you're retired and drive 3-5K a year"

To which I said "then I won't be able to afford one" but that's a different discussion.

I was going to disregard that advice and buy my current Porsche at the end of the lease but obviously my plans have changed.

Good Luck to you and I know you'll have your baby back soon.

Tom

Good Luck to you and

 

Almost took one in the face this morning. Needed to take the daughter to school so we jumped in the Porsche since it would be warmer (garage). Took the long way home since I already had the car out. Made a left turn to go north on state route 68 when I realized I was looking at head lights in my lane! Some idiot in a civic was passing pick up and was doing a very poor job of it because they were neck and neck at a high rate of speed. Luckily , for me, the civic cut back into the pick up and he went into the ditch and gave me a hair cut. Got home popped a beer and told work that I would not be in today. I'm doing laundry.

 

Terrible news.

About diminished value. My response would be to strive to find a suitable place to take the car so it is fixed right and comes out with as little DV as possible.

As for whether the ins. co with go along with the DV... hard to say. In some cases DV is excluded in the fine print.

Farmers like most ins. co's will want you to take the car to a shop with which it has a business relationship. This may not be a bad thing as most ins. co's do business with almost every body/repair shop at some time or another.

A risk of doing business with a shop that gets alot of its work from any one company will be the shop will be under pressure to cut corners in repairing the car.

Some shops are better at dealing with this pressure than others.

You want to make sure you take the car to the best shop, one that will see the car is repaired correctly. In CA the wording as something like "as good as humanly possible."

Search for a shop that is a Porsche Approved Collision Center.

Briefly, the shop will partially tear down the car, removing the front bumper cover, the wheels/tires and putting the car on a Celette Bench. On this bench the shop will then determine how 'bent' the car is, which hardpoints (if any) are out of position. (Porsche's tolerance on the location of these hardpoints is quite tight.)

It is at this time the most accurate estimate of the damage the car has sustained will be made and the most accurate estimate of the cost to repair the car made. It is not uncommon for the initial estimate to double or more.

To keep any factory warranty in effect the car must be repaired by an approved shop. The replacement parts must come from PCNA. No salvage or aftermarket parts allowed. The parts must be bought through a Porsche dealership. The parts must be installed by a qualified Porsche tech and any related systems -- like the cooling system or the A/C system -- must be worked on by a Porsche tech. Body shops are notorious for not doing this work right. They know their body/paint work (or at least the shop you choose should know these) but for mechanical systems you want a Porsche tech working on those.

Before the car can be declared road worthy a Porsche tech will have to examine the car. At this time he can advise you if he finds any repairs not up to snuff.

I had my Turbo treated to this and in fact had the Turbo's front bumper cover removed by a tech at a Porsche dealership and the tech spotted several issues 'hidden' under the bumper cover so back the car went to the body shop.

Clearly, the body shop had failed to have the car's hardware under the cover done by a Porsche tech. I raised a bit of heck with the body shop and the dealer which I had trusted to oversee this work and the car came back in perfect condition.

Unless you have rental car rider or loss of use rider with your policy you will probably be on the hook to supply yourself with a car while your car is in the shop.

If the other driver is at fault and of course he and his ins. co accept responsibility, you can approach the other ins. co about getting a rental car to use while your car is in the shop.

Sincerely,

Macster.

 

Texas law gives you the choice to take the car where you want to take the car. Call you local dealer and see if there is a Porsche Certified shop. My last understanding was there was one one in TX and it is here in Houston (Spring). PM if you need their phone number.