Jeff928S4

2006 Cayenne S.

Got dinged in a parking lot last night. Slight "dent" in the rear bumper cover just below passenger side taillight and outer case of taillight assembly crack/broke/shattered (rest of taillight still intact and works fine). Definitely need a new taillight....bumper cover seems fixable.

What I ultimately want is the smokey/darker taillights - I did try painting the lenses last summer with the black paint, but ended up getting pulled over because the parking lights/taillights were too dim.

Here are my options......

1. Pay the $500 deductible, let some shop order a new taillight/bumper cover (they will probably go through Porsche and the taillight/bumper cover would run way over the $1000 mark, plus the labor). I end up with two factory taillights, my insurance premium goes up, everyone else's insurance goes up because they don't know how to shop for parts at insurance companies and overpay. My cost is $500 Canadian.

Once I have the original taillights, I can paint them black again, but this time replace the incandescent bulbs for the parking lights to LEDS. I've seen many of these bulbs that claim they are simple plug and play, ranging in price from like $5 to $50. If these actually work, I'd need 4 bulbs total - cost would be around $20-200, depending on the bulb. I end up with factory lights, that are smoked out and have LED parking lights installed so they shine through the paint. May also need to do the reverse lights, as they are kinda weak normally and are quite bad through the black paint....total cost going through insurance and having blacked out/LED taillights will be around $600 perhaps.

Here is a link to the LED bulbs I mentioned - if anyone has experience with these bulbs, any info would be great!!

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/4-pc-1157-20...ally+Aspirated


2. I buy a single taillight off Ebay from a junkyard (probably around $250-300 Canadian after shipping). Remove bumper cover myself, apply some heat and remove the dent by myself. Do the LED/black out thing - total cost should be around $300-400 Canadian. I can source a new/used bumper cover down the road if mine doesn't come out right - I have seen them as low as $200 new. Even replacing the light/bumper cover myself will still be in the range of price as going through insurance.

3. Buy two already blacked out taillights (that have built in LED parking lights - and hope the reverse lights shine through the smoked lens - anyone who has the Eagle Eye or Anzo lights can chime in re how bright the reverse lights are). I would then sell my drivers side original taillight (and can sell the bulb holder out of the broken taillight). Cost for new set is around $400 Canadian - minus what I should get for my old taillight parts should put me around a total of $200 Canadian. With this route, I end up with non-factory taillights, but they are smoked and have the LED parking lights. Use the same plan for bumper cover as in option #2.

Below is a link to the Eagle Eyes smoked out taillights ($320 American after shipping).

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2003-2006-P...Make%3APorsche


So, what would you do?????

Stringbag

Jeff928S4

As it stands now - #3 is my first choice, but I wanted to get opinions on the other options too. I forgot to take a pic of the damage, but I will post a pic tomorrow.

Petza914

#3, but I like smoked taillights with LEDs so I'm biased. If they're anything like the Depo/Dectane offering on my 997, they'll be plenty bright.





Brake



Signal



Reverse



Running


I also lightly smoked both the headlights and taillights on my 928 since it's black to make them stand out less. There is an almost clear vinyl that's used for stone protection that has just the right amount of tint to knock off the vibrancy without compromising the light output.


Before



After



After



Before



After



HID lights are plenty bright through the light tint

Jeff928S4

I also have a 928 - never thought to use my lens paint on the 928. Mine is red though, so I'll have to see what it looks like.

J'sWorld

Let the person who hit you pay for it. Your insurance doesn't go up. You demand a new Porsche bumper. You fix the old one and spend the difference.

Jeff928S4

Yes, that would be best case scenario, but it was a ding and run. I came out of Winners and saw the damage. No note or witnesses.

Petza914

Does the business or another close by have security cameras that might have caught the event where you could review the video footage and see?

Jeff928S4

They do yes, but in calling the police, it seems that won't investigate too deeply on a fender-bender. I reported it, but then was asked "was anyone hurt" and when I said "no", they just replied that they would "look into it".

wkearney99

And get on this quickly as most cheap surveillance systems don't have a lot of long-term storage for video. The devices automatically roll over the footage after a certain amount of time (varies by unit). Best to get at it sooner than later. If it's a shopping center, check with the management company too.

As for the police, in most areas if there's not an injury it'll definitely fall into the very low priority queue (aka nothing will get investigated). What you've got there is is a hit-and-run, and that's a serious moving violation, at least here in the States. If you do some legwork you might be able to get the police to act on any info you collect. Otherwise it's likely nothing will happen.

Jeff928S4

So, I did some shopping and found what I believe is the best deal on smoked tail lights.

I found "CG" lights on CARiD for $314+$25 shipping - $339
Ebay has the "Eagle Eyes" for $250, but shipping/import charges to Canada are $65 - total would be $314.79

360Tuners has the "CG" lights for $303 (regular $432 - they are having a winter sale for the next two days). I also applied the "Al7" code and got $20 off. US postal shipping was free - total will be $282.70

Hopefully they don't take too long to get here.

P.S. - once these arrive, I will have a drivers-side Porsche tail light for sale and a passenger side bulb holder unit for sale.

Libast

I'd avoid filing a claim with your insurance and just buy second hand.