Vishal S

Thanks @philg3 @redbaron01 @TXSchnee @SilverSteel For such valuable advices, will be very helpful while battling the odds.
It is so unfortunate to be in a situation where I'll bear so much loss (emotional stress and financial aspect) for absolutely no mistake of mine, a careless driver came and hit me and moved on and did so much damage to me.

Shall I file a lawsuit against the guy, once the episode of my Porsche settles down?

SilverSteel

To file a lawsuit you must demonstrate some form of loss, and in this instance it would be financial, assuming no injuries or resulting medical bills.

Realize insurance companies are there to protect the insured that hit you, and they will do so brutally. You are entitled to be made "whole", And that means in the same condition you were prior to the accident, but that also means deductions for depreciation, and that's what hurts you. Your car is worth fair market value, adjusted for miles and its associated depreciation. For this reason, attempting to get the maximum you are entitled to is your task, both from your insurance company (comprehensive) and his. I would not "suggest" allowing your insurance company subrogate on your behalf, you can do better than they can as insurance company pretty much tell each other to pack sand.

You are in for a challenge, but your carrier will help you. Filing a case for loss is difficult if you are trying to get what you paid for your car, as it is not possible, and you would likely lose in court, and your attorney would tell you this. I am not a lawyer, nor play one on TV, but have experience dealing with insurance companies and lawyers in this area.

Focus on being grateful no one was hurt, and that is a big deal. Next, focus on getting the maximum amount of money for your car, and or repairs if they go that direction, and the reduction of value due to it being in a wreck, and the dealer can tell you what that'll be--get them to put it in writing, bill the insureds company for it, and trade that car in asap. If they total it, you'll get Fair Market Value, and that's it. Good luck.

KT88

My condolences on your loss. I suffered a similar hit two months ago, though not as severe to the rear door and no airbags deployed. Replacement front door $1,500 cost. May go without saying, but I'd advise being sure your dealer is, or refers repairs to, a Porsche certified repair facility.

Though I've not filed yet on my current accident, past experience proved how diminished value claims work depends on the state you're in. In Maryland, I hired a consultant ($300) to prepare the claim on a $13k repair to my wife's 2017 Q7. The diminished value determined to be $8k and while the other driver's insurance (Horace Mann) had been very difficult during the repair process, they paid $6k after filing the claim and a 15 min phone call. We traded the car a few months later on a 2018 Q7 and the trade value was almost exactly $6k less than it would have been without the Carfax hit. Luckily, in our case, it was a fair settlement.

HelpMeHelpU

Sorry for your situation and glad to hear everyone's OK.

From the photo, it appears it happened in Edgewater, which is less than ten miles from where I live.

I had an unfortunate run-in, so to speak, with a NJ State Trooper, who ran into the front of my 16-day-old (to me) 3k mile Cayman S several years ago. It was an unfair fight with his cow-shooer-equipped SUV.

I searched and found what appeared to be the body shop with the most super-high-end factory certifications, including Porsche, of course. Contact Joe at J&B Autobody in Mt. Vernon, NY and let him know the guy with the Agate Cayman S sent you. You'll be hard-pressed to find a shop that does more expensive work. Feel free to ping me for more details, and there is a particular detail I would like to share.

Regarding diminished value claims, there are some local attorneys who do that kind of work. I was not successful but it was more because I waited too long. DO NOT WAIT. I'd say you may have a 50-50 shot at collecting something on it, but much depends upon the insurance cos. involved.

Good luck!

Vishal S

@SilverSteel Thanks for sharing such valuable information I'll keep everything in consideration in coming days, Porsche POSIP deploys when other vehicle hits at a particular speed, trying to find that number in order to help prooving the other driver's fault. Thank much for your time and consideration.

@KT88 I'll definitely file a diminished value claim, Thanks for sharing knowledge on this, appreciate it.

@HelpMeHelpU I send you a PM, will connect there, Thanks for taking out time.

LSR

Sorry to hear of your misfortune. Based on my own experience, the best advice I can give you is don't think you'll get your car repaired properly just because you took it to Ray Catena Porsche. Find a Certified Porsche repair shop and don't let your car be repaired anyplace else. Maybe Ray Catena sends its body work to a certified shop, maybe not. Especially when it comes to possible frame repairs, I've been told by the certified shop I used (I didn't need frame work) that only a certified shop will have access to the equipment and tech to do that type of work. Whether that's true, I don't know. But I do know that to be certified by Porsche, a shop has to buy certain tools and equipment and go through Porsche training. That's got to be worth something.

911NV

If airbags deployed I would totally find a way to unload the car, even if that means suing for dimished value to the point the car is technically totalled. Airbag deployments is a permanent stain on a carfax and you will never be able to sell that car no matter how well repaired, at fair market value. Move on, order a new car.

ClassJ

If that is the mall I think it is in Edgewater NJ I am not surprised at all. The parking lot has a horrible design.

Vishal S

@ClassJ You are right, this is the poorly designed mazed parking lof of Trader Joe, by the river, no stop signs and a lot of intersections.

@911NV It's been assessed now, let's see where it lands, I am going to sue the guy anyhow for diminishing value, bought it with so much charm and passion we were among the first ones here in Jersey to build and pre-order 2019 models.

@LSR Ray C is horrible when it comes to service, neither them nor any other Porsche dealer has there own Collision Center, they all work with Porsche certified ones.

JCWLS3

Vishal, I wish you well on this. I think it'll come out fine. Based on the (single) photo you submitted, your car will not be totaled. It's too new, and the damage too light. Barring any hidden structural (unibody) damage, here's just way too much value in the car for repair costs to reach a threshold where it's cheaper for the insurer to write the car off as a complete loss.

That being said, one of my employees recently saw his wife tear up the entire passenger side of their 2012 Hyundai Sonata (she merged over into someone else driving a cargo van, in dramatic fashion, apparently). It looked like a wrecking ball bipped and bopped from the front fender all the way to the rear quarter panel. Windows were broken and the rear wheel damaged too.

Based on the fact that his car was eight years old and worth about two nickels, I was surprised his insurer (GEICO) didn't hand him a little check and wash their hands of the whole thing. Instead, they assessed the damage as repairable, and did just that. The car came out great. Looks better now than it did before the crash.

Keep us posted. Very disappointing to see that happen to you. We're all wishing you the best of luck. Definitely claim diminution in value -- smart of several people to bring it up. You may not get much out of it in this situation, but it never hurts to ask.

Vishal S

Hello @JCWLS3 ​thanks for the consoling words, appreciate it. I was waiting for your response infact.
Car is damaged only from the driver side, both doors are dented and unaligned badly, were not shutting completely, curtain bags popped out though also the knee bags.

Yeah I agree with you, just for this much damage, it's not practical to total the car. Funny story about GEICO, a similar incident happened with one of my colleagues few years back, he was also insured by GEICO

So we decided to go with: https://www.instagram.com/jbbodyworks/ it's a Porsche certified collision center. Big thanks to @HelpMeHelpU for his timely post, which helped us a lot in making the right decision, he is amazing.

Yes, we have very smart and caring members here in our Porsche Community, gave great advices, I'll keep the progress posted here, it's currently in the assessment phase.

Overall sad phase, it hurts when you are so possessive and some inattentive driver causes so much damage to you, I am going to claim the diminishing value definitely.

Thanks once agian.

Vishal S

Gentleman,

Just wanted to keep you posted,
Appraiser called me on Friday and mentioned that they have agreed on repairing the vehicle, the total estimated cost is $40,094.58, the estimated time frame for repair is 2 months.
Folks at J&B mentioned today that they have ordered the parts already, in the meantime they are going to unassemble the complete impacted area/parts to access any further damage.

Thanks everyone once again for all your support and valuable advice, it really helped a lot.

Mumbles

Hope your wife was o.k. in that crash.

May want to talk to your insurance agent about diminished value when the car is repaired. Good Luck !

JCWLS3

Damn. That's the equivalent of a loaded Camry for some strakes and dents down the side. Note to self: Based on your estimate, a door dent is four C-notes. Go ahead and put wife's Turbo in a Plexiglas box and just look at it -- from a safe distance.

In all seriousness, your car is going to come out great. It'll be a tough wait. But absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that.

Vishal S

Agree with you.
When we build+ordered this car there wasn't a single 2019 Cayenne S in any dealership to experience, After driving it for a few months I now realize the need for more torque. I'll still try to trade-in for an upgrade after it's repaired.

BTW, Parts cost is $24,210.86 and the Labor is $15,058.99 + some MISC.