When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
In Feb 2015, I was trailering my Cayman S to BGB Motorsports. In downtown Atlanra, where three interstates run side by side, the trailer got rear-ended. It wasn't hard and I knew the car was not hurt as it was forward on the TrailEx trailer, but I was in the middle of 8 lanes of bumper to bumper, stop and go traffic. The guy who hit me managed to change lanes and took off as fast as he could. There was construction on I-75 until Exit 218, McDonough, and from the Airport exit to the hotel in McDonough, I got four or five cars beep their horns at me. When I parked my pickup with the trailer at the hotel, I found the hit had broken the lock holding the ramp gate up in place and one ramp was sticking out 18 inches and the other 12 inches. Had the traffic allowed more than 25 MPH from downtown to the hotel, I probably would have lost the ramps on I-75. I put the ramps back in place and used rope to tie up the gate and made the rest of the way to Ormand Beach the next day without incident.
I parked at the hotel across the street from Motorsports Cresson in a spot I knew I probably should not have parked in (i.e. it was near another car rather than 1 mile away). It wasn't tight, there was plenty of space - but I was next to a Bubba. Sure enough, next day, massive door ding/crease - and bubba must have really tried hard to make his statement because there were TWO dings with his paint on them, in sequence.
Ugggh, hate to hear that. It's almost worse -- with mine you fix it, no question. With door dings I always weigh the "is fixing it worse than just leaving it?" question. But sounds like yours was un-leaveable.
I am sure your shop is Porsche Certified, but make 100% sure it is. The techs there should have gone to Porsche-specific classes. If they are not certified, Porsche will not sell them certain parts, so that kind of thing probably takes care of itself.
I would guess the damage is around $15k, but probably less than $20k.
Do not let the other person's insurance tell you how the work gets done. It is their fault, period. For example, if your shop wants to blend the paint from the bumper to the rear hatch (is that what we call that thing?) then they should be able to do it. It gets expensive because they will likely want to blend the hatch and both rear quarter panels. They will need to remove the rear window from the hatch to paint it. Some insurance companies will cry foul if a bumper is painted and the shop/owner wants the paint blended - it is them just trying to save money.
If any part of your exhaust is dented, they will replace it (it comes in halves so they don't have to buy the whole thing). Also, interesting to know that the PORSCHE lettering does *not* come on one nice strip, exactly and precisely spaced. The letters come individually. What my shop does/did is make a template of the original so they can put it back exactly like it came. However, not sure they can do that in your case. They may need to find another GT4 to get the lettering placed exactly. I would ask them about that, unless you want to take this opportunity to de-badge the car
My son is getting paint protection installed on his Fiat Abarth today. He was blowing off dust over the weekend and dropped the air gun and chipped a small piece of paint. He was "devastated." I was telling him he just needs to get over that kind of stuff because it is going to happen. I brought up many examples of mine over the years. I have a 2007 IS 350 that has never had a door ding. But, I was the biggest hazard to my own car - backed into a bicycle once putting several deep scratches on it, and scratched the front bumper pulling into my parking place at work by hitting the wall in front of me (for God's sake!). Then, of course, I got rear-ended in stop-and-go traffic. As I told my son about his Fiat, just imagine after spending $325 on a detail (hired a local guy that worked miracles on the paint) and another $2k on paint protection that you get rear-ended on the way home from the shop! You just can't control everything...
I am sure your shop is Porsche Certified, but make 100% sure it is. The techs there should have gone to Porsche-specific classes. If they are not certified, Porsche will not sell them certain parts, so that kind of thing probably takes care of itself.
I would guess the damage is around $15k, but probably less than $20k.
Do not let the other person's insurance tell you how the work gets done. It is their fault, period. For example, if your shop wants to blend the paint from the bumper to the rear hatch (is that what we call that thing?) then they should be able to do it. It gets expensive because they will likely want to blend the hatch and both rear quarter panels. They will need to remove the rear window from the hatch to paint it. Some insurance companies will cry foul if a bumper is painted and the shop/owner wants the paint blended - it is them just trying to save money.
If any part of your exhaust is dented, they will replace it (it comes in halves so they don't have to buy the whole thing). Also, interesting to know that the PORSCHE lettering does *not* come on one nice strip, exactly and precisely spaced. The letters come individually. What my shop does/did is make a template of the original so they can put it back exactly like it came. However, not sure they can do that in your case. They may need to find another GT4 to get the lettering placed exactly. I would ask them about that, unless you want to take this opportunity to de-badge the car
My son is getting paint protection installed on his Fiat Abarth today. He was blowing off dust over the weekend and dropped the air gun and chipped a small piece of paint. He was "devastated." I was telling him he just needs to get over that kind of stuff because it is going to happen. I brought up many examples of mine over the years. I have a 2007 IS 350 that has never had a door ding. But, I was the biggest hazard to my own car - backed into a bicycle once putting several deep scratches on it, and scratched the front bumper pulling into my parking place at work by hitting the wall in front of me (for God's sake!). Then, of course, I got rear-ended in stop-and-go traffic. As I told my son about his Fiat, just imagine after spending $325 on a detail (hired a local guy that worked miracles on the paint) and another $2k on paint protection that you get rear-ended on the way home from the shop! You just can't control everything...
I would not let a paint shop touch the quarter panels and disturb the OEM paint for a car with only bumper damage. Have them spray samples and check for color matching in different lighting until they get it just right, so that the bumper matches the existing paint.
I would not let a paint shop touch the quarter panels and disturb the OEM paint for a car with only bumper damage. Have them spray samples and check for color matching in different lighting until they get it just right, so that the bumper matches the existing paint.
The air intakes on my Carmine GT4 are slightly off color as the the bumper covers. Not much but if I catch it in the right light and look for it I can see it. It's not that unusual to have a very slight deviation in color on plastic vs. steel/aluminum panels. Also, I believe the bumper covers are painted at a different facility. All that said I agree with leaving the quarters alone.
Thanks for all the tips, guys. And Aryork, you win the prize. $16,300. Although that's not really a fair figure because there's a "hairline" crack on the wing and they're replacing the whole thing. The part itself is $6500-ish, plus prep, paint install.
They've budgeted for new "GT4" plus the template (I assume there's a factory template as there is for Carreras, but not certain of that.) Exhaust checks out fine, but a new "drive assembly" is required for the movable spoiler. Beyond that mostly the bumper cover, various brackets, paint, prep, remove and install the various lights in the bumper cover that weren't harmed.
As for insurance, I filed with Chubb, my carrier, and they'll sub with Allstate when its all said and done. Chubb is great and actually commended me for going to the expensive Certified shop I have used before (for paint work, never had an accident in a Porsche before.)
Also hired a company, Diminished Value Georgia, to inspect the car after repair and prepare a report to argue for a higher figure from Allstate. They are up-front estimating 9-11k for DV. I'm guessing 2500 offer from Allstate.
Spozed to be ready in "2-3 weeks" from last monday, dependent on parts arrival. I'm registered for a day at Barber Motorsports Park 9/1, so they better stay within that 3 weeks.
All in all, being the GT4 is a long-term keeper for me (and no, I never say that about Porsches -- this one is just different), this could be a big win in the long run. I had some rock chips on top of the wing when I bought it; visible in the RVM when the sun caught it right, and that was bugging me. So that will be gone. And getting a ten-k-ish check for DV, if that comes to pass, is a lot of nice sets of tires. And if I hold it as long as I feel like I will, the repaint won't be that big a deal to the next buyer, as it will have been tracked a good bit by then.
Allstate is THE worst for DV claims. I went through this with them a few years ago. I bought "lowballstate.com" and threatened them with a social campaign. They quickly decided to pay my number... website is just sitting there now. I used it as an axample on another DV claim with geico last year and they also quickly changed their tune.
Originally Posted by NoGaBiker
Thanks for all the tips, guys. And Aryork, you win the prize. $16,300. Although that's not really a fair figure because there's a "hairline" crack on the wing and they're replacing the whole thing. The part itself is $6500-ish, plus prep, paint install.
They've budgeted for new "GT4" plus the template (I assume there's a factory template as there is for Carreras, but not certain of that.) Exhaust checks out fine, but a new "drive assembly" is required for the movable spoiler. Beyond that mostly the bumper cover, various brackets, paint, prep, remove and install the various lights in the bumper cover that weren't harmed.
As for insurance, I filed with Chubb, my carrier, and they'll sub with Allstate when its all said and done. Chubb is great and actually commended me for going to the expensive Certified shop I have used before (for paint work, never had an accident in a Porsche before.)
Also hired a company, Diminished Value Georgia, to inspect the car after repair and prepare a report to argue for a higher figure from Allstate. They are up-front estimating 9-11k for DV. I'm guessing 2500 offer from Allstate.
Spozed to be ready in "2-3 weeks" from last monday, dependent on parts arrival. I'm registered for a day at Barber Motorsports Park 9/1, so they better stay within that 3 weeks.
All in all, being the GT4 is a long-term keeper for me (and no, I never say that about Porsches -- this one is just different), this could be a big win in the long run. I had some rock chips on top of the wing when I bought it; visible in the RVM when the sun caught it right, and that was bugging me. So that will be gone. And getting a ten-k-ish check for DV, if that comes to pass, is a lot of nice sets of tires. And if I hold it as long as I feel like I will, the repaint won't be that big a deal to the next buyer, as it will have been tracked a good bit by then.
I recommend you keep photos of the damage and repair work if possible and all repair documents for future buyer. Accident will no doubt show up on Carfax with no details so buyers always assume the damage was worse than it actually was.
Got the car back yesterday. Looks perfect. Local DV appraiser (a 3-Porsche owner himself) came in at $6000. Should get Chubb's DV offer next week.
One item that puzzles me:
Repl Drive assy $1002.21 1.2 hours
I asked what that was and received this reply: "The drive assembly is the motor for the lower spoiler that raises and lowers it."
I wasn't aware the GT4 lower spoiler lip deployed, like a regular Cayman. I can't see it do so, haven't noticed a button for manual deployment, and none of the high-speed video I've searched shows it deployed.
Does it go up/down? I don't think so but don't want to look like a goober if I contact them about it. Then again, I'm probably looking like a goober to all of you, not knowing the answer to this question. I always assumed it was fixed.
08-05-2017, 05:13 PM
