Bashed up my front end
 

Yesterday I was heading into work from downtown Dallas towards Mesquite on I30. We were supposed to have had snow the night before but when I got up, no snow and roads were dry. For the first two miles the roads were completely clear and dry. Next thing I know I hit an icy overpass. I lost all traction and rammed the guard rail with the front left corner of the boxset. When I hit the rail it launched my back end around and I must have done two full revolutions before my rear wheels hit the curb and stopped me. It was morning rush hour on a major freeway filled with traffic all around me. I managed not to hit anyone else and nobody hit me. Even when I was spinning I was really zen and kept a check on everything around me. It was like a slow motion ballet. Very surreal. Very lucky.

Since the only impact was with the guard rail only the damage wasn't too bad. I'm looking at a new front bumper, radiator, wheel well liner and some paint and body work for the fender and rim. $500 deductible.



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Glad you're ok. We didn't get much snow or ice over in FW from that storm....sorry that you found an ice spot.

Your car doesn't look too bad given what could have happened. I'm sure it will look as good as before once the repairs are finished.

SB

Bummer deal. . .

Maybe time to modify/change front bumper?

i also had a recent front end / fender bender..... mine was not as bad as yours...but yours is still NOT bad.

i don't know how many rock chips you have - but my 2000 was full of them. the upside to the whole ordeal was that after my car came out of the body shop - they did a whole new front end respray / paint job - and my car looks like a new car.

also get a full blown exterior detail - a good one. the end result is a car that looks brand new.

makes lemons into lemonade.

if you ever wanted to upgrade to a gT3 bumper - do it now. i looked into it but it was too much $$. my bumper did NOT need to be replaced, only repainted. the GT3 bumper, the cool one, is like a $1500 part...the ones we have..the basic bumpers are like $500...so you will be fronting almost $1000 to "upgrade"...

unless you can find it cheaper. good luck!

glad you are ok.
My car's PO did the same exact thing, hit an ice patch on the highway and went into the concrete divider. he wasn't so lucky though (or me, I guess, since I bought his car unrepaired).
I replaced 2 airbags, 2 seat belt buckles, alluminum bumper support, bumper cover and some other things Im sure Im forgetting. No frame damage though.
Strange thing is, my bumper actually looked less damaged than yours does.
So be sure to remove the bumper and look for other signs of damage before you accept insurance offer. Consider buying a used bumper, you can get them for a coupel hundreed bucks, I bought mine for 50.
Good luck with repairs and post updates.

Oh, and what tires do you have...just so I don't buy them.
Thanks

That sucks, but it doesn't look too bad. Glad you didn't get hit.

I have Kumho tires. Not the top end but they're less than a year old. Still, I don't know if the best tires will do much for you when you hit ice.

Upgrading the bumper isn't really an option for me right now. I'd rather spend my cash elsewhere. And call me crazy but I like the look of the stock bumper.

My biggest upset is that my weekend project of installing my new JVC AVX77 is now on hold. :(

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I think you have more damage than you know about
 

And I'd get the frame straightness measured and the suspension both front and rear looked at. Cracking against a curb with your rear wheels can't have been good for the alignment and could have cracked something. Wheels could be bent. Even the tires depending on the angle they hit could have tread layer separation. It is the little things that go into making your car safe I'd worry about and get checked.

Been there, done that, totaled a Boxster driving on summer tires when I shouldn't have been, have the bills to prove it.

Sorry to hear what happened, but it could've been a lot worse given what you described.

Perhaps you can upgrade to the 03-04 bumper? I don't imagine it'll cost that much more.

So sorry to hear about that Tim. Glad you're ok. I hope the damage is just skin deep. Sounds like it very easily could have been much worse, what with all the traffic around. Find a good body shop and have them go over it with a fine tooth comb..alignment, wheels, everything. You don't want to be running around with something bent and not know it. Again, glad you're ok...the car can be fixed.

Bob

You can go 2 ways on the repair. Give it to a body shop and have them fix it or get a new or used front bumper and have it painted to match your damaged one now. Replacing the front bumper is about an hours work since it is only held with about a dozen screws. Now with it off you can check and clean your radiators saving mucho bucks. Jack the car and spin the wheels, using something to check for runout or wobble in the wheels, look for cracks in the control arms. I had a conversation with a Porsche mechanic about how the Boxster is built. He said it is like a tank, built to take use and loves it. :cheers:

If you need a shop in Dallas, Stuart's Paint and Body is known as a good place to have high-end cars painted and/or repaired. A lot of Porsche owners go there. http://www.stuartspnb.com/

I'd have to agree with the other posters that you really need to see what subframe damage or control arms might be bent from the way the car came to an abrupt halt.

Before I took possession of my boxster, it had been spun-out and the front end was wonky. I replaced a bent control arm on the passenger side and then had to put adjustable coilovers on it to get it straight again.

A four wheel laser alignment on a Hunter machine should show you very quickly if you have any damage to be corrected. Taking it to a body shop to see if it needs work risks being told "it needs frame straightening on our expensive machine" when it really only needed a control arm replaced or a four wheel alignment.

You should probably have all four of your wheels road-forced balanced too, just to make sure none of them were bent a little in the spinout.

You still got out lucky not hitting anyone or rolling the car. Most of the time a small fender bender in a boxster = totaled car due to the expense of the parts and labor.

I've got the original OEM front bumper, already in Seal Grey from my '02 Boxster, that I might be willing to part with... PM me if interested...

Thanks for the posts, info and bumper offer. At this point it's been in the shop for nearly a week. But I'll certainly look into Stuarts for any future work.

Farmers approved all repairs and they have all the parts now. New bumper, radiator, rim, wheel well liner, coolent flush and refill, alignment. I was kind of surprised they ordered a new rim. The lip must have gotten chewed more than it looked. I figured they'd just buff the rim out and repaint it. I took it to Hance Body and Paint on McKinney because it's close to my house. I should get it back by Friday.

:cheers: I get my car back tomorrow!!! :dance: Man, my appreciation for German engineering is reaffirmed after driving a Chevy Lumina for the last week and a half. I feel like I'm driving a cruise liner compared to what I'm used to. I am seriously jonsing for my boxster! Can't wait! Farmers Insurance was fast as lightning and has already settled the bill with the shop a day early.

Hey Tim, I had my front bumper painted at Stuarts a few months ago. They did a great job!!! It ran me about $700 (I think) to remove and repaint the front bumper. I just had some minor scrapes and rock chips and wanted to make it perfect.

Glad it's all worked out Tim :)