Accident claim....
 

So quick question. You get into an accident. It's not your fault the other driver's insurance sends a check basically compensating you for new parts accross the board, a considerable sum given the eye-popping cost of Porsche parts. So now the bodyshop doesn't want to buy new parts, save for one that can't be salvaged, because they feel they can fix the damaged ones, all this in an attempt to extract more labor fees to the point where they want to collect the entire claim.....hmmmm.

I'm awaiting a call from the bodyshop since I wanted clarification on exactly what work was going to be done before it's performed. This isn't a Maaco chop shop outfit at all, I've seen their work and its top notch.

How would you handle this?

PL, buy that expensive watch you've always lusted, spend the rest on APPL. Drive the Boxster into the ground.

It's your car.
It's your money.
It's your decision.
I.E don't let them do what they want. You're the paying customer at this point. You call the shots.

PL, did you read you own post? This is not consistant, at all.

Pics of the damage?

Why would you want/consider repaired parts, when being compensated for new parts?

like everyone's said - it's your money and your car. if they want to extract as much labor from someone tell them to find another customer. load the car on a flatbed and take it somewhere else.

^ Basically there's bodywork that can be fixed vs. buying a new panel, I wouldn't trust a lesser shop to pull this off. But obviously they command higher fees much like a surgeon who leave you without a blemish after surgery. But it's still not anywhere near the cost of buying a whole new body panel, at dealer cost, and then charging labor on top of that. It's probably triple the cost for the same outcome. The insurance company settled the claim by simply paying for the new parts. If they decided they were going to force only one repair option on me then obviously I wouldn't be okay with that since I didn't cause the accident and shouldn't be forced to play by their rules. In the case of a sale I would fully disclose that there was body work repair and show pics and I couldn't really do otherwise since it's now on the car history eport. It would be up to the buyer to decide if he wanted to take a pass. But affter spending well over $13K in maintenance, repairs and upgrades this year I don't see the logic in spending it all at dealer parts rates.

I didn't have chance to take pictures. I took the car to my mechanic right after the accident to be checked out for further damage and the bodyshop picked up directly from them right before Thanksgiving. They agreed to take before and after pics. I've haven't had the car for over a month, which is really getting inconvenient now.

This +1 .. =]

As outstanding as the workmanship of this shop might be .. will the result come out better than new parts from Porsche ? .. doubt if there's any improvement that it will be worth 3x the $ for you.

If it was my car, I would definitely at least threaten to take it somewhere else.

Sounds like a shady shop to me if they make these kind of recommendation... as everybody already said you're the customer so they should be listening to you.

I'm not a body repair expert but there are shortcuts for them to quickly "repair" your car than buying new parts. Could be a lots of bondo underneath the shiny new paint, how exactly do you prove it's good work?

From a technical standpoint, the steel used on car bodies is galvanized, which is a zinc plating. Zinc flakes off when the metal is bent and you lose the corrosion resistance it provides. Most of the time, the paint that's applied to a straightened body panel is water tight and the panel is protected, but it's not as well protected and if the paint wasn't applied right or it's not a great paint, then there will be corrosion problems in that area.

So fixing a dented panel is never as good as a new part from that standpoint.

This shop doesn't do those sort of bondo chop shop repairs, it's not a "volume" type shop either. The owner was formerly in charge of body work for a nearby Porsche dealership and the recommendation came from a well-regarded Porsche expert. I had color-matching concerns so I wanted to make sure I was dealing with someone who had a great deal of experience on these cars.
I think the issue here is that like repairing the car through an independent vs a dealer, the costs for bodywork can vary in an extreme way for the same outcome. I don't want to pay the dealer rate if the cost/benefit doesn't justify it.

I hear you on the corrosion protection but our enthusiast cars tend to be meticulously waxed/maintaned and stored in garages. So I'm not that concerned on that end. These guys deal with a lot of vintage Porsches where long-term durability would definitely be important so I don't doubt the quality of the paint work. I just don't want to get hosed and I'm glad I got the check rather than having the bill sent straight to insurance company.

It's Simple
 

It's your money. Get what you want.

The body shop should have told you exactly how the repairs were to be accomplished before work was started. I had my front fender replaced with a moderate amount of damage, because labor is so expensive. But this was all agreed apon as part of the price quote. There is no reason for this to change after work has begun.

Few, if any Porsche dealerships have a body shop.

But, you don't have a garage.

The dealership (also does four other luxury brands) doens't have a body shop but they have a long-standing realtionship with an shop that does all of their work. I visited this myself after talking to a service manager at the dealership. One location was to fix and prep the cars and another location nearby was where the painting was actually done. Very high end cars like Maybach and Aston Martin. I asked for a quote for some minor damage on that day, non-insurance related, and the quote was about 7x's the average I received from all others.

I don't follow your second point.

Unless a person simply wants to pocket the cash, it's never a good idea to accept payment directly from an insurance company; particularly when you're not at fault . Rather, it's better to go to the shop of your choice and get a thorough appraisal . If you're satisfied with their assessment, you can sign what's referred to as a "direction of pay". In turn, the other person's insurance company will send an adjuster out to meet with your shop and agree on a price to fix your vehicle. A good shop will handle the whole process for you, and act as your advocate - seeking the maximum amount possible in order to get the job done right . Moreover, if the shop subsequently discovers that additional work or parts are needed, they can request for the adjuster to come back out to reassess the damage and authorize additional payment . This is referred to a "supplemental" . For future reference, whenever an insurance company pays out a claim directly, in their mind they have essentially bought off the claimant . Once a person has accepted payment directly, it's often difficult to get an insurance company to pay out addition money .

IIRC, PL, you don't park your Boxster in a garage at your condo? Maybe I'm wrong. Regarding Blue's tip about zinc coating and rust protection.

yep, first floor of my condo is the garage where the Boxster sits out of the elements and its not a daily driver.

Correct, I received the insurance company's appraisal with an itemized list of parts and labor submitted by the bodyshop and in a seperate envelope was the check for the same amount declaring it the settlement of the claim. This discussion reminds me of why medicare costs are out of control. Pay out a benefit directly to a benefeciary and closer scrutiny of the bill will always result.

What did the shop tell initially you they were going to do, repair, or replace with new parts?