Hit and hide
 

My Boxster was hit from the side below the exhaust fan while parked. I didn't see who did it. Some one must have backed into it. A bumperette-sized indentation was made. I was parked near a bunch of other Porsches at the time.

The door seems fine but the rear quarter panel is toast and really bent up, pulling the sea, away from the door edge line. There's a 1.5 inch gap between the bottom of the panel and my skirt. Looks like it will have to be cut from the bottom side rail to be replaced.

Just how expensive is this going to be? Should I eat the repair cost or risk having the car totaled by calling my insurance company? I doubt the car is worth more than $9k now.

Gotta love people. Sorry to hear about your luck Randall. I guess I'd ponder do you want it totalled? And then buy back? Repair it afterwards or part it out? Pull parts and put them on another Boxster, possibly an S? Ready for something different? I'm not overly familiar with body shop repair costs but my guess is a new rear quarter plus paint will run $2k plus.

Here's a pic of the damage. Hard to see because it's black, but if you look at the door line and then the bottom where the aftermarket rocker panel used to be stuck to the side of the car with 3M tape you'll see it was pushed in a LOT.

I will probably get a body shop estimate this week and see if it's astronomical or not. If it's 50% of the car's value ($4k or more) I'll probably just save up the money and have it repaired this summer and get the whole car resprayed while I'm at it. I cannot fathom allowing my car to be labeled a totaled vehicle with a salvage title. I've replaced the entire interior sans the dash board and carpets, the entire suspension, all four wheel bearings, the tranny, the motor (replaced a week before I bought it), most of the radiator system, fuel pump and sending unit, and the list goes on and on and on. Ugh!

Man, this sucks. I ALWAYS dread the day this happens to mine and mine has nothing that yours does. Hope your luck is better this week! Keep us posted.

It really pisses me off that another Porsche owner did this and didn't man-up and tell me he did it and offer to make it right.

Wow!! Just now saw where you said another Porsche did it, yep that makes it even a little worse. I know this is going to sound really goofy, you might want to consult with a very experienced paintless dent repair guy local to you. Seeing the gap on the door / quarter makes me doubt he could pull it off but after seeing the 2 foot crater sized dent repair the local guy did on a truck quarter about a year back I would at least check it out. Good Luck.

Taking responsibilty and doing the right thing is a rare thing these days!!!!!!

Sorry!

Were you at a Porsche event? If so, maybe see if you can find some photos of who was parked next to you. Good luck in getting it resolved.

It sucks, but it can happen. I would simply call my agent and have it fixed this week.

Sorry to hear about your luck, I hate thinking about body work.

Within the first three days of buying my Boxster someone apparently dragged the handle bars of a bike across my drivers side quarter panel. I was livid! The damage was very obvious but no paint was missing. I called a paintless dent repair service and they sent out the owner because of the type of car. Three hours later it was perfect. I no swear by a good paintless repair. It can be a little expensive (mine was $345) but that bears the hell out of a $500 deductible and insurance.

I'm sorry to hear it but not surprised. In my own neighborhood people see me limping around the block to stay limber. Yet one of my neighbors does the empty the ashtray fly-by at the stop sign by my property, must have been 50-60 butts to sweep up spread over 30 feet. I guess the world we live in has lost some civility, that damage doesn't look like it will be stupid expensive to fix. Because it's low a spot paint job will be almost impossible to discern.

..............................

Sorry Randall. Hope you find the other owner that hit your Boxster.

Was it a sponsored Porsche event? If so there could be insurance availble through the sponsoring event. If it was a PCA event I would check with the local chapter and see what they say.

Randall, when you are not looking at it in a photo are there obvious contact or rub marks? That looks suspiciously clean, like a placed kick clean.... It would explain a lack of note too.

Randall -

Sorry for your misfortune, I would have to agree with above, appears to low for a bumper back in. Most likely somebody jealous of your car. With having to take my wife's car in to body shop once or twice a year you would be surprised at the ability to pull a dent out and cheaply too (as long as no major paint issue).

Also with the amount of traffic and security cameras in the Houston areas I bet it got captured somewhere, that is if you wanted to invest the time to catch the arse that did it.

-T

Yeah, check if there are security cams! My wife's car got hit in front of a big box store and the people there were very helpful to scan the footage and guess what!!!!!............

I thought the same thing... but a swift kick would not push in the bottom rail 1.5 inches. It was hit hard and with some serious weight behind it.

Ha! I'm 5'9", 212 pounds, bald, 50 years old, and the only person I intimidate is the owner of an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet when I walk through the door for a late lunch!