Heartbroken

[keysguy]

Last night on our way out to for our Friday night outing my wife and I decided to take the Boxster. Sadly we were rear ended while stopped at a stop sign. Lucky we are OK and it appears that the driver has insurance. I've contacted my insurance (Progressive) an started a claim. At this point we are going to try and work through the other drivers insurance to get the claim paid. From what I can tell by looking at the car the drivers side tail light is broken and not operational, the bumperettes are damaged, one of them is broken off, the rear plastic molding is damaged, I can't really tell if there is more damage or not. No one besides Jim Elis Porsche in Atlanta or Naples Porsche in Naples Fl has ever worked on this car and I have every service slip and receipt for anything that has been done to this car. My question is does anyone have any experience dealing with this situation? I have tried very hard to maintain the integrity of this car by always getting it serviced by a dealer and keeping all documentation. I do not want anyone but a Porsche authorized service person doing the repairs. How much of a fight am I in for and is it worth it?

Thanks,
Keysguy

[KevinH1990]

http://986forum.com/forums/general-discussions/26234-minor-accident-concerns-cost.html

I had a similar accident, but it sounds like you were hit harder. My damage was confined to the bumper. You can review my experience - I attached a link.

Good luck. I'm glad no one was hurt.

[BruceH]

My Toyota Tundra was hit in the rear. I insisted that my dealer was going to be the only one to touch it(I bought it new from them). Their insurance company agreed, no problem. Yes it's worth it!

[keysguy]

Thanks for the responses so far. The other drivers insurance is Foremost Insurance. Hopefully they will be cooperative....

[jsceash]

I always hate to hear one of us is down. I hope he has enough coverage.

[BIGJake111]

You are entirely aloud to have your car fixed wherever you want, we sent my car to the local high end place, we were told that what the insurance had appraised were a bunch of junk yard parts, all the cheapest of the cheap, once my car was in the right hands it was deemed as totaled, I doubt yours will be, but find the right place and it will be fixed the best way possible. Sorry to hear about the accident.

[Joe B]

Don't fail to consider an independent auto body shop. Depending on the Porsche dealer, a body shop that specializes in body repair and paint might have more experience and expertise in this sort of repair.

[JayG]

you can get your car fixed where ever you want. Generally they will accept the insurance quote. Ifthey have higher costs or find additional work needed, they will contact the insurance company and deal with it
Find the best body shop you can

Since it wasn't your fault, you have some leverage
also don't forget to go see a doctor and make sure you had no injuries. Even a slight rear end collision can cause back and neck problems, sometimes it doesn't show up for a little bit
The other guys insurance will cover all your medical bills including physical therapy

And don't forget the rental car the other insurance will pay for until yours is fixed

You may want to speak with an personal injury lawyer, at least for a consult

[Joe B]

Keep the lawyers and doctors out of it unless you actually have an injury (you will be able to determine this by whether or not you have any neck or back pain and/or unusual stiffness). Far too many unnecessary lawsuits in our society these days!

[Gforrest2]

Don't forget to ask for compensation for "diminished value". A car that's been in an accident is not going to sell for as much as an identical car that has not been in an accident.

[BIGJake111]

Yes absolutely ask for diminished value, ask your dealer what body shop they would suggest and maybe get a consult with a lawyer, they tend to know which shops will hold the insurance companies up by the toes until your car is fixed right.

[thstone]

http://986forum.com/forums/general-discussions/43878-ahhh-my-car-hit-bad-today.html

I hope that your situation is better than mine.

To make a long story short;

• My Silver Boxster was totaled
• Driver did not enough coverage for my car + property damage to the city
• Had to buy a replacement car with my own money due to lengthy delays
• My insurance paid eventually paid part of the total claim
• Had to fight endlessly to get the other driver's insurance to pay anything
• Took over a year to settle everything and receive final payment

Best of luck.

[keysguy]

Thanks all for the advise. I was hoping to keep lawyers out of it but it's already turning ugly. My insurance company recommended that I file the claim directly with the other ones to avoid any out of pocket expenses. (detectable and such) The other insurance company just told me they have no adjuster in my area (Florida Keys) and i needed to e-mail them pictures to get the process started. Easy enough then I could take the car to any shop I choose to have the work done and if the work was more they would pay than the estimate from the pictures they woudl pay for it. The problem is I an 3 hours away form the nearest Porsche dealer, so I told them that was fine with me please arrange to have it towed to the Porsche dealer in Miami. They will only tow it to the "closest" repair shop, but I can have the work done anywhere I want I just need to pay for the towing there. I could drive it up but that means at least two days off One up and one back plus the rental car. Not sure what to do from this point.... I was already wondering about the diminished value because now the car has a carfax history, never was able to get to that point

[JayG]

Originally Posted by keysguy

Thanks all for the advise. I was hoping to keep lawyers out of it but it's already turning ugly. My insurance company recommended that I file the claim directly with the other ones to avoid any out of pocket expenses. (detectable and such) The other insurance company just told me they have no adjuster in my area (Florida Keys) and i needed to e-mail them pictures to get the process started. Easy enough then I could take the car to any shop I choose to have the work done and if the work was more they would pay than the estimate from the pictures they woudl pay for it. The problem is I an 3 hours away form the nearest Porsche dealer, so I told them that was fine with me please arrange to have it towed to the Porsche dealer in Miami. They will only tow it to the "closest" repair shop, but I can have the work done anywhere I want I just need to pay for the towing there. I could drive it up but that means at least two days off One up and one back plus the rental car. Not sure what to do from this point.... I was already wondering about the diminished value because now the car has a carfax history, never was able to get to that point

don't be afraid to get a lawyer involved. They should give you a free consultation and let you know your options and rights. It should not cost you a dime, they will get paid from the other insurance company

Your claim is with the other drivers insurance company, not yours. Your insurance should only come into play if the other person was under insured and does not have coverage to pay for your repairs, loss of use (rental car) and any injuries

I am not advocating making up an injury, but I do know from experience that even a slow speed rear ender can cause you injuries that you may not even realize that you were injured. I was hit from behind a few years ago while stopped at a red light. The other person was traveling at maybe 10 mph and I did suffer mild whiplash as well as some lower back pain. It did not manifest until several days later. I ended up having about 5 weeks of physical therapy.

Long story short, go see a doctor and get checked out even if you don't think you were injured. any rear end collision can cause whiplash, back injuries and even a concussion. Their insurance should cover your medical costs.

As far as the tow, you need to become a very squeaky wheel with the other insurance company, might need to move it up the food chain and get to a manager. You have a high performance sports car that need specialized service and if the closest place that specializes in Porsche repair is 3 hours away, that is where they need to get your car, not a local Earl Scheib or Maaco or Joe's cheap and easy

The tow issue alone may warrant getting represented by a lawyer

Sorry for your loss, hopefully there is not frame damage and it can get properly repaired to your satisfaction

[keysguy]

I will try and get few pictures posted later today or tonight, It doesn't look that bad in pictures but gaps are screwed up.

[thstone]

I won't try to give you any specific advice, but I will say that the only way that I got what I was fairly owed was to never, never, never give up.

Everytime that the other drivers insurance company told me about some "policy" (like what they are telling you about only paying towing to the nearest repair shop), I would immediately inform them in writing that their "policy" was non-binding because I never agreed to those terms (since it is the other person's insurance).

I would then remind them that the other driver's responsibility was to repair my car to "like" condition at the shop of my choice including all associated costs.

Then they would come back and re-iterate the same "policy".

Then I would write back and say that if they weren't going to cover all of the costs that they needed to immediatley include their insured on all correspondence so the other driver was aware of what costs his insurance company was passing on to him.

This usually got them to cover the costs. But it also took me several letters and months of going back and forth.

Remember, the insurance company is counting on you giving up and giving in. I believe that they save millions in fair payouts each year using these tactics.

This is why I ended up buying a replacement car on my own money - they delayed and delayed and delayed hoping that I would settle for less $$$. They were hoping that putting me in that situation would force me to do so but I had the financial ability to move on without their money.

[cardiffgiant]

My only advice is that you do not budge an inch. You weren't out there hoping that someone would ruin your prized sports car, and put you at risk of physical harm in the process.

I agree with thstone. It is only right that your vehicle be restored to the condition that it was in before the accident occurred and/or that you be compensated for any difference between what it was like before it was hit by their customer and what it will be like when this is said and done.

Since the insurance company is not likely to be easy to deal with for something like this, a lawyer is really not a bad idea.

[keysguy]

My wife told me to post everything that is going on on this board because of all the people that may have been through this before and I would get some good advise. Sadly she was right. (sad because she was right and I have to admit it to her and sad because of damaged Porsche's) unfortunatly it looks like I'm going to put the battery maintainer on the car and sit ans wait for the long fight. Thanks thstone for the

Everytime that the other drivers insurance company told me about some "policy" (like what they are telling you about only paying towing to the nearest repair shop), I would immediately inform them in writing that their "policy" was non-binding because I never agreed to those terms (since it is the other person's insurance).

This is almost the exact argument I was having with them.

Next issue is how do I honestly figure out the diminished value? KBB has the car a couple of $K under what I consider it at, and dropping from excelent to fair only drops the price $1000 So how much does a fender bender with $2k or so damage lower the value?

Keysguy


PS again I know my damages are very minor compared to some of the threads I've scene over the years but, I've taken so much pride, joy and spent extra $$ in maintaining the integrity and pedigree of this car it is just killing me at the thought of not putting OEM parts back into it. I was never like this with any of the other Porsche's I've had, I think mainly because when I got them they were already used and abused, this one was not.

[BruceH]

Don't get too down. You WILL get OEM parts put back on, you just have to insist on it! That is what I had to do with my Tundra. The insured damaged my OEM parts, so I demanded OEM parts go back on. With that incident, I really didn't have to fight very hard. It's a PITA but you just have to go with it. It will get fixed where you want it to be fixed and with the parts you want.

[keysguy]

OK I am totally crappy at taking pictures because these look NOTHING like real life. In real life you can see the gap difference between the spoiler and trunk on top and then the spoiler and the bottom, plus the drivers side where the light goes is pushed up slightly. Again I (and others) can see it in real life just not in my badly taken pictures. The rear is also scraped and gouged and pressed in below the taillight.