Lost control of the Box last night avoiding a deer.
 

Title says it all. I skidded off the road and did a 360 in the grass. I did correct it like a boss, got it back on the road and drove on to the next town. Upon inspecting the car I was surprised to see that the rear trunk lid was open. I didn't think much of that. I continued to look over the car and was quite pleased to see only a few rock chips, extremely dirty wheels and tires, and some grass hanging about....And then I tried to close the trunk to no avail. I am positive I didn't hit anything but something made enough impact to BEND the trunk lid and pop it open. I'm going to put it on ramps tomorrow and see what it looks like underneath. As of now I have no leaks, and it seems to drive just fine. I put 200 miles on her today. Have you guys seen this happen before and should I be worried about frame damage? Other than the trunk lid all the other panel gaps look perfect to me.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...d049a4f1fc.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...51220_0041.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...51220_0051.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...51220_0011.jpg

Wow! That is very strange. If the car is 'bent' surely it would have damaged the rear fenders also. Maybe the rear bumper got pushed up and forced the trunk lid back?
Hope there is no serious damage. Good luck.

I am quite baffled. I am trying to tell myself that the rear bumper might have been forced upwards but the gap where it meets the rear quarter panel looks fine to me.

Looking at the pics of the trunk lid, I would say the lid may not have been fully latched or came unlatched. It appears the lid flew open and slammed against the stops and bent the trunk lid frame, Hence the reverse bends at the hinge attachment points.
You may want to check the alignment which will give you an idea if anything is bent structure wise, but I think you may just need a new trunk lid, How are the lid dampers?

That makes sense! I was in the garage looking at my trunk and can see how that could happen. If you were going backwards fast it would have acted as an air break and added to the force to bend it up like that.

Have you checked that there isn't a deer in the trunk?;)

Huh! Everything else looks fine from the pics!
I'll take a wild guess and say that something in the car flexed enough to trigger the trunk lid open and momentum or air pressure from spinning backwards forced it up fast enough to tweak it. It's an odd occurrence but possible.
Hopefully everything else checks out fine.

Are you sure that you weren't abducted by a UFO?

Never seen anything like that. I have spun on the race track several times at over 90mph and never had anything like that happen. Bizarre.

I agree, it would appear that something (a jolt?) forced the trunk open and then it was over-extended while acting as an air brake during your backwards spin.

My bet is that the chassis is fine; if you had any real damage it would show in the rear fenders and misalignment with all of the body gaps.

All joking aside, glad that you're ok and that the car is mostly ok. Last year a deer ran into my son in his 325i and did $4,000 of damage.

I had an '89 Targa that took a similar excursion. At first glance, just mud and grass. Closer inspection showed that the whole rear of the car had moved slightly left, and the Porsche dealer only saw that when comparing to another 911. The shop had to "move" both rear fenders, bonnet and bumper to get things aligned.

Glad you are okay, that's rather odd.

My bet it on the unlatched trunk theory, the tailgaters didn't shut the lid properly after grabbing a pizza slice from the trunk :)

I have spun my Boxster a dozen times or more and never seen any kind of flexing that could open the trunk.

Glad to hear you did not hit anything.

However, if you had taken a Porsche Performance driving school, you would not have spun out. I think you have been given a sign that you should do that so you can avoid the numerous road obstacles in Texas ;)

Just Sayin...!

It doesn't come with the brackets, but there's a Seal Gray trunk lid for sale on Ebay. $199 including shipping.

Porsche Boxster s 98 04 986 Rear Convertible Trunk Storage Hood Cover | eBay

an emergency brake flap! too bad you can't access while the door is closed.

THIS is exactly what happened. I had been in the trunk earlier and must not have fully closed it. Amazing what some wind at speed will do! What exactly at the lid dampers?

That sucks. Could have been worse. Good for you. Just remember, hit a deer- it's comprehensive coverage, swerve around deer, and have damage is collision coverage.

Lid Dampers = Struts
 

The lid dampers are the pneumatic struts that extend and hold the trunk deck up when the trunk deck is lifted open. You can see half of them, they are black, in your second and third pictures from your first post.

Glad you weren't hurt and damage wasn't worse, attending DE or car control clinic is no guarantee you would do any better:cheers:

The dampers themselves seem ok. The passenger side hing does just barely make contact with the rear quarter panel. I hope that the hinge in bent slightly and not the body. Through the dirt and grass I didn't see any bad signs underneath the car. Anyone know of a good place to go for an alignment in near Plano, TX? I'm trying to decide if I need to call my insurance guy or not.

I didn't read through the whole thread but my guess is the trunk became unlatched prior or during the excursion and then was snapped forward against the open stops due the combined forces of windage and centrifugal forces, causing it to bend against the stops.....but I'll be honest in that this may not account force required to to produce that bend....This is the strangest thing ever.

Edit: oops reading further it looks like this was the cause...your dampers may be blown out such that they can't hold up the lid

I think a warning is needed for the front a rear lids

Maybe your Boxster thinks it now has the 911 whale tail.

DBear

Let's not forget that having black wheels may make it harder for deer to see your car. :)