Someone hit my car

[Starter986]

I leave work last night at 8, having moved my car to a "safe" spot.

Wife walks out the door this morning to leave for work... phones me fromn the driveway, "Who hit the Porsche?".

I walk to the driveway... rear driver quarter panel. Nice white swipe... fender above the tire caved in. Bumper cover can be reubbed out. Tail light may be cracked, I didn't closely inspect.

I carry only collision, so a repair will be out of pocket.

Questions: Could that repair include replacing the rear quarter panel? The challenge I see is that the quarter panel is married to the "strip" where one might otherwise install a rocker panel. Not having phoned any body shops... what might be the cost to remove/replace the panel (I assume welding would be in order)? Would it be less costly to have the dent pulled, etc.?

What would you do?

Thanks for the help. I hate a ****************ty looking car.

[Stl-986]

Put some pictures up, but dent removal would be far better option then having some try to cut & weld in. The cut/weld is also going to be far more expensive and most shops might not even want to give you a bid to do it.

[blue62]

Your best bet is to take it to a good "PDR" technician.
A good one can do amazing things.
First thing I would look at is the extent of paint damage.
If the paint is not cracked or scraped down to primer or bare metal "PDR" may be your best bet.

[Starter986]

Thanks, Fellas. I took a couple of pictures and sent them to a PDR guy I used a few years ago. He removed ~20 dings, dongs, and small dents for ~$225. A bargain. He was recommended by my glass guy. PDR serves all the exotic dealerships, and did a fantastic job on the 986 at the time. Hopefully he remains in business.

I'll try to get those pics up here.

I'll update. Thanks.

[Starter986]

I've read a variety of posts/threads about the repair/replacement options. Replacement i$ out of the que$tion. I'm waiting to hear back from the PDR guy.

I'm just "Arghhhh", for I'm not a fan of dents on cars. My wife is pissed, "If it isn't one thing it's another" (not necessarily just an auto expense but the wrenches that life in general throws at you).

I examined the tail light and it'll do until I replace it. It is... was perfect. Might be a consideration for aftermarket lights... though not many forum installs/critiques/debate reveal that to be a wise choice. There are a few technical personalities on the forum who have posted great information about the downside of the aftermarkets. I digress.

[Smallblock454]

Unfortunately this damage can not be fixed by PDR repair. The problem are the hard edges in the metal.

[Starter986]

Originally Posted by Smallblock454

Unfortunately this damage can not be fixed by PDR repair. The problem are the hard edges in the metal.

I figured, but hope this PDR guy will be cool and give it a try... enough so that while it may remain looking like sheet for a time... it won't look like complete sheet.

I'll schedule an appointment with a local body $hop... get an e$timate... decide if it's a keeper or a $eller.

[blue62]

First from what I see in your picture all of the metal damage can be repaired including highlight lines and "hard" edges. If someones says it can't be repaired find another PDR tech.
What I cannot tell from the picture is paint condition.
I can't tell if the whiteish color is paint from the car that hit you or if it is primer under your paint.
Have a PDR tech. look it over.
A good PDR tech. will tell you how far he can bring it back including paint condition.
If he can't tell you that find one that can.

[Smallblock454]

Originally Posted by blue62

First from what I see in your picture all of the metal damage can be repaired including highlight lines and "hard" edges. If someones says it can't be repaired find another PDR tech.
What I cannot tell from the picture is paint condition.
I can't tell if the whiteish color is paint from the car that hit you or if it is primer under your paint.
Have a PDR tech. look it over.
A good PDR tech. will tell you how far he can bring it back including paint condition.
If he can't tell you that find one that can.

I don't agree on that, because there is a big risk that you loose the metal integrity, because the metal was overstretched at the "cuts". That can cause a wobbling surface. It might be possible to get a good result from 10 feet away, but you'll never get a perfect result and perfect metal integrity / strength. Also the paint is damaged for shure. So at least a sport repair paint job will be needed. Because the color is silver, that's not easy to do too.

So to me this doesn't look iike a PDR / spot repair job.

But show it to some PDR techs.

[Rob175]

Most all quarter panels are double wall'd, making it almost impossible for PDR.

Too bad you don't carry FULL insurance coverage. I hate to tell you but your out of pocket repair cost will probably be close to what 5 years of FULL insurance coverage would have cost you.

Sorry...but stuff happens. After it's all sorted out, you might want to consider more insurance coverage going forward.

[blue62]

Originally Posted by Rob175

Most all quarter panels are double wall'd, making it almost impossible for PDR.

Too bad you don't carry FULL insurance coverage. I hate to tell you but your out of pocket repair cost will probably be close to what 5 years of FULL insurance coverage would have cost you.

Sorry...but stuff happens. After it's all sorted out, you might want to consider more insurance coverage going forward.

Yes if the damaged area is double walled then that is a different kettle of fish.

[Stl-986]

A good body shop can fix that. A great one should be able to with minimal paint required. PDR will be difficult but if that means you need to find a paint guy then it isn't all that big of a deal. Color will be easy to match up.

In the end I'm thinking around $2k to fix it on the high end.

[ike84]

That sucks man. I had collision only on my Silverado 3500 and a tornado knocked down our barn on top of it! The cool thing was that I threw it in 4 low and blasted through what was left of the barn and the truck went to work that day - I regret not getting that in video.

My understanding of those rear quarter panels is that they are spot welded in place. Maybe you can find a wrecker and pull the quarter panel off if, then have a shop weld it on.

In terms of the paint, Arctic silver is super freaking close to the same silver that Nissan uses on all their cars. Like it's so close that you can only tell 6 inches away with the two side by side (please note that my car hadn't been washed in about 18 months and the wrap was brand new in that pic. After a week of driving the difference was it impossible to notice lol). Look at my headlight mod pics - that wrap is Nissan silver. You could have a good paint guy use that color and blend it to the remaining panels. I'll bet you a nickel you'll be the only one who will ever be able to notice.

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[Stl-986]

Well, all of us will now be able to tell too. lol

btw...those headlight covers...can easily tell the color difference between them.

You are doing better then my son. He swerved to avoid hitting a car that jumped out in front of him and it looks like the frame on his GTR is toast. Talk about a bad week.

[Starter986]

Thanks for all the comments.

I didn't carry full insurance because I paid <$6K for the car, aside from the extra money I dropped into it, and figured that if ever it got hit the insurance company would just total it... wasn't worth the expense. And... if I had gotten that coverage I would have gotrn a $1K deductible. If I can find a shop to do it for <$2K or so... ughhh... that's only an extra $1K.

I'm in no hurry. Going to poke around.

Thanks!

[mikefocke]

So any recommendations for Palm Springs?

[Starter986]

Originally Posted by mikefocke

So any recommendations for Palm Springs?

Upon Craigslist I found a guy who does mobile work (I know, I know). He gave me a quote that is so ridiculously low that I'm first going to vet him. I figure he couldn't do any more damage than that which already exists and, f it isn't a great job I'll go to an actual body shop. I'll keep updating.

If I didn't make it clear (for the story sake) when I do work (PT) I park my car in a section of the parking lot that is away from other cars. If I'm working a shift that finds me there after dark, I park the car closer to my station which, in this case, is one of four spots for "curbside" delivery... which closes at 6P. I parked the car at 6P and came out at 805P. Walked by the damage a couple of times while I was getting in the trunk, but noticed nothing. Drove it home, check engine light pops on (yet to be checked, I have an OBD lent out)... I drive it home... park in the middle carport spot... go inside.

Next morning wife leaves for work...

[blue62]

Starter986
Again there is very little actual metal damaged.
Most of it is just pushed in and no longer in it's correct plane.
80%-90% of the correct shape can be regained by pulling (glue on pull tabs) the metal out in the opposite direction from the direction it was pushed in.
The rest of the shape can be corrected by using proper repair methods.

Yes it is a double walled structure but a PDR tech. should be able to gain access via the air intake area, removing the tail light, and or drilling holes to insert his tools in the back wall of the double walled structure. Those small holes will be out of sight.

As for stretched metal and metal integrity that is all repaired by using proper repair methods.
If the paint is damaged the panel can be repainted color matched and blended.

The big issue is...If the rear wall in a double walled structure is distorted it fights gaining the correct shape in the front wall.
Basically both walls of a double wall structure have to be the correct shape or neither one will be.

[ike84]

Fwiw, you can buy those kits on Amazon for under $50. You may wanna order one and try it out. Send it back if it doesn't, but it may save you quite a bit of $ if it does.

I've used them before and while not perfect, theyre the best $50 spent on body work imaginable. I'm getting ready to do it on my truck's c pillar. I can post pics if you want.

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[husker boxster]

Those kits are fine for novices when you have a small dent. But this would require some knowledge where to pull first and how hard. You don't want a field of lumps with a bunch of stretched metal. By nature, metal wants to go back to its original shape. But if you start in the center and pull hard (a novice's 1st inclenation), you'll get a big dome and low spots around it. You've lost the ability to get it to bounce back to its natural shape after that and are left with more work with all the high and low areas you've created than if you'd left it totally alone. A knowledgable person would know to start on an edge and do a small pull, then jump to the other side for another small pull, etc until the the dent wants to pop back into its original shape.

If this was a small dent, I'd say knock yourself out trying it yourself. But no need to make more work for the body shop when you make a mess out of this one.