FINALLY getting my car back tomorrow

[Bob O]

Since my run-in with the SUV the week before Thanksgiving, my Boxster has been in the body shop. I've been to the shop a couple of times checking out the progress. Yesterday they were putting the headlights and bumper cover on. Today was detail day, final inspection, and test drive. (The owner is a little bit of a Porsche fanatic.. posters on the wall, a display case in his office with lots of porsche models, a racing history, etc...so he's fully understanding my angst, and definitely wanting to get it "right"). Anyway, I should be able to pick it up tomorrow morning. OH MY>> Its supposed to be 65 here, and even warmer over the weekend, so it will be a great opportunity to reacquaint myself with it.

Fortunately, there was NO frame or undercarriage damage. THe post-accident, pre-repair alignment showed only toe in off a bit, but only a bit, so I'm not worried about that issue at all. I saw the painted fenders, bumper cover and hood pre-installation. WOW. They matched the orange peel perfectly. Yesterday, I saw them installed and you could NOT tell that they were not factory painted. (Granted, this was in the shop under artifical lights but........) We'll see what it looks like when it gets into the sunlight. Am I worried there will be problems.. sure. Is that a reasonable worry? hmmmmmm I don't know. But the shop has been very professional with me through this ordeal, in addition to doing quite a bit of hand holding!

Its VERY difficult to see this as only a car, regardless of the fact that I have personally said that to a LOT of my friends who give me grief when I drive it in the winter. But now, even more so. Its a wrecked/repaired car. Does that lessen its appeal to me? Difficult to say. In the abstract. no. In reality.. we'll have to wait and see. What I DO know is that , even if I decide to sell this one, I'll be looking immediately for another one. Keeping in mind.. its just a car...yeah right!!!!!

I'll try to post pre and post pictures when I get the chance.

Bob

[husker boxster]

Bob,

Hope you get to enjoy our nice "winter" weather tomorrow. It's been nice here in Omaha, too.

From the tone of your post, am I correct in assuming you took your car to a body shop vs the P-dealer's body shop? I wonder what the forum experts think is the better place to go?

I would normally never go to a dealer for body work because I've always been of the opinion that a dealer's body shop is 4th in the dealership pecking order (new sales, used sales, service, then body shop) and would be sucking the resouces hind tit. Are P-dealer body shops better than your average dealer's body shop because they are trained on the intricacies of Porsches? Or is a great body shop the place to take a beloved Porsche?

Hopefully I'll never have to use this info, but I am curious. Looking forward to seeing your before and after pics.

Terry

[Bob O]

I took it to an independent shop. The local Porsche dealer does not have a body shop. They contract out their work. The shop they use is 30 miles away from me, so I interviewed about three or four more local shops before I decided on one. I'd gotten quite a few high recommendations on this one, and the owner's office, and my discussions with him, sealed the deal.

I'm really don't know about the quality of Porsche dealer body shops. Hopefully, I'll not be using ANY of them again, unless its to cure a bad case of road rash sometime down the road (sorry!)

Bob