You're not going to believe this... - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

conradtan · 04-05-2007, 11:02 PM

I've had my Box for two weeks, let my buddy drive it about an hour ago (it's 11pm), and he takes a turn going 15mph and crashes my rear rim into a divider and blows my rear tire. In the process he completely destroys my rear mud guard and I think the alignment is off now.

So how much is a rear tire at Big O? And a new set of mud guards... dealer item? And what is an alignment going to set me back?

I'm so depressed. I'm NEVER EVER going to let anyone drive my car again.

MNBoxster · 04-05-2007, 11:34 PM

Hi,

Frankly, IMHO, your Buddy should Man Up to what he's done, that is if he's a Buddy.

Consider that you'll probably have to replace both Tires on that Axle because the Tread difference is gonna cause poor handling. The Trim Piece is minor <$50 at a Dealer.

Also, suspension components are Alloy, so possibly out-of-true from the type of impact you describe. These need to be checked.

You also will need a 4-wheel alignment to rule out bad suspension members and/or Unibody Damage.

All-in-all, if your buddy doesn't take care of it, you may need to call the Insurance Co. There's no way to fix these cars on the cheap and have them drive right in the future...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

conradtan · 04-06-2007, 12:30 AM

He's poor and unemployed, but he promised to pay what he can on his credit cards, which are already probably close to maxed out. I just wanted to let him have some fun driving around. He didn't even actually ask to drive my box, I offered! Stupid me.

blinkwatt · 04-06-2007, 12:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by conradtan

He didn't even actually ask to drive my box, I offered! Stupid me.

By no means is it stupid you,you were doing good. Look at it this way,you guys could have gotten in a bad accident and someone could have been put in the hospital.

Ronzi · 04-06-2007, 08:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blinkwatt

By no means is it stupid you,you were doing good. Look at it this way,you guys could have gotten in a bad accident and someone could have been put in the hospital.

What's the old saying? "No good deed goes unpunished."

unklekraker · 04-06-2007, 08:14 AM

dude, good thing nothing serious happen! what we're you thinking when you hand him your key? probably you just want your friend to experience Porsche driving..hehehehehe!

dcporsche99 · 04-06-2007, 09:03 AM

Hope you get her back up and running soon!

Perfectlap · 04-06-2007, 09:08 AM

sounds to me like your are looking at a minimum of $500 if you only replace one tire and do the alignment(the cheap way out). $800 if you replace both rear tires as you should.
Find a speed shop that works with lots of sports cars for the alignment, I wouldn't give this to the Porsche dealer to do, they will give it to you. Ask them to give you a print out of your alignment numbers before and after the job so you can see how much out of whack your run in with the divider cost you. If they won't go to another shop, its a simple request that a competent shop should be able to do no problem. I slid on some ice once and nailed a high curb with my left front wheel going pretty fast. The tech at Porsche dealer said the alignment wasn't really that off from the other side but an alignment was needed on both.

Look at it this way, you probably needed to an alignment anyway and new tires were on the horizon at some point. Better now that the driving season is closing upon us.

p.s.
tear off the the other mud flap. I ditched mine when I installed GT3MKII style skirting.

04-06-2007, 09:09 AM

Conradtan, sorry. That sucks.

djomlas · 04-06-2007, 09:13 AM

well...im glad that both of you guys are ok.

but then again, its not like you knew this was going to happen, you were just doing a ncie thing for your friend.
so now just do what you have to do to get the car back on the road, and please do it right, dont try to do the least amount possible to couse more damage or even injury down the line.
have it checked out, see what the bill comes out to, and then decide if you and your buddy can split it, or if its too high get the insurance company involved and you will have a new car again.

good luck, and please do le us know how this ends up

unklekraker · 04-06-2007, 09:29 AM

sales pitch ahead*
and if you are looking for Porsche stock 17" rims..you know where to find me

will give it to you as an intoductory price for being a newbie here ..hahahahaha! ( lower price than advertise in classified section)

drburton · 04-06-2007, 09:54 AM

I'm not entirely clear on what happened. So he took the turn too fast and the rear end kicked out hitting the divider? Was he just standing on the gas. Takes some effort to take a turn to fast in a Boxster.

conradtan · 04-06-2007, 03:16 PM

Ok... I bit the bullet. I bought two brand new Michelin ZR 255/40 17"s for the rear, alignment with printout, new splash guards from the dealer, and didn't go to work installing what I could. Turns out the front tires were out of alignment anyways, AND the rear tires had the WRONG size on them. They had 245/40 17"s which were narrower than they were supposed to be! So now she drives beautifully and I am dirty and happy again. PLUS my smoked tail lights just arrived at my door about 20 minutes ago and I'm going to spend all night installing them then washing and waxing my baby.

Grand total for damages - $980.00

Oh well... I pay half/buddy pays half. So all in all, new tires/alignment for 490 bucks. So the story is this...

We got off the off-ramp, stopped at the light, started the left turn onto the street and he smacked the front tire onto the middle divider first (which caused a bubble to form on the low wall of that tire and misalign it), then scraped the whole left undercarriage over the media till we hit the rear splash guard then rear tire, while still making a hard left, causing the rubber to get pinched between median and rim, all the while only going about 20mph. Air went wheezing out real loud as we went flat in seconds. All so traumatic for me and my baby!

It's funny now, I'm not that upset anymore. Didn't get much sleep though. All my buddies keep saying. "don't worry, it's just a car" I'm sorry... but F**K no it's not just a car damn it! Hehe... They don't understand.

Well she's almost ready to be picked up from the tire place. I'll update you guys again soon, maybe some pics! Thanks for the support. I actually really found a lot of comfort talking and reading your guy's responses.

unklekraker · 04-06-2007, 03:27 PM

dude..post some pix! I wanna see the lights...dengit! 16 posts and no pix yet

j/k! hahahahahaha!

conradtan · 04-06-2007, 03:34 PM

I'll be washing it up this weekend. I'll take some pics by the water in Benicia where my folks live. Makes for more "scenic" shots! Haha! How do you post pics here? Its not just an upload feature. The forum only seems to take url's .

04-06-2007, 03:37 PM

Conradtan, no bent or scratched rim? I hope not.

You have a good attitude & outlook.

conradtan · 04-06-2007, 03:43 PM

No bent rims, some sratches ($120 to get fixed) which I'm going to hold off on as I might be upgrading to 19" rims next year. My outlook is entirely dependant on how workable my situation is. The car issues, all car issues can be fixed by throwing money at it (which sux a$$) but money can always be earned. Just happy that the damages were relatively small. Getting my smoked lights really helped brighten my day though!

04-06-2007, 03:56 PM

"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts, or the past, or education, money, circumstances, failures, successes, or what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company, a church or a home.

"The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for the day. We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you. We are in charge of our attitudes."

-Charles Swindoll

conradtan · 04-06-2007, 04:03 PM

Going to pop in my new lights now. Have a great weekend everyone! And thanks again.

unklekraker · 04-06-2007, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bmussatti

"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts, or the past, or education, money, circumstances, failures, successes, or what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company, a church or a home.

"The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for the day. We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. [B]I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it[/B]. And so it is with you. We are in charge of our attitudes."

-Charles Swindoll

WOW, bmuss!
I have that qoute on my office as a reminder when dealing with co-workers and clients