OHH NO :( I damaged my car - fixing advice needed - please help!

[williamsF1]

I hate myself right now... once you have tried actually damaging you beloved car totally unprovoked you will know real pain and self-hate

I was parked outside a theater after a 3 hour show... it was completely DARK when I got in the car, turned the car on on a though I could pass straight from one parking booth to another and get out faster. I even asked my girlfriend, do you think I can pass through here.

I drove 40 cm... then I heard a sound that made my stomach turn over !!

I got out the car and I realized there was a stone so small you couldn't see it from within the car, but big enough to make considerable paint damage to my car.

I have searched for answers to this but I have some specific questions and I really hope you can help.

The damage is only in the paint. There is no misshaping at all. It is in the front bumper in the lower 6-8 cm far right side - within a area of 10 (height) x 25 (width) between the right air intake to the wheen. It is about 6-7 places where shells of paint have fallen off - these are 1-2mm thick - I doesnt look very good I tell you that !! It is a 98' Boxster in regular black. Paint is not faded imho.


My questions are the following:


1. Should I give the car to someone who knows how to take good care of it ? I feel like a moron !!

2. What type of repair is this (grinding, grounding and painting ?) ? Should I go to a porsche dealer or can I contact a smaller (cheaper) auto painter company ?

3. Is the bumper in plastic'ish material or metal (I know stupid question but they will ask me that tomorrow when I make calls) ?

4. Can someone tell me the exact paint code / color of regular Porsche black ?

5. Can this be done in a way so it wont pop into your eyes ? Right now its actually not that obvious until you get close to it but if someone has had this repaired so it was 99% invisible that would be good news right now.

6. Price range or time estimate for such a repair job ?


Any help is much appreciated !

[djomlas]

post some pics man, and we can estimate better.

sorry to hear that

My two cents, black should be an easy color to spot repair, depending on the proximity to the side vent, any indentation in the chip should be easily removable by someone with the proper skills and equipment. access to the back of it will help a lot, however if it's near a crease sometimes the removal tools won't be enough. Finally, do not take it to a Porsche dealer, find out from those who know where a good quality bodyshop is in your area and get it evaluated, good luck.

[tboyer]

Originally Posted by williamsF1

4. Can someone tell me the exact paint code / color of regular Porsche black ?

Any help is much appreciated !

Your exact paint code is located on the white sticker underneath the front hood. Look at the line "Paint No"

[pompous]

Being black and the kinda outta the way location that its in you could probably sand it down yourself, get a can of dupli color from advance, spray it, sand it, spray it, and then spray clear on it. It'll still be noticable, but for $10 and an hour of your time it'll look pretty undectable to someone not looking for it. You should def. post a pic for us to give a better idea though. If you take it to a shop, i would say 400-500i (guessing...i just priced painting a new bumper for my car literally less than a week ago).

[williamsF1]

Thanks everyone.... A lot of great help! Im a lot better prepared for tomorrow when I will start calling around to get a offer.

It sounds like black is a pretty good color to repair, however even though the 10$ price is good I would never ever risk repairing it myself never... I hope this can be done close to perfect!

Hmm... 500-600$ for that area is a bit more than I had in mind but it wouldn't be the first time the price was higher than I hoped

I will take a few snapshots tomorrow and hopefully soon some pics of a repaired car...

I would still like to know if it is a plastic or metal bumper ?

Would this take a pro more than a day to fix from he got the car ?

THANKS AGAIN !!

[pompous]

It is some kind of plastic bumper...definitely not metal. 5-6 hundred was an estimate for painting the entire bumper by the way.

[williamsF1]

I called around and now have a arragement with a bodyshop on Monday.
The prices was from 180 $ to 770 $ and some wanted me to wait until next year.

But I cannot find the sticker inside my front hood that has the paint code. I checked everywhere I think. Can someone help with the paint code for the boxster black ? I guess it is the same color for all black boxsters, at least from around 98'

That would be a big help !!

[rick3000]

Firstly, some chipped paint is not a big deal, especially on black. If you google it, you can find your actual paint code. Also, a Porsche dealer will take the car and ship to someone else for the repair and then charge you a bunch of money. Lastly, it's a plastic bumper and I don't understand why you think spending a lot of money means your getting a quality job. You could take it and have a small paint shop fix for a $100, and it could be better quality than the Porsche dealer. Just my opinion!

[Amaboknaai]

Have a look here : http://www.paints4u.com/ProductDetails.aspx?productID=6912

and here http://industryfigure.com/berkeley/Porsche/Options/OptionsMatrix.htm

Originally Posted by williamsF1

I called around and now have a arragement with a bodyshop on Monday.
The prices was from 180 $ to 770 $ and some wanted me to wait until next year.

But I cannot find the sticker inside my front hood that has the paint code. I checked everywhere I think. Can someone help with the paint code for the boxster black ? I guess it is the same color for all black boxsters, at least from around 98'

That would be a big help !!

[Brucelee]

The sticker is usually in plain view right on the underside of the hood.

In some cars, you may find it underneath the felt liner on the drivers side of the car. You have to pull the felt away from the lip, up near the headlight area.

See if that works.

[NickCats]

Black is L741 :

http://986forum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9136

Nick

[williamsF1]

Thanks guys... Amazing help!

While surfing on the front bumper subject I saw a facelift from 986 to 987 style headlamps, bumper - looked easy, expensive though @ design911. It looks very very nice, but I recently upgraded to XENON and I do not feel like spending that amount of money on this upgrade, maybe if I get 996 some day. But it got me thinking.

What is your opinion on facelifting this much ? Its not just de-ambering, but a complete new face of the car. Is that too much ? Is it too poser'ish ?

Would you do it ?

I think Porsche cars throughout the times has been facelifted a lot, so you can say it's tradition to do that to your Porsche because it has so many personal customization options.

[pompous]

I like it personally, but WAAAAY too expensive. I recently put a 996 front bumper on my car and thats enough for me. I do kinda think the lines from 986 are really great the way they are however.

[Sputter]

Originally Posted by williamsF1

What is your opinion on facelifting this much ? Its not just de-ambering, but a complete new face of the car. Is that too much ? Is it too poser'ish ?

Would you do it ?

That's a very loaded question and very subjective
I love the way my car looks and handles. Had i wanted it to look like something else, well, i would have bought something else. Many would disagree with me.

[Kirk]

I don't know, maybe I'm in the minority here but I personally prefer the look of the headlights on the 986 as compared to the 987. I don't like the ones with yellow turn signals (mine are painted black), but I do like the clear ones and litronics. If I was going to do any kind of face lift I'd go to the turbo headlights and a Gemballa front bumper, but I'd only do that if someone practically gave the stuff to me as I couldn't justify buying all of those pieces new for ~$7K+

[williamsF1]

I got the car back today... the result is 10 out of 10!

You cannot see the marks, color difference or anything... you cant even feel it if you run your hand over the areas that were cracked and with 1-2mm thick flakes.

I found my paint code sticker behind the filt in the drivers side of the car about 20 cm down. It was L741 as suggested here on this forum so thanks for the tip from everyone who helped.

They managed to spot-repair it so the price was good. I paid 290$ incl. delivery of the car so thats great, next time I wont panic as much

Thanks again everyone !