The day came...She's wrecked.

[Rail26]

My worst nightmare finally came true last night. My 987 with 6000 miles on it was rear-ended on I-10. The traffic stopped abruptly and I stopped with ease, however the old buick behind me driven by a young girl did not stop and smashed into my back end. I was suprised at the force she hit me with and I woke up early this morning with a killer head, neck and lower back ache.
After looking at the damage, it looks like her car nose dived and hit underneath the spoiler. The bumper is trashed and the exhaust is smashed. I worry though that the exhaust getting smashed towards the engine might have caused some damage at the headers...
Anyway, I have to start the insurance dance and was looking for pointers. I know there is a thread about this, but honestly I didn't try to look for it. For those of you that have had this happen, please respond. I called my insurance company and they have started the report and the adjuster will call me on Monday. I know the car will never be the same and I'm sure my resale value went into a tailspin. How do I fight to get it fixed by the dealer? How can I recoup the resale value loss or am I just screwed? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Damn, this sucks and she was brand new.

Hey Rail26, very sorry to hear about this.

I hope everything works out well, and most importantly, I hope your health is back to 110% very-very soon.

[limoncello]

Rail - very sad to hear it. My wife was rear ended a year and a half ago, while she was sitting stopped in a left turn lane (nothing she could have done). It took about nine months to settle the claim and finish the paperwork.
Take care of yourself first - make sure the doc's get you into physical therapy to work on the strained muscles. Don't overstress your muscles till they're properly rehab'ed.
Legal - hope there's some smarter folks on the forum than me. I handled our claim and I think we came out OK, but the car was totalled - so less to argue about. Getting a lawyer - weigh the attorney cost versus probable gain in your position. If it makes sense, do it.
Good luck, wish I had better advice, and glad you're mostly OK.
Concur with posts above - accidents suck.

[mjw930]

On high line cars such as ours it's not unheard of to request from the at fault party compensation for lost resale value. It's not a common occurrence but it has been argued successfully. I would talk to a lawyer as well as your insurance agent to see if they have any experience with this type of claim.

From the sounds of it you should be able to get the car back to near 100%. Hopefully you will be back at 100% very soon and remember, it's only a car, a material object. Don't make yourself sick over it.

[eslai]

Oh man, that sucks so much--totally brand new! I would have been pissed as all hell had that happened to me this year!

There should be no out-of-pocket expenses on your part since her insurance should cover everything--you won't be going through yours so there's no deductable to pay, I'm not sure if dbth is thinking of something else?

Rest up, hope it all goes okay...

[Rail26]

Well, I went out the garage and checked it out and it doesn't seem as bad as I thought. I have no idea what the internal damage is, however the bumper seemed to absorb quite a bit. From first glance it looks as if most of it is cosmetic (minus the smashed muffler). The trunk does not look tweeked and the gap between the spoiler and the body remains the same distance through out so maybe that was not affected. I will post pictures once I get them re-sized. Thanks for all the advice and upbeat messages. You all are right, the important thing is I'm still around to ******************** about it. Oh well, life could be much worse. I could be riding out a hurricane and wondering what to do when I lost everything or I could still be in Iraq. Thanks and cheers!

Good attitude, Rail26. You are a survivor! Now start shopping for an upgarded exhaust.

Life is 10% what happens to us, and 90% how we react to it.

[Dr. Kill]

Sorry to hear about your difficulty - still, as others have said - the important thing is that you are OK.

Good luck in getting this straightened out. Maybe you can make something positive out of it – replace the OEM exhaust with a Borla kit or whatever if you hadn’t done that already.

[AUDIOGUY]

Sorry to hear about your loss! If you have any questions about the proces or need some advice, I have been in the Auto Insurance /Bodyshop business for 10 years. I can give you some pointers if needed. First of all, you do have the right to choose any repair facility you want... and keep in mind, the dealer may not be the best place to have the car repaired. Check with your local dealership and ask if they own a bodyshop. If not, they may refer work to one. Visit the shop and make sure it is up to par.. check out some of their paint work.. that is usually the most obvious part of the job. I am sure that your car will be fine if it is fixed at the right shop that is used to working on Boxsters. A familiar shop will know what to look for beyond the obvious damage from prior experience.

Now might be a nice time to UPGRADE your exhaust. If you wanted to try a new one
you can buy what ever one you wish and ask the shop to install it instead of the factory one. We would do this for a customer if requested. Dont worry about the damage, these cars are tough and when the repairs start, if the shop finds some additional or hidden damage, the insurance company will be responsible to pay for it as well.

Take care of yourself.
If you have any other questions for me, email Audioguy@comcast.net

Best of luck,
Joe
01S
Triple Black

[Ronzi]

Beware of an attempt by the responsible insurance co. to get you to sign a quick settlement agreement. The fine print will undoubtedly say that you give up any rights to further claims against them. Sometimes is takes days or even weeks for the all the ramifications of an accident to present themselves.

[deliriousga]

Originally Posted by Ronzi

Beware of an attempt by the responsible insurance co. to get you to sign a quick settlement agreement. The fine print will undoubtedly say that you give up any rights to further claims against them. Sometimes is takes days or even weeks for the all the ramifications of an accident to present themselves.

Ditto. Don't sign a thing until everything is completely repaired and you are 100% satisfied. Before you sign off, get an inspector to check the car out top to bottom and make sure nothing hidden was overlooked.

[Biz-z Z]

Rail,

Sorry to read about the bad news. As they say, this too shall pass. Now, take a deep breath and sit down. I don’t know if yours is a no-fault state or not. Choose a reputable body shop and have your car estimated there. Chances are your carrier (if you have collision coverage) will send an appraiser there to get an agreed price to repair your vehicle. In the mean time, the girl’s( who rear ended you) (adverse) carrier should be in touch with you also. If you are happy with your carrier’s service and they have agreed to the repairs your garage feels are necessary, the game is almost over; settle with your insurance carrier. Inform the adverse carrier you will need "loss of use" (rental) while your vehicle is in the shop. Work out the details with that carrier as to what they will pay while your vehicle is in the shop. Beware carriers are loath to pay for mileage charges, collision deductible waivers, gasoline, tolls, etc.

Making claim with your company should be easier presuming you are able to swallow your collision deductible, temporarily. . I say easier, because if there are any snafus, your agent should be able to go to bat for you. He/she should have clout on the close calls.

Sometimes there are hidden damages the appraiser or shop didn’t see originally. Make sure your shop will call the appraiser back to verify the hidden damages before they work on repairing them. Once verified, the appraiser should submit a supplemental appraisal to the carrier. After payment to you, or if you direct them, to the garage for your benefit, your carrier will present a claim (subrogation claim) against the adverse carrier looking for the amount they have paid, plus your deductible for you. They will prorate whatever they recover, less expenses.

Be mindful that you may have a bodily injury / personal injury claim on top of your property damage claim. Again, if yours is a no-fault state there may be a threshold of medical costs you have to exceed before you are allowed to bring a claim directly against the adverse party for your injury. Whatever the case, be sure not to sign a release which extinguishes both your bodily injury and property damage claims unless you truly want to close both out at that time.

If you decide to deal directly with the adverse carrier for your property damage claim and not make a claim with your own carrier, do not let the adverse carrier push you into settleing your bodily injury claim just to get payment for your property damage claim (repairs to the vehicle, rental). Call your state insurance commission if that is proposed.

While I can ‘t give legal advice, I would recommend not extinguishing any bodily injury claim you might have right now. Wait a fair amount of time. If things hurt, go to a doctor or hospital. Don’t “John Wayne” any injury you have. If the injury becomes chronic, it will be harder to causally relate it to the accident if you have not treated for it early on.

If you do need to see a health care provider, ask your insurance agent if your auto medical coverage (sometimes called "medical payments") can be used to pay for the necessary medical treatment while you are convalescing. In some states, one can collect medical payments under one’s own auto policy and still present the bills to the adverse carrier as part of a liability claim (in addition to “lost wages” “pain and suffering” “loss of enjoyment of life”, etc.). It may seem like it is double dipping but in some jurisdictions it is allowed. Ask your insurance agent or better yet, call your carrier’s claim department and speak with an adjuster to see if this is permitted in your state.

Remember, if you feel anyone is dealing from the bottom of the deck, go to an attorney. Above all else, always be fair.

Hope this has been helpful. Good luck.

Zib

[Jeph]

Rail26, I don't understand why you decided to wreck your Boxster... it only had 6000 miles. Oh well, diff'rent strokes for different folks.

Do you have any pictures of that action?

just sorry to hear about your accident, hope everything is going to work out and that you are okay, i had a rear accident about 12 years ago (not a big one) but had back problems ever since
take care of yourself first, a porsche is just an object that can be replace

[Rail26]

First of all, Jeph, you crack me up.

Here is the situation right now. The car is sitting in my garage. The adjuster from my company (USAA) is calling me tomorrow and I would like to have him see the car before I send it up to Scottsdale, AZ (5 hours away) to get fixed. The Porsche dealer contracts with a body shop up there and I have heard nothing but good things. Anyway, after talking to my insurance company they advised me to deal with them and they would work with the other insurance company (Progressive). What do you guys think about that? I figured they are working in my best interest and know the ins and outs so they could probably do a better job than I can.

I guess I will wait to see what the adjuster has to say and I will inform him of my concerns with diminished value.

I will document the process and post it when all is said and done so if any of you are in the same situation you will know what to do.

Once again, thanks for all the encouragement. Can't wait to put the top down and start ripping up the roads again. Cheers.

[fefyfo]

Sorry to hear about this Rail26. I'm glad no one was seriously hurt. I went through a similar incident not too long ago. Let me know if I can help. I'm meeting with my diminished value claim rep this week. I'll be happy to ask any questions you have.

[RandallNeighbour]

Now that's a new term for me and I'm glad you shared it... "diminished value claim rep"

I didn't know insurance companies had those and it sure is good to know!

[MikenOH]

Good luck with that one; the good news is that they aren't your insurance company.

[jameskk]

YES, make sure to get compensated for the loss in resale value. The insurance company will most likely tell you that they don't compensate for loss in resale value, it's their standard line.. trust me, they will if you make a big enough deal over it. talk with your Porsche dealer to calculate fair value. I took a bad hit in my BMW Z3 roadster back in 1998 and I had to fight the insurance carrier over the resale value but in the end they paid me $2000 for the value, which I used to trade the car for a newer model. good luck!

[SD987]

Sorry to hear about your loss...I think other boarders have covered the insurance angles, but I just wanted to add that make sure Progressive covers a "comparable" rental. A Ford Fiesta from Avis is not a comparable replacement for a 987.

It can take a long time to sort these things out. My BMW convertible got rear-ended a week after purchase, from an SUV. Exterior damage was not as bad as one would think, but after removing the rear trunk and checking out the frame there was a "crumple" and the frame was somewhat bent. Anyway, it took two months and a couple of adjuster trips before I ever saw that car again. I told the rental company to put me in the nicest thing they had (an Infiniti Q45) so I was Yakuza Pimp-man for those two months and submitted the invoice to the other insurer.

It made me feel minutely better when I was writing monthly checks for a car I couldn't drive.