The day came...She's wrecked.

[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

[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.

[AtlantaBoxster]

Sorry to hear about the loss Rail. Think of it this way also, for a few weeks, you won't be driving the car, when you get it back, it will be like getting a new car all over again. Well enough for my poor attempt to make you fell better...

Here's my story.

A few short weeks after going from a Honda for 8 years (with no accidents) to the Porsche, I rear-ended someone. The process to get it repaired was very simple and a few weeks later, I had the car back. The insurance company voluntarily sent me a check to compensate for loss in value.

A whopping $104.93 for $6K worth of damage. hmmmm.... I wonder how they calculate it. I have yet to cash the check and would appreciate advice, especially after reading these posts on how to up that value.

[Rail26]

Tonight was one of the most frustrating nights. I called around to see how much it was going to be to transport my car to Phoenix at the lowest price I came up with 1700 clams. My insurance is not going to pay for the transport. So I went to the U haul to rent a car trailor and found out my 4 runner is way too small to pull it. So I borrowed my friends suburban to take it to Phoenix and spent an hour trying to get the car on the trailor. First of all, there is no place to hook the safety chains so that didn't really work out. Secondly, the front tires cannot go all the way to the front of the trailor because the lip is too high and it catches the air dam underneath the car. So I had to put the front tires on 2X4s to get the tires high enough, well that made the car unstable to lateral loads so I ended up taking the car off the trailor and am going to have the adjustor come out and take a look at it and see if it driveable to Phoenix. I am not leaking any fluids, the fluid levels are normal and I don't really see any structural damage. We will see what the adjuster has to say.

This is a very frustrating experience. Why does this always happen right before the holidays. Thanks for allowing me to gripe...I feel minutely better.

[fefyfo]

Maybe I missed something but why would you need to transport it to Phoenix? Seems out of the way for cosmetic repairs.

[Rail26]

The closest dealers are Alburqueqe...4.5 hrs ....Tucson 5 hours....Phoenix 6 hours. Phoenix comes highly recommended. Everyone I have talked to have said to stay away from Alb. and Tucson. Even the guy that towed the car echoed all those negative recommendations. That is why it needs to go to Phoenix...I bought the car while I was in Korea and didn't really think to find out if there was a Porsche dealer in El Paso...ooops.