Boxster accident

[pecto3]

hello...the unexpected happened tonight. i damaged my 1997 boxster glacier white with 38k miles in very good mechanical condition (as far as i know). it happened when i turned left from a stand still and went a little bit faster than usual, as i came out from the curve immediately going to straight away, i lose control of the car completely and spun 360 degrees. but the car touched the curb so hard that my left rear tire was sitting up on the curb. the left rear wheel was scratched heavily (need a replacement), the left front wheel had a small dent with the rubber chipped off from the tire. the left rear wheel was totally whacked from the suspension and severly misaligned. no exterior damage was noted however except for the left front bumper corner on the underside. tried to move the car from the street but just wont do it. police officer came and called for a flatbed tow truck then drop the car off on the street at the dealership. coolant is also leaking from the front, i think.

luckily, no other car or property damage was sustained but most importantly, nobody got hurt. as a bonus also, the officer did not give me any ticket for any possible traffic rule violation (he said, "obviously your speeding").

btw, might be irrelevant but 3 miles ago prior to the accident, right tire went into this big pot hole, jolted the steering wheel quite a bit. just never thought im going to lose control this greatly. did not check how fast was i turning but lost control after changing into 3rd gear. i guess the boxster is a really great car and demands a very good driver too...

anyway, im very much new to this kind of situation, its 2 am now and i have no time to review other threads (very sleepy already). the car still got a lienholder, have a comprehensive, collision and liability insurance. i called my insurance provider and spoke to one of the representatives. told me somebody will call me tomorrow from them and theres going to be a $500 deductible. im of course going to call my agent tomorrow and will discuss the matter, bu as of now, can anybody have a suggestion on what to do and ask from these guys? so what im saying is kind of like a walk-through with the process. thanks in advance.

pecto3, sorry to hear about your accident. Your posting is very candid, and I am sure everything will work out OK.

Does your car have PSM (Porsche Stability Management)?

After you hit the pothole, you might have flatted the tire. Just a guess. This could have partially contributed to your accident.

You need to find a very-very good repair facility. Especially someone who can do an expert alignment.

You'll be back to motoring very soon. Take care!

A performance driving class may prove very beneficial to you (and me, and many of us here!).

[Adam]

I'm not positive, but I don't think 97's were available with PSM.

[Biz-z Z]

Check this thread below:

http://986forum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4483

[RandallNeighbour]

When I got my 97 boxster, I noticed it pulled to the right and took it in for an alignment. The shop said they simply could not get it into alignment and said I needed a body shop to look at it. Evidently, a previous owner did something similar to what you did to your car. The left rear strut was bent (I replaced both rear struts), and the front sub frame had to be tweaked on a rack to get the car into proper alignment.

It cost me about $750. $500 for the struts and labor to install them, and $250 for the subframe pull and laser four wheel alignment.

The laser four wheel alignment and the sharp eye of the body shop owner nailed the problem. So an alignment through a body shop will tell you if there's any damage and where to addres the problem.

Sorry to hear about the spin out. I've pushed my car through a Uturn many times, but the back end hasn't broken out more than a foot or so, and I don't drive the car in cold or wet weather... my Kumhos are just not sticky enough for it.

if liquid runs out in front of car you must have damage a side rads in the process or the lines to it.
sorry to hear about the accident, one thing to remember for all drivers is that when in third gear in a boxster it is like being in second on a good car which usually we don't take sharp bend in!
happy motoring and stay safe

[pecto3]

thanks for the reply guys. just an update, i dropped the car at rusnak of westlake here in southern california. talked to the service manager and candidly said that she see a lot of these things happen with a porsche (spin off) and suggested i'd take driver's ed class. she also assured me that they can bring back the car into prior condition which would take about 3 weeks but could take longer due to holiday season. the agent on the claim dept from my insurance co. said it would be after x-mas that the adjuster can inspect the car. ouch!!! i guess i wont be back on the road until the end of january next year. happy holidays to all!

pecto3, good luck and I hope the end of January comes quickly for you!

[Biz-z Z]

Originally Posted by pecto3

..... she also assured me that they can bring back the car into prior condition which would take about 3 weeks but could take longer due to holiday season. the agent on the claim dept from my insurance co. said it would be after x-mas that the adjuster can inspect the car. ouch!!! i guess i wont be back on the road until the end of january next year. happy holidays to all!

To expedite the process, you may want to tell your repairer what the insurance company said about not sending an appraiser there for another couple weeks. Perhaps the shop can order those parts now it is absolutely certain will have to replaced and the appraiser will approve. Some shops will do this when they have good working relationships with insurance companies or appraisers.

Just a suggestion...

pecto3, you should call your agent on Monday morning, and have him/her light a fire under that adjuster. I does seem equitable to make you wait another 1-2 weeks.

I don't suspect that you pay your premium 1-2 weeks late...right! You deserve better sevice from your insurance provider.

[pecto3]

hi! just an update, this afternoon, the adjuster from my insurance company called and reported that he had just seen the car and had agree with the dealer about the repair estimate. damage was $11.5K. hope to get back the car by middle of january. thanks for randallneighbour's input, i mentioned about wheel and transmission mounting alignment issues to the service manager but he have assured me they can bring it back to tip top condition. let the waiting game begin!!!