Boxster devastation
 

This is just not my week. So I got my oil changed last night (see previos post) and today I was going to get the car washed and waxed. My mother in law was with me and asked to back the car out, I obliged. I went outside and got the hose and buckets ready. The car is always set in reverse gear with the handbrake on when in the garage. She started the car, put down the handbrake, and let go of the clutch and through some logic I cannot understand got the car to back up 4 feet with the door open until the door hit my garage wall. I was standing behind the car, outside the garage, with a bucket in hand and a large smile on my face until that incident. The driver side window shattered and I was hit by glass, she also got hit by glass (mostly of her left hand). The car also sustained driver side door damage (along with the shattered window). Tearfully I relieved my mother in law of duty and got in the car and reparked it in the garage. Not sure what the next step is, I may go out and workout the anger and tomorrow decide what to do with the damage. I may claim this on my insurance if it is over $1000 otherwise Ill just pay for it myself. Anyway had to get some of the anger out thanks for reading.

http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w...0566Medium.jpg

http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w...0568Medium.jpg

And yeah thats glass on the top, it's also on the hood and al over the outside of my house.

I'm so sorry this happened to you.

Don't be too hard on your Mother in Law. I did something very similar to one of my wife's Mercedes' a few years ago. I was working under the hood and the hood was blocking my light. Rather than just go get a trouble light, I decided to back it out into the sun where I could see better. You guessed it. I left the door open with my foot outside the car. When the car made contact with the door frame it stopped and probably would have been fine, but what did I do? I stepped on the gas, of course, and folded the driver's door all the way back to the front fender. It was very ugly. Your damage, while sucking majorly, doesn't look nearly as extensive. No one was severely injured...yet. Try to keep it that way.

My first reaction was just shock at what happened and then I basically reparked the car and walked in so I wouldn't say anything. Since then she's apoloized and I don't blame her, could have happened to anyone. I wiped off the drywall dust and the car door hasn't suffered any serious damage, looks like deep paint scratches (of course the glass needs to be replaced). We both did get cuts from the glass that flew at us but nothing serious. I'm hoping there is no internal power window damage. I'm not sure how much such repair should cost but I'm hoping less than $1000. Then there is the drywall as well that needs to be replaced, that shouldn't be more than $100.

glass replacement
 

i went dear hunting with my Boxster a couple months back, and needed to replace the d/s window afterwards. surprisingly, it was inexpensive. OEM window was just over $100, if i remember correctly, so don't fret

As an alternative call around to the parts yards and see it they have a door that's the same color and just bolt it on. In most cases they will make you an offer on your old door.

Not likely on a Boxster but its done every day on Hondas and Toyotas for fenders, hoods, doors, and bumpers!!! Many owners are not even told that the car was repaired with used parts.

Maybe that door is not even dented, clean that drywall off and let's see another picture, please.

you might be able to get away with just compounding most of that damage. It seems that if you don't have any dents it will get lighter. Here is the catch if your finger nail gets caught in the scartches it's a sure bet that it won't come out completely but will come out a lot lighter then it looks now. The glass you can get from La Dismantler and it's a easy DIY maybe 100-150.. let's see after you clean it a compound it .. will make it look 10 times better

Ouch, I hate to hear and see that. Judging by the pic and amount of drywall, except for the glasss it looks like the Boxter got the best of the wall.

I hope this works out to not be expensive for you.

Wow, I would think it would be easier to hunt deer with a gun instead of a Boxster.. ;) ;)

Believe it or don't, I did the same dang thing with my 911 in my garage a few weeks ago... except there was no damage to the door, no broken glass... just a big hole in the drywall.

And it's in an apartment garage... I'm gonna have to fix that before I move out!

In the words od Ron White, "those deer are elusive creatures"

Sorry for the hi-jack

I spent the last hour cleaning the garage. That glass flew everywhere. After getting the glass I tried to repair as much of the door I could by polisihing it. Looks much better but still needs a lot of work. Some of the scratches are paint deep and the inside of the door has actually had some of the paint taken off as it had the initial contact with the drywall. I also did an investigation and found out the drywall did not take out the glass, it was actually the garage rail (circled in one of my pics in red).

http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w...0569Medium.jpg

http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w...0570Medium.jpg

http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w...0572Medium.jpg

http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w...0574Medium.jpg

AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!

O.K., so after I posted about banging my wife's car door on the garage door frame, I decided since the weather sucks I would change the oil in some of the cars. So, first I put this Mustang up on the lift (which I recently moved closer to the wall to maximize garage space).
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...1/DSC00423.jpg

So, does this look like it could possibly be the paint from my friggin' mirror on the archway???

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...1/DSC00421.jpg

Damn, Damn, Damn!!!

It doesn't look to me as if there's any body damage. Does the door line up O.K.? It looks like it does. If so, a body shop will be able to scuff and shoot that door for a few hundred dollars. It looks much better after the clean-up!

ouch man, glad no one was hurt.
this happen most of the time at your own house

just at my own place i had a garage dool collapse and fall on my car, my mom reversing very fast into it, my cousin knocking out the mirror and half my door.
all in the same driveway :matchup:


good luck w the repairs

Thats why I NEVER EVER leave the car in gear while parked, I just makesure the ebrake is firmly pulled.

Here's a link to someone selling door glass:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=329757

You might be able to save a few dollars.

Good luck.

Thanks Kevin, I'll get a body shop estimate, if its cheap Ill just let them take care of it. Otherwise I'll contact this guy, he's in Australia so I'm not sure how much shipping will be.

Grizzly, the door still lines up, fortunately the door only hit the drywall, could have been much worse.

Wow - I can't imagine what I would have done (or said). You are a very good man.

Hope that the repairs come quickly for you!

Alikhan, sorry to hear about your car damage. You can call Terry at Colors on Parade Body Shop in Austin to paint the door for $375 or so (tel: 923-2984). His color matching is superb for Porsche....he only works on nice cars like Ferrari, Bentley, Porsche, etc and he is the best in Austin. All other body shops will insist on painting the rear quarter panel too, which is garbage. I don't know cost of the glass but it should not be more than $100-200. But before deciding to paint, I would try using TriCut scratch remover...get that black bottle for $12 at Gladwin Paint in Austin (see phone book for number). Put that white polish on and rub hard...should take off most of the scratches based on the pic I see....I just helped a friend in the same situation...took out 99% scratches. Keep us posted.

I agree.



I don't know what your mother-in-law was thinking...I just can't explain that in my head as I'm sure you can't either.


I never leave my car in gear when parked and I hate people that DO!

I have to agree with him on this one. I ALWAYS leave the car in neutral with the e-brake up. NEVER in gear. The dealership that I've been to likes to leave it in 1st. I HATE when people do that. You start your car up and take your foot up off the clutch not realizing they left it in gear and WHAM! the car dies and scares the crap out of you. Unless you are parked on a hill of some kind there is NO reason to leave your car in gear. :cheers:

you are a good man! i salute you for not rippin' your mother n law's lips.

well, i can imagine what i'd have said/done. now whether i'd say/do it would depend on how much religion i had in me. realistically, i think i would need to just walk/drive away for a weekend to kool down. i don't want to come to this -> :matchup:

i've never had a problem giving anybody a ride in the 986 but nobody drives. i worked too long & too hard for the 986.

please tell me your mother n law will cook & deliver your next holiday meals for 5 years??

Sorry for your accident. I also think that you should clean up the drywall and glass and see what you are dealing with before jumping to conclusions. I don't know, it doesn't look like the door is damaged to me. It looks like some scratches and broken glass. just make sure the door lines up correctly. Chances are if the door has not be warped and if it still opens and closes correctly then it will not be too bad.

I always felt this way with the previous cars I've owned. But for some reason I don't have a problem with others driving my Boxster, even though it is by far the most expensive car I've ever owned. I think because it will be a chance in a lifetime for most of them and will be something they will always remember.

However, I don't let just anyone drive it - there are some requirements they must meet. And most importantly I put the car in an easy to drive location before they ever touch the driver's seat - I don't want to put them in a position to fail. NO ONE WILL EVER USE REVERSE IN MY BOXSTER. You are asking for trouble if someone unfamiliar with a Boxster is backing up in your Boxster.

Don't get me wrong Alikhan78, I'm not trying to preach to you. I feel your pain, am impressed that you didn't go Mt Visuvius on your M-I-L, and most importantly hope your repairs go smoothly. We can all learn from your situation.

Terry

Sorry to hear about this but I have to ask....What enjoyment was the mother in law going to get from backing a car out of a garage?

PS She should pony up 100% of the cash to fix it, then she will really learn about Porsche ownership since she has expresssed interest..

:) she's been pretty bothered about this so I've just let it go. Also now that a day has passed I'm feeling a lot better and the damage doesn't look so bad anymore. It could have been a lot worse if the entire door had hit my garage door. It sucks especially since I've spent quiet a bit on the car this month alone with tires, litronics, and an oil change.

I've gotten an estimate from Safelite glass, so I may go with them. They are asking for around $240 (with tax). I also called another glass place and the guy quoted me $270 (with tax). I'm a little concerned since I'm not sure if most car window repair guys know how to remove the door panels correctly.
I've gotten almost all the scratches out (except for three ones where the paint is actually gone) and it looks like there are 4 or 5 paint chips, I guess from glass hitting the door but I maybe able to conceal them with touch up.

Ouch! Sorry to hear what happened! Hope it all works out!

Great job with keeping your cool!!

Anyway, if you're interested in DIY, check out this site that may be helpful.

http://www.bombaydigital.com/boxster/projects/window/

(note: link was previously posted on our forum. Do a search on window installations for the original thread)

Finally got my driver side window replaced. I ended up doing this on my own, ordered the glass through the local Porsche dealership and it ended up costing me $98. I've gotten pretty much all the scratches on the door out, I have two minor paint chips that I will fix sometime this week, drywall has also been replaced ($25). I would say the biggest pain replacing the window was with that small airbag label/plug, I ended up scratching it pretty badly but it can be replaced or repaired fairly easily. Thanks to local board member Matt (FrayAdjacent), he came by and helped quiet a bit especially with the entire window alignment part. All in all this turned out a lot easier and cheaper than I thought it would.

Ali, you're welcome for the help.

It really ended up being pretty easy to replace the glass. I'm glad you'll be able to go out and drive the car now! I ended up going down south to a buddy's house to check out the 1975 914 he just got. He's a complete noob, so he doesn't have much experience. The car looks pretty nice, needs some very minor attention to be a good driving car.

So anyway, about the door glass, it was very easy to replace, IMO. replacing the regulator or cables and such might be a bit more difficult, tho!