AAAAAARRRRRHHHHH as well!!

[sawood12]

I've just been rear-ended...twice! I was stopped at a junction patiently waiting to pull out and bam! I got an Audi A3 up me jaxxi. There was one impact and a second immediately after as the driver hit the accellarator instead of the brake by mistake!! The other drivers comment was "Oh, I thought you were pulling out"! I should count myself lucky in that I wasn't shunted into the oncoming traffic.

Hopefully the damage doesn't look too bad - new bumper, new lower rear spoiler and the rear panel is damaged but the damage doesn't seen to extend round the sides. Thankfully my ESS oval exhaust appears to have escaped unscathed.

So assuming I convince the other persons insurance company not to write my car off my questions are now:-
- What do I do if the other persons insurance company tries to palm me off to some dodgy back-street insurer approved repair shop?
- Given the damage is to the back panel can I get a full body respray out of this to make sure the whole job is blended in?

 

[Mark_Bennett]

Sorry to hear that []

To answer one concern of yours:
It is YOUR right to have the car repaired where YOU want.
Insurance companies CANNOT dictate where you have the car repaired - even if they say otherwise.
(Insurance Ombudsman ruling)

I know - I went in to all this when I lost my 1st 944...[]

 

[mik_ok]

[]

 

[juliany27]

Mark is quite right.

When a stupid person ran into my Boxster and her insurance company wanted me to use their repairers, I told them where to go - I wanted my car repaired at an OPC with the warranty for the work done etc.

I booked it in asap and left the insurers with a fait accompli. Try that - getting an estimate is not teh same as getting the work done - and puts pressure on the insurers of the person who ran into your car and was at fault.

 

[Guest]

1) You can insist on a Porsche approved repair shop. I've done this in the past when somebody damaged my Mercedes (obviously it was a Mercedes approve and not a Porsche approved bodyshop in that case). The insurance company will have a list of repair places that they have approved, and there should be a few Porsche approved ones on that list. If there aren't, you can get it done by the place of your choice. It just means a bit more hassle, as you will probably have to arrange getting a quote for the work yourself. They will then look at the quote and approve the work.

2) If they spray the rear and it doesn't match the rest of the car, you can insist on them respraying the whole car. They are supposed to return the car to the condition it was the instant before the crash. If the front and back were the same colour then, they have to be the same colour when they've finished the repair. An ex-colleague of mine had this happen to him. It was a bit of a hassle for him, but in the end they got the whole car resprayed.

 

[944turboS]

Take a read of these threads from Carl Thompson's & my own experiences last year.

http://www.porscheclubgbforum.com/tm.asp?m=122254&mpage=1&key=bent&#122322

http://www.porscheclubgbforum.com/tm.asp?m=99134&mpage=1&key=bent&#99261

 

[Fen]

Careful you don't make it too expensive or they will just write it off.

 

[944turboS]

Thats just what I did & took the agreed value payout.

 

[sawood12]

Well I would dearly love to get the thing repaired so I can continue to enjoy it ideally without having a write off against it's history. The damage looks similar but not quite as extensive as Carl Thompsons as there was no apparent creases or damage away from the impact area so hopefully everything is just cosmetic. If I see a bill for £7.5k then the car will almost certainly be a write off. As good an example as it is I reckon it's PAV is about £6k so it's going to be touch and go.

Anyone know if you can pass your PCGB 10% parts discount on through the repair shop? 10% off £2k's worth of parts is worthwhile. Shame I can't get it off the labour.

 

[944turboS]

I think thats what Carl did to keep his bill down a bit, or maybe it was just bulk purchase.

 

[John Maddox]

As I understand it, if you are blameless, you have an absolute right to be returned as near as possible to how the situation was before the accident. If because of the repair your car has lost value in the eyes of a potential purchaser then they have to compensate you for that as well.

Do you have Legal Assistance as part of your Insurance ? if so, might be worth speaking to them.

 

[sawood12]

The wheels of the insurance machine are already turning. The other party has admitted liability so I can drop the car off at a bodyshop of my choice at my convenience and i've got a hire car being delivered on Friday. The garage that had my car earlier today did me an insurance quote which came out at £1200+parts+vat (maybe another £2k for a bumper, offside lower spoiler and rear panel?) although I have no intention to let them carry out the work. They reckoned early indications are that there is no distortion or damage to the main structural elements of the car but it will only be confirmed once the back panel is off. I am a bit worried about colour matching the paint and don't want my car to end up looking like a patchwork of different shades of Pink under Sodium street lights so am considering pushing for a full body respray which would push the total bill upto the £5k ish mark which should still be within my agreed PAV.

Anyway i'm not holding my breath until I get the proper quote from the specialist I choose to carry out the work.

 

[Fen]

I was rear-ended in my S2 coupe by a colleague about 5 years ago. Only the fibreglass of the bumper was damaged (it cracked) but the total bill for that was in excess of £1,000 and as I say that was nearly 5 years ago. If you need parts for the valance and a rear panel I guess £3.2k might be realistic. It won't be any less.

 

[Diver944]

Do you absolutely , positively need the courtesy car?

I only ask this because this too will add a value to the claim. Lets say £25 a day and your car is away for 3 weeks, that will add another £500 closer to the write-off value []

 

[sawood12]

Just checked, only the repair costs are compared to the cars PAV so the cost of the hire car and any other expenses are not taken into account.

I was also very honest and didn't take advantage of the Whiplash loophole!

 

[chrisr]

Scott , dam sorry to read about your rear ended shunt . I echo what everybody else has said , take no crap from insurers and ensure the job is done by an approved Porsche Bodyshop and is of the standard you would expect.

Hope your car gets returned to the condition it was in when I saw it at the Dyno day if my memory serves me right..

Chris

 

[sawood12]

Just for everyones info:-
Rear bumper £198
Longer section of the lower rear spoiler £765.94
Rear Panel (one piece) £244.54
Bumber rubber strip £155.83
Bumper bracket with tow eye £115.43
Other bumper bracket £31.19

So parts are looking like £1510.93 excl VAT. Not as dear as I thought but of course this assumes the structure behind the panel is intact!!

 

[Fen]

Rear "Porsche" script around £75 last time I knew the price. You can get cheaper copies, but may as well go genuine if the insurance is paying.

 

[pae]

I had front and rear shunt on a 924S which involved replacing

• (front) badge panel, bumper, number plates, sundry brackets etc
• (rear) centre panel, bumper, rubber strip, number plates, sundry brackets etc
• (both ends) spray to blend in

I had 2 quotes done, my choice of repairer, they came out at £2650 and £2800 or thereabouts (can't remember exactly, but I have the quotes on file.)

If you want to see a copy of the quotes let me know and I'll pm them. You can use them to check the prices you're getting if you wish.

 

[sawood12]

I wouldn't mind a copy of the quotes if you can scan them and email them easily enough. Assuming there is no structural damage and that the damage is purely cosmetic I think i'm going to push for a full body respray as alot of the prep work involved in that will encompass the repair work. the only over and above should be the cutting out and re-welding of the rear panel. To keep costs below the write-off threshold I can save alot of money by getting a 2nd hand bumper and lower spoiler.

I had about £2,500 in my head for the cost of a glass-out full body respray from someone on the 924 register who had their's done at a decent bodyshop. Based on this and the cost of the parts I hope that the cost of the job will come within the write off threshold. I cant see the price of a full body respray for a 944 being that different to a 924's.

With a baby on the way the wife is seeing this as an opportunity to have the car written off so I can get something sensible like a Zaffira or a Picasso. After all these years she still doesn't get me!!