not for deep water

[Guest]

I can honestly say that as wonderful as the boxster is, it can't turn itself into a boat when you need it to.

Hence the resultant trip across 3 lanes of carrigway, into the central crash barrier (side on at approx 65 mph), back across 3 lanes onto the hard shoulder.

I can also say how well the car protected me. First the side airbag only deploid preventing excessive deafness but preventing any chest injuries, the hazard lights instantly switched on to warn other road users that I was in trouble, fuel was cut to the engine and to top it all, the SOS button on the PCM system got me straight through to 999 where I was able to give them my exact location through the Sat Nav within seconds of the accident.

Injuries were kept to a minimum with bruised ribs, right arm and kidneys.

Injuries to the car were slightly higher with a repair bill in the region of £24-27K.

Should have her back on the road at the end of the month.

In my defence, they did close the road 2 hours later as the road had totaly flooded and two other cars did the same thing near by. I found out later one of the other cars was a new Maserati insured with the same company as me. Talk about an expensive day.

 

[Guest]

hell Adam,

Just glad you're okay! Did this happen in the flash floods in London earlier in the week?

 

[Guest]

No, it was down in South Devon a couple of weeks ago.

We had good weather for a couple of days and then sudden heavy rain. Luckily it was 8.30pm and every normal person was home in the dry or it could have been a lot worse.

 

[chrisr]

Never nice to see , however glad to hear you got away with minor injuries.

 

[oliver]

Oops! But,

" .....repair bill in the region of £24-27k"

" Should have her back on the road by the end of the month."


Er, I don't think those two statements correlate.

 

[JCB..]

Looks worse than it is.

Mine had a new rear quarter panel, door, sill, rear wheel (about a quarter of what Adam's has suffered) and that was £6K plus. They don't mess about repairing panels they put in new ones - a few hours work to a decent bodyshop.

JCB..

 

[Guest]

ORIGINAL: oliver

Oops! But,

" .....repair bill in the region of £24-27k"

" Should have her back on the road by the end of the month."


Er, I don't think those two statements correlate.

I know it sounds a lot for what it looks, but I took the car to my local OPC where they gave it a full inspection and the list of parts and repair services, costings etc lasts for 10 pages and the front cover reads something like this......

labour = £ 6300.00
paint = £ 1365.28
parts = £14525.47
Corrosion protection +
specialist = £ 655.00

VAT= £ 3998.01

TOTAL = £26843.76

Now this is the pre-insurance haggled quote, but it gives a rough guide.

Apparently, before the work commences, they strip the car of engine, gearbox, running gear and everything else which might get in their way. My car is now a bare shell in the body shop with all mechanical parts lying somewhere safe at my local OPC garrage.
When they finish their work, the car gets trailered back to have everything refitted.

The work comes with a lifetime warrenty and apparently there will be no record of the accident damage!

I'll wait and see for that one...

 

[daro911]

ORIGINAL: Adam Creasey


The work comes with a lifetime warrenty and apparently there will be no record of the accident damage!

I'll wait and see for that one...

Adam surely the "Lifetime Warranty" on repairs would be the RECORD of the accident damage on any future checks next owner may make with PCGB

 

[Mark_Bennett]

The lifetime warranty also requires a (free) annual inspection at an approved Porsche body shop.

(At least it's free!)

 

[oliver]

The reason I was sceptical was:

1. At that level of repair expenditure, surely it would be written off?

2. Surely, with such widespread damage it would need to be repaired on the jig and with the time required to prepare the car, access all the parts, get insurance approvals, carry out the repairs and re-assemble the car etc, I can see this taking eight weeks minimum.

3. However well it is repaired/warranted, an inspection will reveal that it has been in an accident. I doubt that an OPC would retail it in the future.

 

[daro911]

ORIGINAL: oliver

The reason I was sceptical was:

1. At that level of repair expenditure, surely it would be written off?

However well it is repaired/warranted, an inspection will reveal that it has been in an accident. I doubt that an OPC would retail it in the future.

Factor in the allowance for a hire car etc etc and I can't see how a £27K repair can be cost effective ... How much is the actual car worth!

 

[JCB..]

I would hazard a guess at £27K plus....

When it comes to money insurance companies normally know who to screw!

JCB..

 

[daro911]

ORIGINAL: JCB..

I would hazard a guess at £27K plus....

When it comes to money insurance companies normally know who to screw!

JCB..

Agreed ... So that being the case why would they waste time & money on a major rebuild like this one! Bodyshop must know how much the insurance company will stand for and even allowing for such an adjustment I still wouldn't want the car repaired and personally would push like stink to have it written off.... Can you imagine how much fine tuning will be required once its back on its wheels again []

Oh and will the RMS ever be a perfect fit again []

 

[oliver]

Whichever way, WE all end up paying for it! According to one of the big insurers, motor claims exceeded £17,000,000,000 last year.

 

[Guest]

This was a tough one.

The car was just over £40K new and the car was 13 months old. The killer one is that if the car was 12 months old or less and the insurance company had written the car off, It would be replaced with a brand new one. As the car was over that, they would only pay current value. (£35K)ish.

After doing a search for a replacement, I could not find a boxster with my spec and milage of a decent age, colour etc I liked. The point being if I pushed for a write off, I would be left short of at least £5K for a new car.

My cars spec as follows:

MY03 2.7 boxster Midnight Blue Met
Full Savanah leather
Box II 17" alloys
Wind deflector
PCM Sat nav
PCM phone system
Stereo Upgrade
CD Changer
Tracker
+ a copuple of other little things.

I have since heard from the repairer, and you are right (8 weeks) and the insurance company negotiated repair cost down to just under £24K hence a saving of £11K for them over a replacement.

As for the record of the car, there is obviously a record with Porsche but not if someone does a check with AA / RAC etc (private sale) I have also been assured by my OPC repairer that the trade in value will not be affected. I have asked for this on paper so I can introduce them to my soliciter in the event that they try to screw me come trade in time.

 

[JCB..]

Robert

You can repair almost anything to "as new" these days with the right equipment and expertise.

If the cars is worth £35K and the repair bill is £27K I reckon that's £8K saving for someone.

The damage is no worse than what my car suffered it's just that there is a lot more of it and you said yourself that my car looked OK for the mileage!

JCB..

 

[daro911]

ORIGINAL: JCB..


If the cars is worth £35K and the repair bill is £27K I reckon that's £8K saving for someone.

JCB

[:-]Good point well argued ... I rest my case []

 

[n.turner]

Hi Adam,

I'm afraid that I have joined your club! Had a similar water related accident on Sunday (1st accident ever). My car does not look too disimilar to yours, though the front has been largely spared.

I was interested to know what your experiences were like with Porsche Assistance. They were very slow in getting to me, and it was 5 1/2 hours before I got home rather than a possible 1 hour. They have given me a courtesy car for a couple of days, but say that this is their limit for loan for an RTA.

The other thing that is even more frustrating is an estimation of 6+ weeks before I get the car back, I am not sure how that compares to you? This means that I will largely miss out on the rest of the summer and would like to encourage them to expediate the repair, but don't know if this is possible.

I am not sure whether they can really restore the car back to its original standard (immaculate), or whether I can be confident that it will drive perfectly. I wondered whether it is worth counting my loses and changing the car shortly after repair.

Interested to hear your (and others) views.

Nick

 

[Dapster]

Nick, Adam

Really sorry to hear your news - it's an awful feeling. I know, because a few months ago I did this Ouch! Bent My Boxster

It was frontal impact that did around £8k damage to my '01 2.7. OPC Colchester recovered the car and took it away for about 4 weeks. The work was done by their repair centre in Cambridge. The car was returned in first class condition - I'm a super geek for keeping my cars in good condition and I was totally impressed with the result. The car was spotless, the paint match was perfect, the panel alignment was perfect and they even relplaced the original build sticker on the inside of the bonnet. They replaced both front tyres even though only one was damaged and the other was only 2 months old.

After 4 months I can not say there is any difference in driving the car. I drive over all sorts of urban, country and motor way roads and nothing would lead me to notice the car has been repaired. Nothing.

The only blemish was that the loan car was a bottom of the range Pug 106. The lease on that expired about a week after the loaned it to me and despite me begging for a 996 they replaced it with a Merc A Class.

Don't ask them to hurry the job - you will be irked by a less than flawless finish so don't give them a chance to mess it up.

Oh I may be using them again as on Saturday I was driving past a park when a dead branch fell out of a tree and hit the side of the car. Thankfully my girlfriend was unhurt in the passenger seat (roof down) but the branch scratched the passenger door and rear wing, and took out the mirror lens!

 

[Garry Steele]

Glad you're ok Adam. You didn't say how fast you were going at the time in order to get across three lanes of carriageway, twice.