side airbag failure
#16
Your insurance will likely write the car off, it will be sold for salvage. Pressure your insurance company. After it has been hit like that , no one will want to buy it, at least as in paying the same as they would a clean car.
#17
Doesn't look too bad on the photo, I seen worst hit cars being fixed in Hong Kong - if the mechanic has the correct machine, I don't know the name for it. I have seen it (made specially for Porsche) - you can pull the car and there are holes on the chassis, if it is not aligned properly, then the screws won't be able to go into those holes. The cars fixed will drive as good as new, but not sure if chassis will be as strong as new ones.
#18
The car can indeed be fixed. In fact, it's only about 6k since the majority of the damage is the door and rear quarter. Of course even when fixed as good as new the resale will never be the same since the car is now "tainted". I don't even want it myself. Either way, the engineer will see the car today and we'll see how it goes. I will keep everyone posted. ( no pun intended).
#19
Here is how the story ends: I took the car to the Collection ( Miami Porsche dealer) and they asked me to take it to the body shop where they refer all their work, Countach, also in Coral Gables, just around the corner from the dealer. So I take the car there and they do an estimate and I told them I'd be back Tuesday to pick up the car so the Porsche engineer could look at it. On Tuesday I went to pick up the car and had to wait about an hour because they were "charging the battery". As soon as I sat down in the car I knew something was wrong. The driver seat was discolored and squishy where before it was taut and firm. I drove 1 block to the dealer and left the car there. The engineer called several hours later and said the airbag performed as designed and noted a large amount of water beneath the seat and all over the ECU. As it turns out, Countach body shop left my 4 month old 997 with 3k miles on the clock out in the rain all weekend. the car was completely soaked, carpets, dash, electronics. It smelled of mold and mildew. Mind you , that weekend Miami experienced torrential downpours all weekend. I called the body shop trying to keep from losing my temper and they confessed to leaving it outside and didn't seem the least bit concerned about it. I politely asked them for the insurance information and they absoutely refused to provide it. In fact, they told me in a very condescending and arrogant way that "it's not going to happen. We're not giving it to you". I was so furious I was ready to go there and kick someones teeth in but instead I remained calm and quietly filed a lawsuit. In case any of you don't know, there is something called "diminished value" and if your car is damaged by a 3rd party through no fault of your own, the insurer of that third party must pay the amount of value that the car has diminished by. For example, if I can sell my now flooded 911 for 40k when fixed, and I would otherwise be able to sell it for 65k, then they owe me 25k, simple as that. In fact, the amount of diminished value that is not collected, is tax deductable. So, learn from this. Avoid Countach body shop at all costs as they are scum of the earth sleaze bags. I will keep you all posted as my lawsuit progresses
#20
Before you preclude some recovery I would suggest you get the advice of local counsel. It may save you a bit of aggrivation.
This is a shame.
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Feelgood MD
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03-24-2016 09:35 AM