Totaled 987S, now what?

Hello all! As you can tell from the title, yes I got into a single person accident and totaled my 987.1S.. hydroplaned on the interstate and hit the guardrail. No airbags deployed and I wasn’t injured. After getting off the phone with my insurance company, they ruled the car as being a total loss and offered me 2 options: either keep the car and take 15K or sell the car for 21K. My initial response is to take the 15K and keep the car and get it repaired but I also would like a 911 LOL. The car before the accident was babied and rarely had issues 118K on the odometer and she had plenty more life left in her. What should I do guys??? I can provide any more information or pics if requested.

21k seems ok, but you can and should ask for more. I'm not sure fixing it is the best idea... lots of stuff pops up as you get into it, and you end up with a car that has a branded title as well. If you're going to do the work yourself, it might be ok, but it's probably best to get a used one on the market instead? At least, that's what I think... I enjoy wrenching on cars, but there are too many variables, especially with the engine near there as well... it seems like it would be a can of worms.

Glad that you're safe and you weren't injured, and a shame about the accident. If you plan on doing the work yourself outside of getting the frame professionally pulled, you may be able to get by. Labour is horribly expensive in the US and 99% of the time the cost to fix these cars (frame puller, sourcing parts, fixing suspension and problems arising from frame damage/bending, labour to put all that together, and paint labour) will cost more than the current market value of the car... I'm in CA so our prices are inflated but a 118k mile 987.1CS would only bring about $21-23k, and respectively, the cost to fix that damage would easily come out to $28-30k if not more. If you can find similar condition cars online for more than $21k, you can send them to your insurance agent/claims agent as "comp" cars to try and get a better offer. If you do accept the insurance's offer to total out the car, let us know if you plan to part anything out!

Aside from going down the repair option path (totally valid option looking at your photo), Another option if you have the space/inclination is to part out your car. When my Boxster S was totalled out I opted to keep it and have parted out some of it (made back more in parts than what I paid to keep it) plus I replaced the Boxster with a Cayman that had light front panel damage that I was able to mostly repair with parts from the Boxster (fender and headlight) as I got familiar with the condition of the Cayman I was able to use various parts from the Boxster that are an upgrade or better condition.

Rear end damage on a Porsche can be quite expensive to repair. Unless you have the skills and experience to do the repair yourself, the big question is how much it would cost. Have you taken it to a shop to see? I’m no expert, but that looks expensive to me. BTW. If you had done that in a 911 it would have been far worse. 😀

At a glance without knowing what lies beneath it does not look like a car that can’t be repaired. What I see is a car that needs a home where the new owner owns a body & mechanical shop. Potentially someone could eventually get a nice ride but they would need to steal it.

I'd say ask for more since that seems like a low ball, but sell the car to avoid the headache. Unless you've got pricey mods.

Earlier this year the rear of my 987 Cayman was lightly hit as I was sitting at a light. It didn't look that bad. Pic below. But it was $4700. Both seat belts had to be replaced because they locked. That was "only" about 700 because I did it myself to get the car quickly ready for a track weekend. Seat belts are like air bags in that the accident retraction feature only works once. Something I didn't know. About 200 of that was Porsche recoding for the seat belts. It was this expensive without having to replace the bumper cover or any exhaust components. The rear spoiler was also not damaged in any way. And the other party's insurance adjuster was scrutinizing everything so it was not a case of a shop overcharging. Everything on a Porsche is just plain expensive. In the picture you have to look closely to see the damage. Notice that the exhaust tips are sticking out more than normal because the bumper has been pushed in. Also notice there is a slight gap between the passenger side light and bumper cover. They did replace the small bumperette things next to the license plate. Lots of heat shields, brackets and the actual bumper were replaced. But overall a fairly minor fender bender was almost $5k.

Same story here. Minor fender bender in front left (see below). Doesn't look bad, but it cost ~$9,500 to repair. The body shop had to replace a headlight and a bunch of random plastic (cracked or broken tabs) along with the entire front bumper and fender, + new PPF. Your insurance company chose to total it for a reason, unfortunately

FAM_ILY - I'm so sorry to hear it. Here's my hot take with a quick look at the numbers. I would try to get more than 21K if you can, and just move on. If you look around for a while, I bet that you could find a replacement 987.1S for similar money -- but YMMV.

I think I’ll go with this advice, been looking around for 987.1s and I’ve seen some for 26. If I can get at least 24 out of insurance, that would be awesoem

I think you will, TBH. Winter is coming, which makes it more of a buyer's market. I think you should be able to negotiate down price-wise and do an even swap if you want. Cheering you on.

How much will they give you for the car and how much to buy it back? A salvaged car could make a good track car for someone, you might make a few bucks.

Hm... I replaced the black seatbelts with yellow ones. Is recoding needed for this? I don't have any lights or other warnings and I didn't set off the black ones. I have a 987.1 . Anyone know if I'm driving around without the pyrotechnics activated?

And I can tell from the damage you were hot in a turn and lifted. That sucks, but happens and usually only ends with dirty laundry. Hope all is well.

I personally would take the 21k and move on, there are some great Caymans on the market for reasonable prices if you look around.