996 extensively damaged on the side -- what to do/WTB '02 996 roller

Hello, 400$ finders fee if someone finds a clean title, otherwise clean 2002 996 roller on the west coast for around 5k. I managed to extensively damage the drivers side bodywork of my '02 996 convertible (but I am perfectly fine). The steering column, front suspension and front tray are also damaged, so I assume (also based on quick estimates from the body shop) that the car isn't worth repairing (and I didn't carry full coverage on it), especially given the risk of frame damage. However, the engine is unharmed. I am debating between two possible actions, but am welcome to more suggestions: 1) find a rolling chassis -- where would I find a matching model? California prohibits swapping into a newer body AFAIK, so I can't rescue the excellent 40th anniversary car currently being sold in LA. I heard swapping into 996.1 causes issue with the engine, so I would need an exact match into the model year. Do you have any recommendations where to start looking and what price levels I can expect? 2) Sell the car for parts -- what do you think I could expect for a '02 convertible with a half-useable body, intact interior and well-maintained drivetrain? Thank you very much for your help!

Sell it all and just buy another car. There are lots of dismantlers, take lots of pictures and see what you are offered...but remember they want to make a profit, its their business. Whatever you get is what it is worth.

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Put me down for #1. You can search out a car similar to your car, same transmission, MY from 2000 to 2002, and with a sick engine (and/or transmission) then buy it and transfer your car's engine/transmission to the "new" car then sell the engine/transmission-less shell to a Porsche salvage company. No way I'd opt for #2. I am not a fan of parting out a car. One turns his house/garage/yard into a junk yard and then one has strangers coming over take parts off a car. Plus, you could be parting out that car for a long time until it is all gone. So, if you don't want to find another car to receive the engine/transmssion from your wrecked car and you don't want to become a part time junk yard owner my best advice is to call Oklahoma Foreign, which specializes in Porsche salvage business, and find out what it would offer you for the car. There are other companies besides Oklahoma Foreign, but no names come to mind. Get a copy of an Excellence magazine and look for ads of companies like Oklahoma Foreign and call around. You get the car gone in one quick pick up and get the money in a bank transfer operation or check when the car is picked up. With the car gone and the money you can begin to put this behind you and move forward.

Drives a Porsche and opts out of full coverage....my head just exploded. please tell me at what point when buying a Porsche did you figure insurance wasn't important?

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+1 on this If you didn't pay full coverage to cut cost, I wouldn't imagine the expense and time to buy another 911, swap engine and trans and selling the roller by parts? I will sell the car as is, no parting out and move on Sent from my iPhone using Rennlistedtrtfytj

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Liability vs. full coverage comes down to a calculated risk. If you get into a car cheap enough (which you can do with 996s) I could see opting for liability only. It could be a minimal investment at potential risk versus the known expense of full coverage. If you couple that with someone with some dings on their driving record where full coverage could be pretty costly, it may make sense.

If you're mechanically inclined and have the space and time to part it out, I would probably go that route personally. But first you should really get it on an alignment rack if possible and go from there instead of making assumptions. Here's where I see majority of the money parting it out. These are avg's and ymmv depending on condition/mileage. Engine- 6-10k Transmission- 1-2k Headlights - 1200-1500 Seats - 700-1k Taillights - 200-400 Wheels - 1.2-1.5k Calipers- 1k If M030 Suspension - 400-700 Fender - 300 Mufflers - 300-400 Bumper - 200 Then you have all the little misc stuff which you can prob get another 1-2k on. Of course this takes a lot of labor and may not be worth it to you.

Thank you very much! I will see if I can find a good rolling chassis and swap it, and if not get offers from a recycling company. I think even if the frame is straight, replacing three body panels (fender/ door/ quarter panel) and both bumpers is more than a rolling chassis. As to insurance: I moved to the US from Germany, and my driving record didn't transfer -- therefore full coverage would have been the blue book value of the car ever 3-4 years. I did take the risk and lost -- and am now looking for the best way out of my situation.

I kept wanting to agree with Johnny Irish and telling you to cut your losses, but just to play devil's advocate...if you can find one of those low-mileage, very well maintained 996's that were unfortunate enough to go boom and get into it for $5K or so and get your mechanic to do the swap at a reasonable cost, you could wind up with a better car than what you have now. I'm not really a fan of profiting from someone else's misfortune, but there are folks who can't afford / aren't willing to spend what it costs for a rebuilt motor. If you find one of those garage queens and drop your M96 into it, you get the best of both worlds: a well-maintained, low-mileage chassis with a known-good engine. If you sell your wreck for $10K and add $10K to the pot, you'll be shopping in the tatty higher-mileage 996 bargain department. If you do decide to go the route of transplanting into someone else's roller, try to find one that didn't die from a condition involving intermix - otherwise, you'll be needing to swap the cooling system as well to address ruined coolant hoses and gummed-up radiators, and based on your description of the damage to your 996, you may not have a full complement of radiators to transplant.

If it was me I'd talk to a few indies about your situation , chances are one of them knows of a good car that's got a blown motor with an owner who wants to get out of it . If you don't find a car right away , you could always pull the motor and tranny and store it until you find a car . Sell the rest to a wrecker . 02 was a good year , even the c4s is possible You might save a good car and do it affordably if patient / lucky

I would get 10 more "2nd opinions" until I found one telling you how much $$ to make yours driveable again. I wouldn't get rid of my car based on one (1) indy's opinion.

Interesting point, Phil, but if the car is as jacked up as OP suggests, you might never get it put back exactly right - at least not without spending a s**t-ton of money. OP doesn't sound so in love with the car (as evidenced by the choice in coverage) that he'd mind moving on to another one... Crabbing down the freeway turning up the radio to drown out the squeaks and rattles is a terrible time to realize that maybe replacing it would have been a better option than fixing it...

Depending on damage, Get one of the custom wide body kits or such and make something special out of it.

Surely he took some pics of the damage. Not that I like seeing damaged 996's, but it would help show level of damage.

Yeah, this thread is heading toward...well, you know.

Thank you very much for all the help so far. I contacted local recyclers and mechanics to keep an ear or for a suitable roller. Attached are some pictures from the carnage -- I am glad I made it out without a scratch. Rear fender Door Steering rack bent and came off Drivers radiator bent and cracked Damage to the under tray Front suspension/subframe cracked

Certainly looks fixable, but that compared to finding a roller would probably be close in price.

Regrettably, it's not practical to fix it. Drop ~$5K or so in a decent roller; sell or swap the remnants of the crash car towards the labor cost of the engine transplant. Glad you're ok & Good Luck!

Looks like the car was on its side? Good news you walked away unharmed. If the car was insured I'm very sure the insurance company would total the car. There is extensive sheet metal damage to regions that do not unbolt. That rear quarter panel for instance. There is substantial steering/suspension damage. While the components can be removed and replaced their attachement points are probably out of position and these have be pulled back into position. This takes time and time takes money. There looks to be tub damage which requires straightening and checking to verify everything is back where it is supposed to be. My 2003 Turbo sustained a damaged front bumper cover, headlight, trunk lid, passenger fender, A/C condenser, radiator, lots of damaged hardware under the bumper cover and fender (radiator fan, mounting brackets, fuel vent system), two new front tires, one new front wheel, and required paint on the new bumper cover, fender, trunk lid, passenger door. There was little damage to any steering or suspension hardware. The only "tub damge" was the shelf that runs along the trunk was bent down a bit and had to be brought back into poisition so the fender was at the proper height. Cost to repair? Over $25,000. My new 2008 Cayman S was hit just ahead of the driver's side a-pillar. Headlight, condenser, radiator, front fender, both wheels, tires, door, a-pillar, air bags, dash (passenger side air bag destroys the dash when it deploys), set belts (pre-tensioners deployed), and some steering and suspension damage was sustained along with some tub/chassis damage (the front trunk was obviously bent out of shape which clearly shows the damage is more than just skin deep). The "exotic car" claims adjuster stopped adding up the damage at over $45K. I'd estimate the amount of damage your car susptained is somewhere between $25K and $45K to fix right and probably closer to the $45K amount. While the car is fixable, based on the observation over the years that just about everything is fixable, it would be a very expensive job and you will almost certainly end up with something less that what you have before the unfortunate accident. At some point a car can reach the stage it is good for nothng other than to supply parts to help keep better cars on the road. This car has reached that stage. Whether you want to find a good roller and transfer your car's engine and possibly transmission to the roller or just sell the car to a Porsche salvage business is up to you. In my opinion these are the only two options that make any sense. You might want to get a price quote from a salvage car business for the car as it is now and with the engine and possibly transmission removed.

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+1

If that was 996 #850 of a total run of 1,000, it would be worth fixing...Since it's one of over 175,000 996's, I agree with OP that this one is done. While it's true that you can fix damn near anything as long as there's enough metal to which you can weld more metal, you'd need an epic body shop to put this right.

Now, do we get the story, or is it not prudent for you to share?

Find a roller where the car has suffered a IMSB failure. Low ball it, and then swap your good engine into the roller chassis. There's got to be a few rollers come up every year in the type you need. Part out the rest of the car, or sell it to a breakers yard if you don't want to hassle with the parts pickers. BTW, I never buy comp or collision on any of my cars. Over my +40 year driving multiple cars, and wife's cars, guessing we've save ~$50,000 in insurance premiums. Oh sure - I've had to pay the occasional dent and ding repair, but for me and my family, we're way, way, way ahead of the game. Of course, my wife could total her Mini tomorrow and that gain will take a dent, but all in all, I'm happy with my decision. If you're a crap-azz driver, by all means - go with full coverage. Edit; Third idea, take your engine out, sell your crapped up chassis and sell your good engine to one of the IMSB failure people, then go buy another 996 to your liking.

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It would be easy to get all wound up about how insufferably stupid this statement is, but of course then we'd just be taking the bait. I'm sure OP was feeling just as clever as you are now...right up to the point where his 996 went through the meat grinder. Incidentally, A real man would use that $50K in saved insurance premiums as kindling to light the fire under a kettle full of the tears of the poor; the resulting salt would be AMAZING sprinkled on the caviar from the world's last black beluga sturgeon.

The part about him saying he's a great driver a week after only the oh so superior 996 braking system saved him from another manslaughter charge really should have been left in your post.

Dibs on the center console if it's leather.

Yeah, I was trying to throttle back the d!ck quotient, but I agree. I also initially referenced his "I have money everywhere, so let's have a fistfight" challenge, but again, that was a lot of "you're a tool" in one post, and I was being kinder. And gentler. Anyway, let's get back to how I'm such an amazing drivOHMYGODIALMOSTHITTHATGUYHOLYSH!TGLADMY996HASAMAZINGBRAKESBRUHpoor people are stupid.

Look at the upside all the uninsured wrecks will drive 996 prices up and give us parts to pick from for years.

Buy a nice roller < $5k. Pay a good tech $5k to drop in your engine. Sell the leftovers for $5k. The incident cost you $5k.

Wow the comprehension level in this sub-forum is just breathtakingly abysmal. But - go ahead, and make stuff up. I think I'll sleep ok tonight. Anyone ever heard the term 'actuarial'? Bueller?

Too busy almost killing people because of how awesome I am.

Edit: posted in the wrong thread lol

I will hone my patience and wait for a donor car. If anyone finds a clean title 996, 2002 6 speed roller in that price range, I'll gladly send a 5% finders fee.

If there is still any interest in repairing your 996, I have 440+ New 996 parts I've had nested and started to sort. Sheet metal, motor, interior . Get at me I can email a spreadsheet of the parts. Rich