How bad is this damage on front end?

I can't go into details on a public forum but this was the end result of my morning drive. Any idea how bad it is? It's at an auto body shop now but I'm cringing what the diagnosis is going to be plus concerned about how long it will take. Anyone have something similar happen to them?

Not too bad. Fender will have to be replaced. Probably the bumper cover. Headlight maybe. The right fender hides some of the fuel system vapor recovery hardware so this wants to be very carefully inspected for any damage. The front bumper cover will have to come off for a better view and damage assessment. The front trunk lid might have suffered paint damage if the fender got shoved over into it. Some applies to the passenger door if the fender got shoved back far enough to contact the door's leading edge. Likely the metal shelf that runs alongside the trunk and to which the fender bolts to will be bent down. This will require straightening. To do this right the car has to be placed on a Celette Bench (or something comparable) and the position of this shelf checked and brought in to spec if it is out of position. (My Turbo suffered similar damage from a mule deer impact. The passenger fender, trunk lid, headlight, bumper cover, tire, radiator, AC condenser, brackets, headlight wiring connector all had to be replaced. The wheel was sent out for refinishing but was ruined and had to be replaced. Some of the vapor recovery system hardware was damaged and replaced. Cost was nearly $30K to repair. Took around 30 days then when I got the car back an inspection by myself, a tech at the dealer, and another body/paint shop owner turned up issues so I had returned the car to the original body/paint where it was for another 30 days coming out the 2nd time fixed (almost) perfectly. The shop used too much paint where the Turbo's intercooler intake trim fits and a bit of paint squeezed out.) Oh, that looks like Lapis Blue (same color as my Boxster). Thankfully, this is an easy color match. Had my car run into while stopped at a stop light last May. When it came time to repaint the bumper the body shop borrowed the car to run it through some paint scanner to come up with a paint blend that matched my car's 12 year old paint. The match is perfect. (I had both bumper covers replaced and painted in early 2009 and both matched the rest of the body back then and over time there was no discoloration or change in tint and one couldn't tell the covers were not original.)

If i was to write you an estimate it would include the following. rt fender, rt head lamp, rt side marker lamp, depending on the tabs of the bumper you can probably get away with a repair, blend to rt front door and hood. hopefully there is no hidden additional damage. The repair is not too bad but the cost of parts are high.

Deer Hit 1: Crash Passenger Side 1

What about frunk hood rt side--is it bowed ? Bob 01 C4 31 Ford cp chp & ch, 302/350 40 ******, 302/350, IFS 38 Ford cp, 327/350, IFS 57 Belair 62 356B --long ago

Thanks Macster! It was a relatively low speed impact but I think the headlight will probably have to be replaced as I saw something broken inside of it and the turn signal is no longer functioning. The body shop is planning on taking everything apart to assess the damage. Yes you're right it is Lapis Blue, that's good news about the color matching. Mine is a 2002 so the paint has likely changed a bit in color since new. Now I patiently await...

Quotes source posts: 11526852, 11526859, 11526901

That's sort of what I was thinking. But then I look at Macster's below and it seems a lot more was happening under there than I previously thought. That was $30k worth of damage?!? Wow! I mean it looks bad but not $30k worth of bad. Glad you had a good experience getting it back together again though. I don't think so. It seemed to be isolated to the fender and light fixture. But I didn't really take that great of a look at it because I was preoccupied with what to do next.

Quotes source post: 11526902

If there is something broken inside the headlight chances are it will have to be replaced. With the headlight removed be sure the headlight wiring/connector is checked for any damage. The one in my Turbo was damaged but was caught during my inspection when I had the tech remove the bumper cover and the headlight to ensure all was ok under the covers, so to speak. Since the fender will be replaced this complicates headlight replacement. The mounting plate that bolts to the floor of the fender and which holds the headlight is adjustable to ensure a proper headlight fit in the fender's headlight opening. My info is getting the old platform -- assuming it is undamaged -- into the new fender and properly positioned so the headlight fit in the new fender is correct can be, and often is, a real pain. Use the undamaged side as a "guide" when you go to check the fit of the new headlight out in the new fender. When I inspected my car, I spotted the replacement headlight in my car's new fender was not positioned properly in the headlight opening and I had the body shop correct this. But first I explored just having a tech at my local Porsche dealer do this but he said the job can be a real pain and it is charged as a time and materials job. (Potentially lots of time. Materials not so much.) So, I elected to kick the car back to the body shop and insist the headlight fit be correct -- there is IIRC callouts on the headlight fit in the factory repair manual -- and match that of the other side. BTW, since my car was covered by a CPO warranty and I wanted that to remain in effect I insisted on the repairs being done to Porsche guidelines. All new factory parts bought from PCNA and through an authorized dealer. This included bumper cover, headlight (~$1200), front tire (actually both tires as the undamaged one had too much wear to co-exist with the new passenger side tire so the insurance company replaced both tires), front wheel ($1800), fender ($$$$), trunk lid ($$$$) and all damaged hardware and other parts, like A/C condenser, radiator, brackets, fan, and all other hardware. Also, all mechanical work was done by a Porsche tech. Stuff like any brake or steering hardware, radiator, A/C condenser replacement, vapor recovery system repairs. You are lucky with Lapis Blue. Arctic silver is a tough paint to match so the body shop -- and my other body shop buddy confirmed this -- told me it would have to spray other otherwise untouched and undamaged panels adjacent to the new panels to get the color best match. Thus the new front trunk, bumper cover, and fender was of course all painted, but so was a portion of the driver side fender, passenger side door, and part of the rear quarter panel. BTW, there was paint damage under the bumper cover, the fender, and on the chassis/tub surface between the passenger fender and the passenger door. If there are any with your car, and there probably will be, they'll want to be painted (after proper prep of course).

Quotes source post: 11526902

At some point, sooner rather than later, you want to see your car on a Celette Bench.. BTW, the areas circled in pink highlight paint damage and these were touched up before the car was finished.

Damn, didn't you just get this back from the body shop from a previous incident?

There is not need to put the car on a frame table for something minor as this. This collission is in the fender bender category. Fender, anything that broke under the fender, headlight, side marker and maybe a bumper cover is all that needed here.

just a mule deer? those are quite a bit smaller than the large whitetail we have here in northern IL. I live not far from a large landlocked herd that (to my knowledge) are not culled. slalomed thru them with a Cadillac, not willing to experiment with a 911

Quotes source post: 11527203

If the body shop is a Porsche Certified Collision Center and it should be, it will do the right thing as per Porsche, and put the car on a bench to ensure the position of various hard points have been not been affected.

Quotes source post: 11527148

No it must have been someone else. This is the first incident I've had in this car as I've had good luck in that regard for a few years. Actually the last time I visited a body shop was when my old 944 S2 was hit in a parking lot. I did a search for that thread here on Rennlist ( https://rennlist.com/forums/924-931-...body-shop.html ) and it happened in 2006. So I had a good 8 year run without any problems. Guess I can't complain about that. Fingers crossed that the damage on my car is minimal and I get it back soon!

Quotes source post: 11527742

My mistake, I get all you 944 guys mixed up. https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...s-morning.html Good luck with your car.

Quotes source post: 11527755

I can see why...he has a blue cab too! Guess it's the time of year to put your blue 996 away for fear that it'll get hit on the road.

What year? If its a 2000, you could very easily be looking at having the car totaled. Front clip, fender, condenser, radiator, possible frame bent will easily get into the 15k range. If you have a choice, get it totaled take the money and run. If you have it fixed it will never have any value since it been repaired. Dont make an emotional decision. These cars are fungible, they have absolutely no investment value, get as much cash as you can and you will be able to buy the same car in pristine condition for what you get if it's totalled.

Quotes source post: 11527260

Are you nuts? Who cares if the shop is Porsche certified or not? It's a 13 year old car. I know you like rambling on and writing page long replies but you really beleve this minor collission warrants a frame rack job? This is a job that most DIYers would fix in their garage. You get another used fender with the same colour, a headlight and replace them in one afternoon. If there are parts under the fender that broke, get some used ones and be done with it. Go ask any auto body professional and you'll get the same answer. You are starting to write long winded "throw everything at it and something might stick" replies again. Cut the BS and stick to the most likely diagnosis. If you have to write "Anyhow..." in your own reply, wouldn't that be a sign to stop typing?

^^^^ LOL, Imo000, you are too funny! I didn't wanna say anything at first. So lemme get this straight, what you are saying is do not apply the KK technique to body repair as he does engine repair/maintenance right? BTW, "Anyhow" = "But I Digress..."

Quotes source post: 11528018

It's a 2002. Honestly I don't think the damage is that extensive. I mean it was at such low speed so I'll be surprised if they come back with a laundry list of items that need to be replaced. I think as mentioned above it is likely the headlight and fender - maybe a little touch up on the bumper but aside from that I'm hoping it won't be much more. But if they do come back with a huge repair bill then I'll have some decisions to make of course.

OK, I can't believe that I am the first one to say this, but . . . I think that'll buff right out.

Quotes source post: 11528592

Might as well start making decisions then. These things run up bills as fast as they drive. The last time I got rear ended in her 996 the bill came out to $4400 from a <10mph bump that just appeared to have cracked the paint. I forgot to check your pics, but if you have Xenon lights get ready for a shock when you see what the new housing costs I wouldn't expect it to be totaled, but you'll be glad you aren't footing the whole bill yourself.

Take the fender off in your garage and see if anything is damaged underneath. It looks like a **** simple repair. If hood is undamaged, buy the fender off-ebay and replace it. Corner light looks like it just popped out. Headlight condition cannot be assessed from the picture. Fender houses the headlight assembly, hence you headlight is popped up. This being a 12 year old car, DIY is a legitimate way to go. This does not look like anything serious. Quick Ebay search yields full fender for $300. DIY up. http://www.ebay.com/itm/03-Porsche-9...dcfa41&vxp=mtr Edit, here is what looks like exact color match from ebay. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Porsche-996-...ec8c53&vxp=mtr

Care to open up the Frunk by chance and post a pic of it? Any wrinkles underneath there? You could also take it to the alignment shop to get one of those free alignment checks just to make sure nothing but superficial stuff is damaged.

Quotes source posts: 11529504, 11529517, 11529656, 11529687

I wish! OMG you are right. I just received the estimate and that light housing is very pricey. I knew it was expensive but had no idea it was as much as it is. You know ordinarily I would absolutely look at this as an alternative. But unfortunately I'm without a garage I can work in and easy access to my tools. We're in an apartment now and our new home won't be done for another 5-6 weeks. I can't wait that long so I'll just have to pay the shop to do it. I don't have the car with me now but will go take a look at it tomorrow. From what I can see in the estimate they're telling me it's the fender and light that need replacement. So it appears to be purely cosmetic but I'll see if anything appears to be amiss and report it to them. Crossing my fingers that what they found is actually it and I can be back on the road again soon.

Just wondering, how this happened, where I live if you rear end somebody it's 100% your fault. If you have comprehensive insurance it will be paid for by the insurance company but your rates will go way up .. My Porsche is the only Porsche I've ever had comprehensive insurance on.. Anyways good luck with the repair, mines in the shop right now after some kid ran a stop sign and hit it, 11,000$ damage

Quotes source posts: 11528456, 11529656

Seriously, you don't see any potential issues with just dropping a damaged 996 off at a random shop to get fixed up? Who cares if they've ever even seen one, right? I can't even get a battery replaced on my BMW using your approach without causing problems. Why does the age of the car matter? Gosh, you know all this from a couple of pics on the Internet? Please define "auto body professional". I know lots of them, including some that I wouldn't let touch my worst enemy's Camry. Again, what does the age of the car have to do with ensuring a proper repair? What is it about a 12-year-old car that automatically means that you should do this in your garage at home?

A fender is a fender, doesn't matter of the make. They are more or less attached to the car the same way. This is a very simple fix and age makes a difference when the car is too old to matter what Porsche has to say. Also, expecting the replacement parrs to be brand new OE is not realistic or warranted either. He insurance company can and should use good used OE parts. After all the car is used too. Some of you guys are making too big of a deal out if this fender bender.

Actually your insurance company is there to make you whole. Using non-OEM or used parts is not doing that. They like to try and most people don't understand they have a choice (they also don't understand they can take it to any shop of their choice), but you can kick it back at them (and if you have a good shop they will do that for you). Obviously the older a car gets the more likely it is for new OEM parts to be NLA, but if the part is available that's the route you *should* go if you want the job done right.

Quotes source post: 11531038

The point is that simple fender bender does not require shop involvement. Spending $4,000-$5,000 on the superb repair job on something this trivial is pointless, even more so on the old car. If you did any work on the car's body panels, it isn't rocket science. Fenders and bumpers are disposable pieces that take 15-30 minutes to remove and replace. OP's car shows low speed impact that dented the fender, that is it. Asking for frame machine and qualified shop to evaluate this accident is akin to towing your car to the dealership when you get a flat tire for "Proper Porsche technician evaluation of the underlying condition and to ensure that fundamental suspension components of the body structure did not sustain any damage".

Quotes source post: 11531444

If I understand it, it was the other party's fault somehow so I'm assuming their insurance is going to fix it. Either way, as long as someone else is paying, might as well demand OEM parts and also don't forget diminished value payout if it's gonna get flagged in CarFax and/or be reported to the state, or get branded a salvage title. Also make sure the paint matches and is blended in if need be to the older paint. I would look at it under some flourescent lighting after the repairs with a fine tooth comb, even though it is an older crappy lowly 996 model. lol.

Nope, he was avoiding someone rear ending him when he rear ended someone else But he gave it to his insurance, so your point is still valid (and the one I subscribe to). Get your money's worth out of em

Quotes source post: 11531472

If I got the flat because I hit a pot hole or curb, you're damn right I'd have the wheel and suspension checked out by someone familiar with the car's suspension. If you are talking about a simple nail in tire then your hyperbole is a bit over the top. Besides technically there isn't any reason to toss that fender, a good body guy could work it back out just fine. It's cheaper and easier to toss it and paint a new one though. Slapping a new or old fender on isn't the whole of the equation anyway and the parts and install labor are rarely the major part of the bill. Even a used fender of the same color is likely to have it's color off due to age/care/etc.. and will require blending at the least. You also might as well count on it having other minor imperfections (dings, nicks, etc..) that would need to be taken care of. So at the end of the day you might save one or two hundred, but it's not like you will chop a $5k bill down to $500. If it was a track car or he didn't care about the looks, then sure slap on a used fender that mostly matches, but otherwise doing this repair correctly is outside the abilities/tools/workspace of the average DIYer.

Quotes source post: 11531490

Ah gotcha, I was a bit confused and yes I agree, take them to the cleaners.

Well I got the estimate and basically as I suspected the items that need replacing are the headlight, fender, and the bumper. I should have it back within the week and they are using new parts. As for what happened - again I don't want to go into too much detail but I was avoiding having someone hit me from behind and hit the vehicle in front of me at a low rate of speed. My car got the worst of it but as we can see from the damage it was more cosmetic than anything. Yes I'll be dinged on Carfax but I'll keep photos of the damage and repairs so that if I ever get to a point of selling it is fully documented what happened. In the mean time I'm missing my car on my daily commute as a Mazda3 just doesn't do the same for me. Keeping fingers crossed that it will be done when they told me it would.

What was the final estimate? With those 3 parts I'd guess 3k in parts (those headlights are painful!) and 1k in labor and paint?

I never knew how much I would miss my car until I was forced to stay away from it. I've even been out of town either on vacation or working for longer than a week and still didn't miss it as much as I did this past eight days. In any case the shop finished the repairs on Friday afternoon so I went to pick it up. They did a tremendous job! I needed a new fender, bumper, and passenger side headlight. The light by itself was $3k! It feels as if nothing ever happened to it except I have better paint on my front end. Now I need to figure out if a respray is in order to match the untainted look on the rest of the car. Anyway sitting back in that seat was such a relief. It hugged me as to tell me it missed me as well. The tight suspension and loud exhaust when I hit the throttle also reminded me of why I am a fan of Porsche. It may not be the prettiest, fastest, or most exclusive but it's still an impressive car with its own merits. Funny thing is I usually don't get bothered when driving my car but not even 5 minutes after leaving the shop I hear someone honking at me. I look over my shoulder and see an old man waving me down. He asks me, "So you get a lot of pretty girls with that car?" I tell him, "Well I probably would but I'm married." He responds, "Bah! What a damn waste!!!" and drives away. Haha - just another day! Bad pic but didn't have a chance to take any decent ones this weekend. So here it is after the commute to work this morning:

Congrats on getting the girl back.

Congrats! But, you took a photo of the un-damaged side!? And, can the driver's side light be polished to look more like the new one? If not, I would find a used one that matches, and sell the new one.

Quotes source post: 11553328

Haha, good point I didn't really think of that but I did take the wrong photo! I'll take some better photos this weekend. As for the matching of the paint, it's pretty darn good but the issue is that I have some road chips and other minor blemishes that I can spot. Other than that it really does appear to be all the same paint.

Can you tell the colourndifference between the new and old panels. They should have polished the other headlight.

Congrats and sorry to hear

3k for a headlight seems a tad extreme...

Quotes source post: 11560570

Pelican says $2,100, so $3k list price isn't out of the question. But I agree, that is stupid money for a headlight.

Congrats on getting her back quickly!

Quotes source post: 11560846

That's consistent with Porsche parts. I mean the GT2 seats are $8k and they're not even treated with unicorn semen. The new colored key option is $500 and I'm sure that's without the unicorn tear clear coat. Stupid money indeed...

The body shop got that light for $2K or probably less and then they added their markup of +$1K. They should have installed a used one that matches the other side but there isn't much profit in that so from now on the car will always look different and can easily be noticed that the right side was in a collission.

Quotes source post: 11530028

If it was his fault, his collision insurance will pay the bill, not his comprehensive. In either case, his rates will probably go up if it was his fault.

Quotes source post: 11564770

You might think that the body shop should have just installed a good but used headlight, but it is not always that easy. When my Turbo was in the shop for repairs the insurance company balked at the new headlight cost. The body shop shopped around for a used headlight, but only found one available for sale and the seller wanted the money up front before he'd ship the headlight. The owner of the body shop told me he doesn't do business that way and also told this to the insurance company and permission was given and a new headlight was ordered. An earlier incident with the Boxster the other driver's insurance pushed the body shop to install a used/salvage bumper cover instead of a new one. The body shop obliged and got one in and it was in worse condition than the original but damaged one on the car. But the body shop had to mount the salvage bumper cover, then the insurance rep had to come out and inspect. He agreed the salvage bumper cover was no good and approved the purchase of a new one. If I was paying out of pocket for repairs I might have the shop look for and find useable but used hardware. But I would still want the car fixed right. All body panel gaps even and what have you. However, when my car is being repaired because some butthead ran into it -- both times my Boxster was hit it was hit while stopped at a stop light, and my Cayman S was totaled after a hit that occurred while the car was stopped to make a right hand turn -- I'm going to have the car repaired as per Porsche guidelines. And to hell with the other driver and his insurance company. I want to be made whole again. These guidelines are, briefly, new factory parts ordered from PCNA and through an authorized dealer. All mechanical work is to be done by a qualified Porsche tech. IOWs, I'm not letting any mechanical work be farmed out to the local gas station grease monkey just because the other driver's insurance is balking at properly fixing a luxury sports car one of its insured ran into. Even when my own insurance company is involved, as was the case with my Turbo after its encounter with a mule deer, I pushed to have the car fixed as per Porsche guidelines. I had to remind the insurance company when it complained that the insurance company charged me Porsche Turbo premiums and it had to be aware should a claim be filed that it would be more expensive and require more work to put the car right than say what Ford Festiva would cost. It couldn't take Porsche money for insurance and then turn around and pay Ford money for repairs. Thus even for the Turbo, especially for the Turbo, I held out for factory parts, and all the proper steps to ensure the car was properly repaired, repaired to the standards set by Porsche.

Getting new parts is more than making one whole. The insurance company is obligated to put the car back in the same condition as it was before the accident. Using brand new OE parts it beyond that. Hoever, regardless of this, the problem now is that parts of the car are new and the rest isn't and if it's a visual part like a headlight, it will be clear to even the average person that the car was hit because the other headlight is aged. So what one should donin the case? Buy a new headlight for the other side? Polishing it will never make it look as good as a brand new one and it will age differently. Good used 996 headlights are easy to get nowdays.