Sad times

It was just another morning on the way to work, the otherwise mundane event made into an enjoyable daily jaunt in mynew Cayman through my patented maze of shortcuts full of twisty little segments... When all of a sudden as I was turning left off a main road onto a side street, a lady waiting at a stop sign to turn from said side street launched into my flank as I was in mid turn. I maybe should have known it might happen when I didn't have eye contact with her before I made my turn. She was turning left and was only looking at her oncoming traffic and didn't take a last look to the right. She must have looked back before and missed me, and didn't check again as I was caught with no escape. I straightened out my turn some and ran off the road onto the sidewalk, denting the right front rim and exploding that tire. Damage on the left seems to be to the door, left rear quarter panel and a couple of scratches on the left rear rim. She got out of her car and immediately apologized profusely. She is a very nice Latin teacher from the local high school and it's hard to be really mad at her. The police came and sited her for failure to yield. Now my baby is in the dealer's body shop and I have learned that it is never good to have an accident in a new model of a foreign car. Two issues came up: First, there are few body parts in this country and it will probably take 2 months just for the rear quarter panel to arrive. Second, there are no books available with labor estimates pre-made from which to quotean estimate to the insurance company. That introduces an additional lair of red tape. Now I'm in a Maxima while paying $1400/mo lease payments for perhaps 3 months. A sad time here.

Man we are so sorry for you. That is such a beautiful Cayman and I'm sure you were just beginning to enjoy it. Stuff happens but it just doesn't seem fair. Peace. In a few months it will all be behind you but in the meantime we all are with you.

scopa, My heart goes out to you. I can't imagine how you must feel, but as SF says you must look ahead as in time it will be but only a sad memory. I think this will make us all be a little more careful. I wish you the very best in getting you baby back soon. Aloha Russ

Most important is that neither you nor anyone else were hurt. The car can and will be fixed, but I know that's not a whole lot of consolation, but it helps to stay positive.

Bummer, man. I had some nice lady back into me in my 356 many, many years ago. She looked out of ner VW Bus and said 'Oh no, a Porsche!!'. But nice doesn't cut it. Since she is at fault, I would take the car to absolutely the best body shop that you can find. And because it is AS (same as my Cayman and 356 was), they MAY need to paint the entire car. If they don't, whatever segment they do paint will be apparent in the not to distant future. And that would really be so not cool. All my other Porsches were white becasue of the 'silver' issue. Were it my car, and this isn't a recomendation, I would consider somebody like Techart, since they have cool tuner flares and spoilers, that may accelerate the repair, while getting some new style. Then, perhaps the 'accident' isn't as big of a deal. You know, kind of like its okay it broke, becasue I was going to change it anyway ... I'd also be using a little Latin myself, about now ....

It made me sick to hear about your accident. I hope you work it out soon. The second day that I had mine a woman nearly hit me head on as she pulled out of a parking space and for some idiotic reason crossed the center line. I had to jerk the wheel pretty hard and just avoided her.

Ouch! Big sense of Loss! But you are Okay and, eventually, so will the Cayman. One of the the big bumps in the road of life. These bumps get our attention.

Seeing your car sicken me as well, to sad. [/quote]Find the VERY best body shop, nothing else should be accepted. [/quote]Lots of support here @ Cayman Club if needed… zornet/fckeditor/editor/images/smiley/MWPX/sad_smile.gif [/quote][/quote]

I think we all are feeling some of your pain. Looking at the pictures once again made me feel sick. I hope somehow this can become a positive. I know it doesn't look like it now, but they say all things have positive aspects. Russ

Sorry to see those pictures - not good seeing a damaged Cayman. Steve

Sorry...my heart goes out for you.../fckeditor/editor/images/smiley/MWPX/broken_heart.gif

Just received a check from her insurance company for $4508.33. No letter or hint as to what it's for except comment on the check 'For: property damage claim payment'. Hope that's not their idea of a final settlement. I'm not cashing it until I know what they're up to. Total bill I'm sure will be at least double that.

Suggest you get your insurance company and your lawyer involved now. That is a pittance. Where are you located by the way? Have you received an estimate on repair cost?

It looks like a swindle to me. The 'appraiser' for her insurance should not have had the oportuniy to examine your car, until it was in the hands of the body shop of your choice ... the paint work alone could reach those numbers.

I am in Atlanta and the car is at Jim Ellis Collision, the body shop owned by the dealership I bought the car from. They have a lot of Porsche experience and have already worked on 3 prerelease Caymans brought to them by PCNA, which is headquartered here. Apparently the journalists allowed to drive them are pretty crazy and wreck cars all the time. Back when the 996 was being developed, they wrecked one here. Porsche needed it up and running quickly for a press release and sent virtually a whole car's whorth of parts on a Lufthansa overnight shipment. Unfortunately no such priority for me. They just received parts for another Cayman that were ordered in early January. The appraiser did see it at the body shop, but the body shop couln't give an estimate since it is a new model. The last I heard from the body shop, they thought the insurance company (Citizens Insurance Of America) would just allow them to bill them directly when work was completed. I'll contact Citizens and Jim Ellis Collision tomorrow.

Sorry man, that sucks. But, dont worry it will most likely be fixed in no time. Justin

I wondered when this topic would come up for the first time. I am sorry to hear about your car's damage and glad you were not harmed. We too bought our car from Jim Ellis and I will be interested to hear how your repair progresses. -James

First of all, I'm glad you and the teacher are OK. It's such a bummer to see that beautiful quarter panel mangled. I hate to ask this question, but now that this VIN # has been in an accident what, if any, is the impact on the residual value of this car?

i am so sad to see this but at least you are ok. i was gonna reply last night when i read this but did not know how to react......good luck to you....please keep us updated.

Oh my god, I am so so sorry.. I just got my Artic Silver Monday and only drove it twice and I will be thinking of you on this one.. In NJ we have a body shop called Jackson Autio Body, They are the Cat's Meow with these types of things. I hope you find someone awesome to do the work. Best of luck and sorry !

I can't believe they expect to get your car body damage and tire, rim ets... all back to perfect for $4500! That isn't possible. Questions need to be asked, and smart not to cash it. Russ

Please let us know the outcome! I was thinking about the concealed possibel damage to the suspension etc.. this alone could cost more that 5K. Best of luck Russ

I talked with the guy handling my car at the body shop. He said not to worry about the small amount of the check. It is an initial payment while waiting for the final bill. I'm waiting for confirmation from the insurance company. For now I'll hang on tothe check. Good newsis that parts may arrive by the 17th!

It can seriously hurt you on both ends (the repair and selling the car). Many dealers today will not even take a repaired vehicle in trade. Places like Carmax will only give you 'whole sale' value, which means it goes to a wholesale distributor as opposed to out on the lot. Needless to say, this all costs you during the sale of your car to the tune of a few hundred to thousands of dollars... Paul

We feel for you man. I hope they do a killer job to get your ride back into top shape. Rudy

Very glad to hear that you are OK - seeing the car in that shape is hard no matter whose car it is, as all of us here have an emotional bond with those cars - lets hope the parts get here ASAP and the problem is solved, so the next time you look at the car, you will not see any damage and can enjoy driving it again !!!