figgen

Well

It's been a fun ride...and I'm not sure it's over yet ...but....

A couple of week ago my wife and I were in an accident with the 85 - 928 5 speed.

The story goes @ 6:45 AM ( very dark in this part of the world) a black Cavalier was on the major commuter route cutting off people doing 70 MPH ( 50 MPH speed limit). He cut off a black Honda Civic who took some offense and turned his bright lights on the young chap. This caused a break check from the lead car but unfortunately for the white sedan following all this mess (who was trying to change lanes to get out of the way) he missed the action as he was shoulder checking and ended up clipping the back rear quarter of the Civic.

Normally this wouldn't be too bad of a problem but the civic went into a 360 and immediately hit a cement barricade that lines the outer left lane of the route. This had the nasty effect of sending him airborne, headlights straight to the sky and dropping him on his passenger side door, but back onto the cement barricade enough to eject the car (on it's side) back into oncoming 50 MPH traffic.



This is where we come in.

We were the traffic

Actually we were so far back we didn't see any of the fireworks including the original hit, all we saw was the bottom of the civic sliding toward us all 4 wheels pointed as us.

Kind of like a scene from Die Hard, but with out Bruce Willis

Anyway we ended up impacting the bottom of the car ( thank goodness we were slow enough NOT to cause the top of the car to come down on our hood / windshield) and pushing him about 2 feet back into the direction of traffic.

The comment from the truck about 10 car lengths behind us was that the Civic was lucky WE were the traffic as a heavier car or truck would have run right through him...I tend to agree, we stopped QUICK.

Anyway a flatbed back to our small town with what I feel is minor front end damage. The insurance company wants to write off the car.


The adjuster was VERY complimentary of the car indicating the car was in the best shape he has witnessed from a 1980's vintage. So the insurance company has offered 18 K CDN for the write off (I provided 25 K worth of receipts for parts over the last 11 years - No charge for my labor - NOT including oil / filters / rubber ect).

Recent work included new steering rack, 5 speed trans rebuild (all new syncros - 4K total bill), new clutch pack, engine powder coating, full Jager aluminum interior including leather sub and amp enclosure, fighter MOMO steering wheel, clear side markers, led fog / running lights ect.

Damage looks like:
Hood, hood latch, full front clip, body seals, passenger side head light assembly, passenger side front fender and that's about it.

So now what??. I asked for the settlement + car back and they indicated I could match the highest big on it at the salvage auction if I wanted it back. It would have a salvage title though so full mechanical including frame check if I wanted to put it on the road and who know what extra damage it might incur in the salvage yard?

so do I

1) let it go - look to upgrade ?
2) accept the settlement and try to buy back the rest?
3) Fight for more $

I'm open to suggestions.....I've never written off a car before

figgen

More pics

Lizard928

:O This is painful to see. I will PM you directly on this.

sendarius

They want to write it off because of THAT?!?!?!?!

Somebody here will tell you that will buff right out - I think it might take more than a buff, but I can't see how that amount of damage means write-off.

I went through a similar ordeal with a non-Porsche. Insurance company said it was not economically repairable. The buy-back price on the wreck was surprisingly, stunningly low (only a few hundred dollars), and the repairs came to LESS than the amount they paid me. Fortunately we don't have salvage titles (if it is repaired to sufficiently high standard who cares if it wasn't an economically, fiscally sensible thing to do) so even that wasn't an issue.

Based on my experience - buy it, fix it, drive it. Only you can assess the impact of the salvage title.

jcorenman

Owww, sorry to see that!! But really glad you are both OK. Yikes!!

Is there any way to avoid the salvage title? You are entitled to be made whole, 18K is a generous offer but you can't replace the car for that.

It won't cost that to repair it, maybe the difference covers the loss of value??

Please keep us posted, the next jerk might be for any of us.

pcar928fan

That does not look all that bad! Hell, I have seen used cars for sale that claim to be "nice" that are not even that good.

Lets hope you don't have to let that one go! That sure is a beautiful car and can get again w/o to much effort!

Good luck and glad you guys are safe and unhurt.

polecat702

Tell them you will take 15, and no salvage title, and the car. Settle for 14, and the car with a clear title. I'll bet they go for it. Fix it for 3 tops, and take your lady out for a great vacation.

karl ruiter

I would go 2. The only downside is the salvage title, which is just a money thing, and you would be getting the money back to compensate you.
I am going to be updating my convertable to S4 style front and rear bumpers. The current rear is a fiberglass S4 knock off that does not quite work, but the current front is and early style. The early style front bumper cover and the fogs and turns are going to be spare. So what you wanna do is take a chunk of the settlement money, fly to Honolulu for vacation and bring back a front bumper and lights in your checked baggage. Cover would have to be stripped, but that is probably in the cards anyhow.

danglerb

Talk to the best body shop in your area and see what they think. It can cost more than you might think to get another car as well sorted as this ones seems to be, but its also a buyers market if you are ready for a change.

Nicole

I don't understand what you mean by "Full front clip" - is the whole front pused-in, or pushed to the side? It does not look like such serious damage; at the very least they should be able to straighten it on a Celette system.

If that's possible, that would be my first choice also. Avoiding the salvage title is worth a few thousand $$$.

Daniel Dudley

Paint match is the only problem, otherwise that would not be an expensive repair, from the looks of it.

I wouldn't let that car go.

M. Requin

I agree with Polecat and Nicole - they should be amenable to an offer like that and I think you will come out just fine. That's a fine example you have, fight for it if you can! And best of luck!

Canuck928

They offered you 18 thousand for an 85!!! Take the money and run.I would be lucky to get even half of that for my 88 garage queen here in Ontario.

Cosmo Kramer

Only looks like a bumper, marker/fog lights and repair the headlight mechanism, not too bad. Definitely worth the repair, just try to get them to not salvage the title. In Ontario, the way to keep that from happening is don't give the ownership to the insurance company. I had a friend buy back a car but he kept the ownership and it didn't get branded.

Also, Ontario won't allow you to register previously branded vehicles from other countries and provinces. I am not sure if other provinces have the same rule or not, but it could be a big factor on the resale.

Good luck!

cold_beer839

Claim injury and end up buying a '10 Panamera.

Just kidding.

Doesn't look that bad to me, but surely will be 60% of the car's book value to repair.

I'd tell the insurance company you want your car fixed, period.