alexb76

Weird day... took car to dealership to fix the failed TPMS sensor, picked it up in the afternoon, did NOT pay attention to front-end... stopped on the way home at an ATM, an idiot in an Expedition parked awkward in front of me, I made sure I left enough room...

Locked the door, it beeped (usually means a door is left open), I checked the doors and they were all locked, and front hood seemed closed. I didn't bother... went in, came back in 3mins, realized the front bumper just doesn't look right in light reflection... came close and realized the top of the front bumper is all jammed in! To a point that the front hood is sticking out, and when opened you could see that the plastic cover is all pushed into the car. Clearly a *higher* car has backed into the top of the bumper, jammed it in, and has left the big dent and scratches.

I got full front wrap, and hence it *looks like* the paint hasn't been damaged much, and also made it hard to notice the damage in quick glance. I called dealership and left a message notifying them of damage, it was literally 20mins after I picked up the car (they were closed), so it either happend at dealer, or this Expedition somehow had to back into my car.

Questions:
1. How do you think it's best to repair this? If paint is not damaged under the wrap, can the bumper be fixed?
2. Do you think it might have happend at dealer and they didn't tell me? Reason I suspect it, was that the beep at lock *before* that Expedition parked in front of me.
3. If this happened at dealer, and I didn't notice at the time of pickup, can they deny it?
4. If I have to change the whole bumper, shall I just upgrade to 997.2 front?

Pics below...

malexgcab

Sad to hear what happened but also glad I read your post. My car is with dealer for a mysterious sound. I usually pick up the car at night, this time I'll try to do it during daytime and I'll make sure to inspect it thoroughly.

TommyV44

That sucks Alex.....sorry to hear that. On the plus side it could have been way worse....take it from one who knows !!!!!!!!

Good Luck with the repair!

Tom

Little Green

That sucks. I would take it to the dealer first thing this morning. Tell them you called 20 minutes after you picked up your car so it had to be at their place. They should file it with their insurance.

darthhowie

That's terrible, but at least it's just the plastic bumper; seems to be no damage to the hood or side panels.

neanicu

I don't know if you're willing to do this,but you can take the bumper off yourself and try to push it back out from the inside. I've done it a few times on cars,never on a Porsche though...but I suspect it's the same plastic material. It can happen that it doesn't want to come back to shape on its own and you can use a hand held electric heat gun to ' convince ' it. All of this should be done from the inside of the bumper so you won't damage the paint. Also,you need to be very careful not to use too much heat,just little by little at a time...warm up....bend it into shape...warm up...bend it into shape...until it looks straight on the outside.
I can't tell from the pictures how bad the paint is damaged,but since you have a clear bra,you can't buff it.
You can remove the clear bra and do it,but there might be no point if you can feel the scratches when you touch the surface...those won't come out buffing them out,you're going to need a respray.
All together,it doesn't look like there's a lot of damage,certainly not to top $$$$ extent,just relax...I know how you feel right now...I'm the same.

jhbrennan

If the front compartment lid was open enough to cause a beep when you locked I would have thought that you would have seen a message that that said "front lid not closed" when you drove off from the dealer?

kosmo

that looks fixable tho you prob have to redo the clear bra.

JW911

I had the very same thing happen to me once when my car was parked on the side of the street. Someone in a truck just backed into my car and drove away. Damage was nearly identical, maybe slightly worse. Bumper had to be replaced. Cost was something like $1,4000 including new clear bra. Insurance paid for most of it. Boy was I pissed. Hit and run, no shame, just drove away. I don't think you can upgrade to .2 bumper because the lights are different.

Mbiondo

+1. No one wants damage, but if you're going to have some, this is the perfect damage. Hoods and side panels are big issue; front plastic bumper is not. Worst case, if none of the opinions here work, is a new bumper for not too much $$$. And, in that case, your car is better than it was prior to the accident.

Sorry to hear it happened. It sucks. But you'll come out better than before.

utkinpol

if you want to try to fix it - take off front bumper (search here for DIY), then 'pop' it out from inside and probably you may need to glue on a strip of a harder plastic so it would not bend back into damaged position.

you got no permanent damage, it is all imho fixable with a bit of polish. just need to fix bumper and check if metal frame below is not warped. bite a bullet and take off front bumper, it is doable as i just got 3rd radiator installed this season which i bought in 2010 as i did not want to mess with a bumper.

only word of advice - ask for a friend to help to put it back on, to do it alone is a b$tch as it slides off on one side when you try to put in other.

Spiffyjiff

i just took my bumper off last wknd to clean radiators, it's easy. there are DIY's on here all over the place. there's a thin piece of metal under that part which may be bent down. or it just may be a dimple that can be pushed out.

either case, you might be able to cheat and, after removing the velcro'd trim piece that covers the frunk latch, take out the 3 screws and see if you can see under there or get a hand in. good luck.

ecostellodo

http://www.suncoastparts.com/product...e=997s_aerokit

or

http://www.suncoastparts.com/product...e=997s_aerokit

utkinpol

yep, by all means, if it pops up after a push then it will be an easiest thing to try.
i just suspect it will not 'pop up', but, who knows.

sbpsu354

If you're going to take it to the dealer as you think the damage may have been caused there, I wouldn't touch it. Bring it to the dealer as is.