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Posted by: Spoke Apr 23 2010, 11:48 AM

Nice day, I take the 911 to work. I get a call about noon to report to my car in the parking lot.

One of our techs was tuning his RC truck at lunch in the parking lot and on a full throttle run, he hit a curb and cartwheeled about 50 feet into the drivers door of my 911.

Put a pretty good dent in the door. The scratch and dent are about 3 inches long about 6 inches from the bottom of the door just below the mirror. Sorry no pics.

Question: do I ask this dude to pay for full damages? An estimate of the damage for minor dent and full door panel paint was about $400-$500. He mentioned that he doesn't have much free money since he just bought a house. I hate to saddle this guy with the bill but he did cause the damage. Any thoughts on what I should do?

Oh, why couldn't I have taken the A4 to work today?

Posted by: DanT Apr 23 2010, 11:50 AM

Uh yes,....you better believe I would ask the guy to pay the full bill.
eveyone has a sob story....
you didn't ask him to hit your car, you didn't ask him to play with his toy in a parking lot full of cars, you didin't ask him to lose control of his toy....

now he must step up, be a man and pay for his mistake....period.

if he just bought a house then why was he playing with an expensive toy at lunch time?

Posted by: dr914@autoatlanta.com Apr 23 2010, 11:54 AM

Bottom line is that he owes you. Should not have been playing with a toy around expensive cars. His problem.
Borrow the money from his mother and pay promptly, and now you suffer with having a repaired 911.

QUOTE(Spoke @ Apr 23 2010, 10:48 AM)

Nice day, I take the 911 to work. I get a call about noon to report to my car in the parking lot.

One of our techs was tuning his RC truck at lunch in the parking lot and on a full throttle run, he hit a curb and cartwheeled about 50 feet into the drivers door of my 911.

Put a pretty good dent in the door. The scratch and dent are about 3 inches long about 6 inches from the bottom of the door just below the mirror. Sorry no pics.

Question: do I ask this dude to pay for full damages? An estimate of the damage for minor dent and full door panel paint was about $400-$500. He mentioned that he doesn't have much free money since he just bought a house. I hate to saddle this guy with the bill but he did cause the damage. Any thoughts on what I should do?

Oh, why couldn't I have taken the A4 to work today?

Posted by: codices Apr 23 2010, 11:55 AM

Of course he needs to pay the bill. Doesn't say much for him that he would bring up his financial woes. Get the estimate and have him pay the bill.

Dave

Posted by: RobW Apr 23 2010, 12:13 PM

Take the RC as collateral or anything else you can attach... You may want to file a police report too...

Posted by: McMark Apr 23 2010, 12:19 PM

Does he have RC car insurance?

But, seriously, should YOU get saddled with the $400-$500 for doing nothing? Sorry RC-guy. Hope you learned your lesson and will play with your toys more responsibly. There is a time and a place for 'full throttle tuning'.

Posted by: charliew Apr 23 2010, 12:21 PM

Is your employer required to protect the cars on it's parking lot? this guy will probably put you off. I have never had much luck with human resources people but you might want to call him up. I would also see about the paintless dent repair if the paint is not damaged. I do not feel sorry for a grown man playing with his hobby and damaging someone elses property thats life.

Oops sorry I went back and saw scratch, actually your car will never be as good as it was, make sure he understands that. Also if the dent falls in the side protection beam area it will be hard to fix easily.

Posted by: mepstein Apr 23 2010, 12:24 PM

Take pics and document for your records.

Posted by: burton73 Apr 23 2010, 12:28 PM

Make him pay even if you have to take him to court? Make sure that you get a top-notch shop to fix it.

You should not feel bad, as you did not do anything. If you go to your insurance company then you have to pay the debatable and then you have to sue him for that.

What type of insurance do you have on the Turbo? At least it is Black and not a color that fades.

Posted by: Smitty911 Apr 23 2010, 12:37 PM

This is a "Teaching Moment" have him pay for the FULL repair.

Posted by: pcar916 Apr 23 2010, 12:57 PM

He owes you a professional repair. It's unfortunate for him but it is for you too. I'd file a police report (usually over the phone in most states) because that should make it real to him in case he needs a nudge.

The initial payment, and any damage discovered after getting into the repair are both his moral duty to remedy. Too bad it's yours to manage!

My daughter just opened our 150 lb truck door into the 914's passenger door yesterday... big dent. I won't get much out of that starving student!

Posted by: sean_v8_914 Apr 23 2010, 01:03 PM

do it by the book. call ins co, police, photos...

Posted by: aircooledtechguy Apr 23 2010, 01:26 PM

If he's got money for a fast RC car, he's got the money to fix yours; PERIOD. You seen the price of some of those RC cars (or RC anything for that matter)?? I'll bet he's got over a grand into his car and radios. Take it as collateral until he mans-up and gets your car fixed. Excuses are not an excuse.

Posted by: Cap'n Krusty Apr 23 2010, 01:36 PM

"Ask"? No, of course not. "Tell" is the word you're looking for ...............

He's got a house, now he needs to grow up.

The Cap'n

Posted by: Root_Werks Apr 23 2010, 01:56 PM

QUOTE(RobW @ Apr 23 2010, 11:13 AM)

Posted by: patssle Apr 23 2010, 01:57 PM

That'll teach him next time to smash a Honda Civic and not a Porsche 911.

Posted by: balljoint Apr 23 2010, 02:00 PM

1. What does his wife look like?
2. Maybe his homeowners insurance policy will cover the repair.

Posted by: oz371 Apr 23 2010, 02:55 PM

What does he mean by "I don't have any free money"??? He just bought a friggin house. Hell yeah you bill him!! Get him for pain and suffering too!!

Posted by: oz371 Apr 23 2010, 02:58 PM

And another thing... Dont show us a pic of the damage.. SHOW US A PIC OF HIM!!!

Posted by: bandjoey Apr 23 2010, 03:16 PM

His Homeowners will pay. Tell him to call his agent.

Posted by: kg6dxn Apr 23 2010, 03:17 PM

I have Geico. They consider an "unknown" parking lot scratch to be Vandalism. Vandalism is covered and does not increase your premium. Only had to pay the deductable. See if your insurance will cover without raising rates. Have him pay the deductable.

Posted by: Spoke Apr 23 2010, 07:30 PM

Our HR person called me this afternoon to get my side of the event. She's none too happy that the RC vehicle was run in the parking lot. A couple of people witnessed the accident and mentioned it to HR. We're a small company with less than 150 people on-site so everyone knows each other.

I don't think I'll have trouble getting him to pay. I hate to do it but I shouldn't be responsible for the repair.

I'll be taking it to Knoff Automotive for an estimate. I hope the paint matches after 24 years.

The dent is right behind the front wheel. It doesn't show up well on pics. It seems real deep when you run your hand across it.




The reflection of my 914 on jackstands (how rare is that??) is disturbed by the dent.

Posted by: Spoke Apr 27 2010, 02:03 PM

Got the estimate today from the Porsche dealer. Any guesses?

Flatten the dent, use filler to finish; paint entire door.

Posted by: Ferg Apr 27 2010, 02:04 PM

2,350

Posted by: balljoint Apr 27 2010, 02:14 PM

2351

Posted by: DanT Apr 27 2010, 02:16 PM

$1850

Posted by: mepstein Apr 27 2010, 02:32 PM

$1,250

Posted by: Root_Werks Apr 27 2010, 02:46 PM

$750

Posted by: effutuo101 Apr 27 2010, 02:55 PM

They will give you 3k on a trade in on a new 911...

Posted by: Spoke Apr 27 2010, 03:01 PM

The estimate was $592.54.

About $100 on paint and materials; 2.5 hours for body repair; 3.5 hours for paint; 1.9 hours for the mirror assembly; 0.7 hours for door handle assembly.

I gave the tech the estimate today. Needless to say he wasn't happy but did agree to bring in a check tomorrow.

We talked about getting a more economical estimate but he agreed that the best place to take it is the Porsche dealer.

Posted by: DanT Apr 27 2010, 03:09 PM

that is cheap overall considering the flat rate they are charging for the mirror, door handle etc...
They must have a low hourly rate?

Posted by: Ferg Apr 27 2010, 04:26 PM

Really cheap! No blend to fenders? Make sure they remove the metal trim below the window or you will see a line.

Posted by: JTarver Apr 27 2010, 04:39 PM

You shouldn't feel bad about it at all. I completely agree with the others on this. He was playing with his man-toys in a crowded parking lot, and hit (probably) the nicest car in the lot because he obviously can't drive an RC car. He should definately have to pay for it.
I wouldn't feel bad at all about sticking him with the bill.

It sure beats what I would do if he didn't want to pay for it.
I'm just sayin. =)
Joe

Posted by: 9146986 Apr 27 2010, 04:54 PM

I'd have a paintless dent repair tech look at it. A good craftsman at that art can practically work miracles.

I had a bad shopping cart dent in my Boxster right near the side air inlet in the compound curve, and I was lucky to find a tech that was really good. It's not perfect, but if it's not pointed out, you can't find it, and it's was a difficult place to fix.

Sometimes a near perfect repair without any paintwork is a better choice that the pefect repair with all the paint work. IMHO a color match issue is much worse than a slight wave.

Good to hear the guy stepped up. Should have in the first place, but personal responsibility is becoming a relic.

Posted by: number6 Apr 27 2010, 05:54 PM

QUOTE(9146986 @ Apr 27 2010, 03:54 PM)

Posted by: wayne1234 Apr 27 2010, 09:03 PM

Yes try a quality Paintless dent guy, Our New SLK350 somehow got a ding even though we park in no where land, it was near the edge of the door behind the reinforcement beam, While at the Benz dealer I asked because they had a sign about the service, the guy sweared it would be perfect when he was done. I told him I was anal, he said no problem. He said if it wasn't Absolutely Perfect no charge!! Much to my surprise it is Perfect, they even did a paint touch up due to a slight Paint Mar, from the ding, and it is also Perfect. They even removed the inner door panel to touch up paint inside the door from "rubbing out the dent" so there wasn't any metal scratches that could rust later. I was very impressed. He Also touched up several rock chips on the front bumper, Which I didn't even ask him to do, They too are Flawless. He said our car was so near showroom condition it bugged him to see it with a few stray chips,The cost was $175 ... I'm sure your Porsche dealer uses somebody ask them . Or try another high end dealer near by. Talk to them before you hand over the keys, When the ding first happened I talked to a phone book dent guy, took it to his shop he slid a tool down the door, and he was the one that informed me that it was behind a bar and would never come out right, and advised me to either live with it or go to a body shop, So in this case a second opinion was well worth it

Posted by: Jake Raby Apr 27 2010, 11:21 PM

If that happened here I'd require the driver of the toy to repair the car at his full expense ASAP. If he has the money to play with a toy, he has the money to man up and take care of the situation..

It doesn't matter if he has the money or not, he still screwed your car up and is responsible.

Posted by: hot_shoe914 Apr 27 2010, 11:55 PM

I'd still kick his ass and drag him around the parking lot behind the 911 so his fellow co-workers can watch!

Posted by: oz371 Apr 27 2010, 11:57 PM

QUOTE(hot_shoe914 @ Apr 27 2010, 10:55 PM)

I'd still kick his ass and drag him around the parking lot behind the 911 so his fellow co-workers can watch!

Posted by: kwales Apr 28 2010, 08:29 AM

I'm surprised that they can't use paintless dent removal on that.

Rub that dent from the inside and it might be good as new- without paint damage.

And, there would be no issues with paint color match.

Posted by: Eric_Shea Apr 28 2010, 09:05 AM

Is it just me or is this not the funniest picture of the week...

"Reflections of a 914 Owner"


That's right up there with the engine block in the dishwasher.

Jerry... check in with a paintless dent guy. You'll be the hero by saving the color and integrity of the car and your doofuss co-worker some coin.

Posted by: Spoke Apr 28 2010, 09:19 AM

I got the check today from the tech. I talked with him for a while today. He's a real nice guy who made a stupid mistake by running the RC car in a parking lot filled with cars.

I asked the Porsche dealer about the paintless dent removal. They do that type of work but on my car the paint has been scratched and he feels the dent is too severe for paintless dent removal.

The metal bulges out a bit around the dent. The pictures do not capture the significance of the dent.

Posted by: germanv82000 Apr 28 2010, 10:40 AM

QUOTE(Spoke @ Apr 23 2010, 10:48 AM)

Nice day, I take the 911 to work. I get a call about noon to report to my car in the parking lot.

One of our techs was tuning his RC truck at lunch in the parking lot and on a full throttle run, he hit a curb and cartwheeled about 50 feet into the drivers door of my 911.

Put a pretty good dent in the door. The scratch and dent are about 3 inches long about 6 inches from the bottom of the door just below the mirror. Sorry no pics.

Question: do I ask this dude to pay for full damages? An estimate of the damage for minor dent and full door panel paint was about $400-$500. He mentioned that he doesn't have much free money since he just bought a house. I hate to saddle this guy with the bill but he did cause the damage. Any thoughts on what I should do?

Oh, why couldn't I have taken the A4 to work today?

Posted by: Spoke Apr 28 2010, 03:42 PM

QUOTE(esses62 @ Apr 28 2010, 12:36 PM)

Posted by: Spoke May 14 2010, 11:03 PM

Got the car back from Knopf Automotive this afternoon. It's all better now. The guys did a real good job on it.

However, now my power door lock (using the key) doesn't work now. The passenger side didn't work before so now I can't lock the doors. Dumb Fucks! So I either fix it or take it back.

On the way home, about 6pm, we had a hell of a thunderstorm with hail. I've never heard such noise from a rain storm. I stopped under an overpass on RT22 along with about 30 other cars. When I stopped, I was in the 4th line of cars stacked up. Each line had about 5-6 cars. Same on the other side.

About 5 miles away, the hail was softball size and smashed windows in cars. One of my daughter's friends had a pic holding this huge ice ball. It was bigger than a softball. The ones hitting my car were about 1/2 in diameter. Luckily my car sustained no damage.

A tornado was detected in about the same place the dealer is located.

http://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/all-news-weather-051410-cn,0,6903272.story

Posted by: rsrguy3 May 16 2010, 01:28 PM

Jerry, I'm glad your satisfied with the result. I wish I had seen this thread sooner. Unfortunately....... I've had numerous experiences when it comes to claims. I'm a body, and paint guy, and, in this situation, provided your car was absolutely straight, I would have used my insurance company and given them the guys name and homeowners policy #. Next I would have required the body and paint estimate to include a door re-skin. I then would have taken the the repair check from the insurance, and gotten a paint-less repair, those guys have sick skills. I'm sure in the future you'll be noticing differentiation in the area of the repair, I don't care how good the blend job is. That would bug the S#%@ out of me! I know there were scratches but I would have lived with them and put the $$$$ difference in a savings toward a full and proper repaint down the road, but that's just me. I'm sure you can tell this kind of stuff totally pisses me off, your insurance would not have dinged you, instead subrigation would have dealt with his insurance for full compensation.

Posted by: Tom May 16 2010, 03:21 PM

Just curious, but isn't what you are saying bordering on fraud? You are accepting payment for certain repairs, then doing something different.
Tom

Posted by: rsrguy3 May 16 2010, 04:00 PM

No, as, if the repair were properly done, it would have required a complete. Also, I've had this discussion with multiple adjusters, their priorities are 1.getting you off there claims list 2.making someone else pay the bill and lastly, making you whole. If you take payment as opposed to repairs they are less likely to get supplimentals,(usually an additional 1/3 to 1/2 the estimate), also a plus to them, they know this. The important thing to remember is that it's your responsibility to report to your agent for documentation of repair, as future claims will not be covered if this is not done. I'm extremely picky as to the finish on my nice cars, I can spot even an awesome blend job from quite a distance, I don't like them, or putting filler on a panel that didn't previously have it. Try to tell that to the dick that hit you though.

Posted by: Tom May 16 2010, 07:50 PM

rsrguy3,
Thanks for the explanation. I don't like insurance companies as I truly believe they try really hard to low ball the repairs and I have never had a good result dealing with them. I am always looking for more information as how to "deal" with them. Hopefully I won't have to any time again soon.
Thanks again,
Tom

Posted by: rsrguy3 May 17 2010, 10:46 AM

Your more than welcome, I dislike dealing with them as well. I guess the most frustrating thing is the fact that they stall and stall, do everything to limit there own damages, and treat you like crap, on your vh's value. But they sure as hell expect your premiums (inflated) to be in on time every month. I swear, it's nothing more than legalized extorsion.