Rear-ended on Friday in San Diego, can it be saved? Options

[tango-52]

My oldest son (21) and my wife were driving back from taking the dogs (2 welsh terriers) to the dog park. Friday afternoon freeway traffic. Cars in front of them came to a sudden stop, with the car immediately in front of them actually veering into the emergency parking. My son stopped without hitting anyone. Then this teenager (had his license for two months) behind them locks up his brakes and plows into our '73 914. No one was seriously hurt, but my wife has been sore for a couple of days. The kid was driving a Dodge Strattos, and it didn't get much damage. On the Porsche, the rear trunk lid looks ok. The lower valence is smashed and rubbing on the right tire. The right fender is hitting the tire. The top of the left fender is rubbing the tire (it was a close fit before the accident). The brand new Bursch exhaust is smashed and I would bet the heat exchangers are tweeked. The interior of the trunk is crumpled and the rest of the back end is bent in. Apparently he was hard on his brakes and the nose submarined under our car. He even missed the tail lights. Here are some photos:
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The question is, is this repairable? I know it is going to be a fight with the insurance company about the value and I read Dr. Evil's story so I am preparing for that. It just really pisses me off because I had just gotten it running great! The Bursch was really nice. Should I see this as an opportuinty for wide wheelwells and to replace the rusted trunk floor, or is this too much structural damage to save? I checked the gaps around both doors and there is no evidence that the damage went any further than the rear wheelwells. Any suggestions are appreciated.

[Jeff Hail]

The damage to the car is a fairly straight forward repair. The direct damage will need to be replaced (rear body panel and floor rear section). Looks the rear floor probably needed attention anyway. The right quarter ( indirect damage) will follow the crowd while the pull is performed and the panel worked during pulling. Square up the deck opening, some repair to the right inner wheelhouse at the tailight housing. The car needs to be pulled obviously to unlock the stress caused by the bound up metal. The rest any competent metal man can repair. One of the things that concerns me is the fit of the targa top to sail panel on the passenger side. Maybe just the photo but I see issues present although maybe not related.

Repair plan: Pull engine and trans. Remove passenger seat and soft trim on the right inner long (passenger compartment) to check for indirect damage. Inspect right rear upper rail and wheelhouse for buckling just behind the suspension console. Jig the car and proceed with preliminary structure pulls. The right inner wheelhouse due to design will tend to bend down behind the tower and the rail/ inner rear long will kick up in front of the trunk bulkhead (shorten). This sounds complicated to the layman but its really not.

The part that will go sideways is the insurance company will most likely try to total the car because it is older, parts availability and the physical damage rep will attempt to document it away.

Get your ducks in order. Start compiling comps (comparable car ads) and get your receipts together NOW.

If the insurance company uses NADA or Bluebook to determine the actual cash value you can dispute it because they do not represent real tangible cars for sale. California Department of Insurance Regulations require the insurance company to find a comparable vehicle (Like ,Kind and Quality) to yours. If they use CCC (Certified Collateral Corp) they will search real cars for sale from comps/ trade magazines/ private party based on a 50 mile+ radius of your zip code. Being a 914 they will probably find 2 vehicles on average. This can also be disputed if the condition of the cars inspected do not match your vehicles condition resulting in an expanded search radius by CCC. Another valuation service insurance companies use is VVS (Vehicle Valuation Services). VVS is know to bring higher values than the mentioned three

I noticed you are in California. If the insurance company gives you a hard time on the condition rating or betterment/depreciation and brings up any rust issues you can stop them in their tracks by countering with "so you are acknowledging diminished value"! Believe me this is any adjusters worst nightmare in Cali. 99% of the time it will stop there.

If you know what your car is worth to you and they offer a fair market value consider walking way with retention of salvage finding another car and transfering parts. If the car has rust issues and is just a driver consider the salvage side due to resale value and headaches. If the car is in good shape with minor old car issues fight like hell and maybe have an independant appraiser take a look for a hundred and a half to get a neutral party value. After all if the car is insured for actual cash value you want to maximize your coverage for settlement. Also check you policy most have an appraisel clause which is binding.

Hope this helps.