Just Another Trip To Home Depot,, Until: Screeeech, Bang; shortened 914 Options

[Spoke]

On the way to Home Depot last night, 1/2 mile from my house,
waiting to turn left on Rt309 outside of Allentown,
I heard a loud screech behind me, looked in the rear view mirror
in time to see headlights disappear behind my car - then BANG.

The 1990 Mazda faired much better than the 914.

From what I can see without looking underneath the car
or opening the trunk (which won't open):

Trunk lid folded
Rear bumper crumpled
Pass Taillight gone
Rear Valence creased
Fender pushed into rear tire, car moves under its own power but not far
Engine seems to have a miss now
One cylinder is very loud (header or head damaged?)
Pass and Driver door gaps now different
- Pass door gap almost nothing at the top, seems larger at the bottom
- Driver door gap even top to bottom but seems larger now

[dmenche914]

Do NOT ask the adjuster if you can remove parts!

1.. The car is still yours until they total it and transfer takes place. You can pull your radio and any add on stuff, However it can help to have that stuff installed when the cart is totalled to up the price, yet they may not count as much whjen you by back the hulk. But don't remove anything else yet.

2.. By telling the adjuster puke that you want parts now is jumping the gun, and will make the puke think the parts are valuable, hence he will have leverage when dealing with the price of the total car, and the price for you to by back the hulk. just tell him when he totals it that you want it back cuase you want to try to fix it yourself, do not mention parts and such, cause then he knows it is valuable. Just don't mention keeping the car until you get the offer for total price, then tell them you want to buy it back for a few hundered. They will likely agree so they can get the deal done and the case off the books.

Your job will be to get the highest value possible assigned to your car. Don't forget expenses you will incure in searching for a new 914 , hell you may have to travel a good distance to find one. don't forget the sales tax you may have to pay for a replacement car. You need to itemize it all. Just paying you the true value of the car is not enough, cause you will have to spend time and money searching for a replacement.

Also remember that your insurance company is NOT your freind, they want to settle for as little as possible.

Old Car Price Guide is a quarterly or so magazine that lists prices for collector cars,usually they have a complete Porsche section with the 914 listed by year and engine type, go buy a current copy (mine are several years old, purchased when my cars were wrecked) Also make paper copies of ebay sales,a dn other internet sales that help subtatiate the high end price that is in the books.

By the way, you neck/back should hurt with a crash that bad. Go see a doctor in the morning to get checked out. insurance should pay expense for pain and suffering as a rule of thumb. No medical record means you have little chance of the best claim, so if your hurt, don't just tough it out, see a doc if you hurt, have it documented.