Re: Boxster damaged while parked

New member/ old member from the old board here. Just went to drive my 2008 Boxster for the first time in 3 or so weeks, and noticed that there's a large, focal dent below and to the left of my driver's door handle. It tracks up and to the right and the door handle is depressed into the door. It operates fine. There are a few fine scratches in the middle of the dent. There appears to be no other panel damage. Weirdly, the car cover was on my car the whole time, and there doesn't appear to be a mark on it. I'm confused about whether the car was accidentally hit- it certainly doesn't seem to have been hit flush by a car bumper- the cover has no marks on it and the dent is quite focal in area. I'm having trouble conceptualizing even the corner of the bumper of a backing out car causing only that damage (the car was parked perpendicular across the quite wide garage travel lane from a parking space, so it it possible though someone would have had to try awfully hard). I have no idea when in the last 3 weeks this happened.

I don't particularly want a collision claim, but I think there's a good chance the door needs to be replaced, which is big money I assume. Either way, I guess this is why I can't have nice things. This is after my front nose had to be replaced by the dealer after it was backed into when it was in for service. This car might be snakebit.

Sorry to hear of the damage to your car. That's a real bummer.

I don't know if Dent Doctor (or some form of dent removal) might be able to repair the dent. some people have reported excelent results.

Can you take a picture and post it here? It might make it easier for people to come up with a suggestion.

For some reason Smugmug isn't letting me post these as external links, but here's a gallery of the damage. Gallery of Pics

Ouch! That does appear to be a forceful dent. Surprised with the scratches that there was no indication of a hit on the car cover- there wasn't some sort of tie down attachment with a hard surface at that area was there? I would think that an experienced body shop could pull that out and not require the door to be replaced (unless there was internal structural damage to the beam). Good luck and hope it is far less expensive than you anticipate.

Yeah, it struck me as a little strange. The tie down is a little lower- I'm having trouble figuring out how a bumper hit in that one particular place.
I have to figure out if I want to pay for the repair without letting the insurance company know- it would be my second claim in less than a year.

where pick-ups and other trucks (SUVs) are concerned.

Good luck. The hit so near the door handle may complicate the repair.

BTW, that dent looks like someone kicked the door in.

Rare (relatively speaking) here in USA but my reading the UK Porsche car mags is this happens quite often in the UK. Even to older 911s. An owner will come to his car and find the glass scratched or the paint 'keyed' or a dent in the side or someone has kicked a mirror off the side of the car. In one case the mirror swung around -- still held by the wiring -- with such force it dented the door in a place that was particularly difficult to fix and the door had to be replaced.

Sincerely,

MarcW.

Sorry to see that. It almost looks like it was hit by something heavy rolling into the car - like a contractor's toolbox. Any work done in the garage lately?

As for the door, go to a very good collision shop and get some input. If I remember correctly, the doors and front bonnet on the 987s are aluminum, so you need to make sure the shop you go to has experience working with aluminum, since it is very different from steel.

1998 986 Turbo-Look Cab
172,000 Miles
Dilithium Crystal Supercharger

Well- got 3 estimates, ranging from Porsche specialist to Porsche dealer associated to standard body shop- with estimates ranging from $1600-$2800 for door shell replacement and painting. Only the non-Porsche affiliated shop thought there was a possibility repairing the door, for $950. Replacing the shell seems a relatively simple repair, other than the painting- I'm not sure a Porsche specialist is required for this...