Falling Objects on my Carrera

[RacerX1166]

Granted, it appears the damage may not be as bad as I thought when I woke up this morning but it still really pi$$es me off since it's just another issue with the house I'm renting.

So, the cover from one of the light fixtures in my garage decided to make a break for it and dropped on the roof of my 89 coupe, slid down the rear fender, then bounced onto my Lexus. This morning, I thought I was looking at a respray but a re-examination at lunch makes my think I might be able to escape with just some light touch up and wet sand.

Obligatory pics for those who may be interested. I'll post what the body folks say once I meet with them - hopefully tomorrow.




Rear fender

[porschefool]

ouch!
Sorry to hear that. Sounds like renter's insurance needs to cover a full respray, and the light fixtures have a way of somehow ruining engines too. Tell them to throw in one of those, too.
Petrol Blau? Looks like mine!

[ljowdy]

That dent is going to require a fair amount of work to repair... Don't let them get crazy with body filler (Bondo) To do it right, they'll have to remove the headliner and hammer and dolly the affected area. Make sure they block sand the area so it's level with the rest of the roof.

[the]

Definitely try to get that dent removed by a good paintless dent guy first. Shouldn't be a problem. Then a wet sand and polish and there's a good chance you'll be good as new, or very close.

[RacerX1166]

I think this is going to be covered under my automotive policy as comprehensive. I'm awaiting the verdict from the body shop before I decide who to attack for what.

The thing that makes me want to cry is that the car doesn't need a respray; the paint is excellent overall. In fact, I spent 4 days on it a few weeks ago, touching up, wet sanding, polishing, glazing, waxing, collapsing so it was looking gorgeous if I do say so.

The front bumper is the only narly area (prior to the bombing) and has a bunch of nasty stone chips so I'll likely have that resprayed while the car is in the shop.

The color is Baltic Blue, I think just a shade or two lighter than Petrol.

[RacerX1166]

Originally Posted by the

Definitely try to get that dent removed by a good paintless dent guy first. Shouldn't be a problem. Then a wet sand and polish and there's a good chance you'll be good as new, or very close.

Not sure that's an option since the paint is scarred pretty badly in the crater.

[porschefool]

I thought it was Petrol Blau like mine, maybe it was the light...

Best of luck.

[jh225]

Originally Posted by the

Definitely try to get that dent removed by a good paintless dent guy first. Shouldn't be a problem. Then a wet sand and polish and there's a good chance you'll be good as new, or very close.

That ding will not come out with a PDR without a great deal of work.

First off it is in the roof which means it may or may not be accessible from behind (it must be for PDR to work). Even if it is accessible, it would require removal of trim and headliner at a minimum at a fairly steep cost.

Secondly, being that it appears to have a small crease and the paint appears to be stressed, a PDR (if accessible) will only get the ding out. It will not fix the stressed paint and a little spot will always be present.

The fender may or may not wet sand and polish out.

Personally, I would be going after the home owner as it was something of his that caused the damage (unless of course the OP put up the light fixture)

[ramonesfreak]

i have 2 of those on my hood by the PO. i know how you feel. mine match my door dings though so ive just learned to live with it. its tough to keep them perfect forever i guess

[bluebox88]

I would look a long time for a qualified paintless dent removal guy before I did any re-painting on an original car. Your damage appears to be well within the abilities of an experienced PDR technician. The right guy can do magic. Good luck.

[the]

I'd still let a good PDR guy have a try at it. They can very easily get under the headliner, esp. if the car has a sunroof (there's a zipper back there to get to the sunroof motor). They might also be able to get in from the outside through the rear vents. If not, you could also just pull a small part of the interior rubber back, pull back a small part of the headliner and they could probably get in.

The little paint mark in the dimple, I'd just try to touch that up as best possible.

I'd rather have a 95% repair than repaint and blend the whole roof, at least if the car is still OG paint.

[RacerX1166]

While I don't see the body guy for another couple of hours, I don't think the damage to the paint will come out with touch up and polishing; just my POV from looking at it first hand and experience.

The paint is all original on the car but a flaw like this (even fixed best as possible) will be quite visible on the roof unless it's re-sprayed.

I would tend to agree with the on the 95% fix/original paint preference but I don't think we can get to that number in this case. And, if we can't get the roof to blend, the whole car will get re-sprayed properly and I'll fight it out with various insurance and legal entities.

Then, we'll sell the car and buy mid-70's Pontiac that I don't care what drops on it!

[ramonesfreak]

your willingness to remove the original paint and respray the entire car because of 1 small dent i think is indicative of how much we love these cars and hate to see them injured.

however, it makes me thankful that i have about 15 dents and my original paint. if it was perfect, i would want to keep it that way and would consider repainting every time something happened or else i would never leave the garage with it

if it were mine, i would have a paintless dent remover have a go at it. then, i would spend at least 1 year seeing if i could live with the results. to me, the original paint, even when full of battle scars, is more alluring, valuable and has more character than a brand new paint job

[Nine9six]

Originally Posted by RacerX1166

I think this is going to be covered under my automotive policy as comprehensive. I'm awaiting the verdict from the body shop before I decide who to attack for what.

The thing that makes me want to cry is that the car doesn't need a respray; the paint is excellent overall. In fact, I spent 4 days on it a few weeks ago, touching up, wet sanding, polishing, glazing, waxing, collapsing so it was looking gorgeous if I do say so.

The front bumper is the only narly area (prior to the bombing) and has a bunch of nasty stone chips so I'll likely have that resprayed while the car is in the shop.

The color is Baltic Blue, I think just a shade or two lighter than Petrol.

I'd shoot for hitting up the Homeowners Policy that the owner should be carrying on his/her rental.

[yel911]

Ditto for the dent wizard guy..... they work wonders. A re-spray bodywork etc. job would be nasty.

[RacerX1166]

Originally Posted by Nine9six

I'd shoot for hitting up the Homeowners Policy that the owner should be carrying on his/her rental.

That thought crossed my mind but my lease indemnifies the home owner quite well, the only exception being a case of negligence. Based upon some other issues I've had with this 'high end executive rental', I might have a shot at proving negligence but it would be a struggle, involving attorneys, and cost more than it would be worth. Granted, lightning rarely strikes twice but there will be documentation that, once the prop mgmt company fixes the lights, should there be another fixture failure, they will cover a full boat respray at the overpriced concours shop of my choice.

I loved the property management owner's rationale for not covering it this time. 'You drive a car like that, you should expect to deal with the cost of something like this. It's no different than if a limb fell on it while you were parked on the street.' Of course, if a limb fell on my car, the property's homeowner's policy would cover it but who am I to question this moron....

In any case, the body shop is convinced they can make the roof look original and, based upon the recommendations I received from the local Porsche guys here in Richmond, I almost believe that to be the case. The fender would need to be repainted to eliminate the scratches but the shop did some polish work while I was there and made them look better. Painting the quarter would not be the way to go on the fender. We all agreed that the minor scratches are less noticable than a respray would be in that area so we'll leave those alone.

[DL Lawrence]

Sorry to hear about your car, dude. That sucks, no doubt. Have you tried putting some Vaseline on it?

Just kidding......Burleighs does have a great reputation. Most of the local Pcar shops recommend them.

Let us know how it turns out-

DL