Crashed my M491 on 1/1/15 run... Resurrecting "Herman"

[Jeff NJ]

Sorry about Herman and glad you and your wife are OK. As far as repairing Herman from a fiscal perspective, the numbers just don't add up. If you pay $15,000 and then spend $30k to repair her, you have a $45,000 M491 with a salvage title, not including what you have already put into her. You can certainly buy a much lower mileage M491 with a clear title for that. Of course, the motor work done to Herman would be lost, but I bet you could negotiate the buyback lower. IMO, the motor has value and that is what I would try to get.

Maybe find one that needs a motor, buy that cheap and then pay ~$13,000 for Hermans motor and put it in the new car? Use any parts you need from Herman to get the new car done right and then part out the rest of the car for a few grand here on Pelican and you have a good car with a great motor and don't have to be in a negative equity position like you will be if you resurrect Herman.

Good luck either way you go.

[OldSpool87]

Paul,

Is there an M491 registry whose members might be slightly more in tune with recent trades? It's a special car that is likely more challenging to comp out from a value perspective.

Will

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by Paul491

So far, Farmer's Insurance wants to total herman! Yikes!! They are offering $38,000 and asking $15,500 for the salvage??!!??

Thankfully you and your's are ok.

My 81 (last fall) - $23k offer and $9k buy-back.

Suspect the standard is 40% salvage buy-back.

I bought it back and 23 seems fair for my driver but 38 is lean.

[bpu699]

Unfortunately, That car is done. I wouldn't even try to fix it. If the body shop tells you it will be better than new.... I would take that with a grain of salt.

Your frame is bent, the cage is bent, the suspension is tweaked, the a-arms are gone, the strut is bent, the windshield frame is bent, etc, etc. there is no way to get every single point back in spec.

That hard of a hit went throught the frame.

I know you love the car. Save yourself a lot of grief, and buy another one.

[Paul491]

Originally Posted by winders

Either he was in your lane or not. The road is plenty wide there. If there wasn't enough room, and you were in your lane, he had to be in your lane. Does the evidence at the scene show that?

Easy for you to say, Winders. From the time I saw him to time of impact was about 1.5 seconds. The "evidence" doesn't show one way or the other. As you can see there are plenty of skid marks left from other drivers and actual grave markers on the far side of the road for those less fortunate...

The telling comment made by a local resident close enough to hear the impact of my collision was that this very turn is the worst and deadliest of all on that particular road. I am just happy and thankful my wife and I survived and are alive to tell the tale...

[Paul491]

Fear not my Porsche brethren, I have no plans for fixing a car with a salvage title. The idea is to fix herman with a good title and only after very careful structural evaluation. Brewster Industries is not your typical paint 'n body shop... It's an independent Porsche-only Service, Racing and Restoration shop with a long successful history in Southern California. Extensive frame fixtures and a lot of race track shunt repair history fills their catalogue of experience. This project, if and when initiated, will be approached from many angles with much soberness and thought.

[winders]

Is the lane you were supposed to be in wide enough for your car? Is the lane the truck was supposed to be in wide enough for his truck? Based on the photos and what I know the State of California requires of roads, the answer is "yes" to both questions. Now that we settled that....

Were you in your lane when you saw the truck? If you were, and there was not enough room, the truck had to be in your lane, right? Otherwise, there would have been enough room for both of you around the corner.

So, were you in your lane when you saw the truck?

[Paul491]

Yes, I was in my lane when I saw the truck! The road was very frosty, I'm quite sure I panic braked, causing my car to go straight, not around the curve. This is exactly why I chose to take responsibility for the accident in the first place!

It's a no brainer... I slid straight across the line. As a matter of fact, although he may have caused me to panic brake and slide straight line across the apex, he very well may have stopped me from sliding straight off the road over a cliff to join the other dead folks down there! Whatever, I'm just glad to be having this conversation among the living and above ground... Cheers!

[Dan J]

Originally Posted by winders

Is the lane you were supposed to be in wide enough for your car? Is the lane the truck was supposed to be in wide enough for his truck? Based on the photos and what I know the State of California requires of roads, the answer is "yes" to both questions. Now that we settled that....

Were you in your lane when you saw the truck? If you were, and there was not enough room, the truck had to be in your lane, right? Otherwise, there would have been enough room for both of you around the corner.

So, were you in your lane when you saw the truck?

I really don't think the guy needs you breaking his balls. Even if he did make
a mistake I don't think anyone appointed you guardian of the highway

[winders]

I am not breaking anyone's balls. Just trying to distill what actually happened since the OP's original description didn't seem logical.

Guardian of the highway? I don't see anything like that in my posts, Dan. Are you the guardian of Paul in this thread?

[saxen]

Originally Posted by bpu699

Unfortunately, That car is done. I wouldn't even try to fix it. If the body shop tells you it will be better than new.... I would take that with a grain of salt.

Your frame is bent, the cage is bent, the suspension is tweaked, the a-arms are gone, the strut is bent, the windshield frame is bent, etc, etc. there is no way to get every single point back in spec.

That hard of a hit went throught the frame.

I know you love the car. Save yourself a lot of grief, and buy another one.

I hate to say this, but I couldent agree more! It will never be the same, ever

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by saxen

I hate to say this, but I couldent agree more! It will never be the same, ever

Sober thinking is definitely required, Paul.

That impact bent your car. The whole car.

[RFP]

Originally Posted by Jeff NJ

<<< snip >>> ... you have a $45,000 M491 with a salvage title, not including what you have already put into her. You can certainly buy a much lower mileage M491 with a clear title for that. <<< snip >>>

I suppose anything's possible, but I'm reasonably sure those days are gone.

I am assuming that there's no 'agreed value' insurance here... If the insurance company isn't holding all the cards, they at least have a pretty good hand.

I am happy nobody was hurt, but I'm super-sorry for the loss of a perfectly good M491... there weren't many to begin with!

Rob

[faverymi]

Glad you are OK

Good luck with the quest!!

[dafischer]

Glad to hear everyone was alright. It's a shame that some wannabe prosecuting attorneys have felt the need to step in.

[winders]

Originally Posted by dafischer

It's a shame that some wannabe prosecuting attorneys have felt the need to step in.

You don't seem to the know the difference between fact finding and prosecuting. You might want to figure that out before you type on that keyboard.....

[carrerarsr65]

hey what size wheels were on that m491

[Macroni]

I will take Herman send me a PM......

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by Bob Kontak

That impact bent your car. The whole car.

I have to qualify this statement with "I think". Your wife not being able to open her door made me think that.

I hesitate to ramble about my wreck. Your's looks knarly but a lot (layman talking) of the impact appears "eaten" by the facia parts which is similar to mine. Your bumper also submarined, reducing the shock to the box and global structure.

I don't understand the physics of impact other than **** happens fast and force finds a place to dissipate. My hopes are (again, just talking) the impact to the left inner box structure wall resulted in squishing it more downward than rearward.

Pulling for you to keep it.

[GaryR]

I would offer the insurance company $7500, buy an SC or Carrera roller, and put the 491 parts on it...