Devastation

[Frenco99]

Hey guys, today has been a horrible horrible day for me. My 1988 944 na has been wrecked, pulling out of the gas station and seconds later a 2007 dodge 3500 disel hits and pushes me to the side of the road.😢. My car was partially lunged under his truck( front passenger side area) until I backed up a little. I've really became attached to the 944 (a lot) and now she's a goner.. I'm almost 100% sure his insurance adjuster is gonna total it. I'm 22 and I was supposed to start college on Monday. 944 was my daily driver. I'm thinking of getting a 951 or a 300zx na or twin turbo. What do you guys think would be the better option?



P.S I've done things in the 944 that I think I def wouldn't do in any other sports car. Like intense braking from doing 120+mph or hard acceleration in turns and curves. A superbly built sports car it was.

[dgcantrell]

I've totalled my 87 944 twice.. LOL Two fenders, a hood, and a front spoiler will pretty much total it. If it's not too bad, you can fix it with used parts. I bought mine back and had a few hundred bucks to spare. Your insurance adjuster might be able to work it out for you. Mine did. Especially if the truck was at fault.

Post some pics so we can see how much damage there is.

[Frenco99]

Originally Posted by dgcantrell

I've totalled my 87 944 twice.. LOL Two fenders, a hood, and a front spoiler will pretty much total it. If it's not too bad, you can fix it with used parts. I bought mine back and had a few hundred bucks to spare. Your insurance adjuster might be able to work it out for you. Mine did. Especially if the truck was at fault.

Post some pics so we can see how much damage there is.

Ok, and trying to do that now but it's taking forever to load

[dgcantrell]

I'd rather have a 951 over the Z any day though. But I'm biased toward the German autos.. I've had my 944 for as long as you've been alive..

[Frenco99]

Originally Posted by dgcantrell

I'd rather have a 951 over the Z any day though. But I'm biased toward the German autos.. I had my 944 for as long as you've been alive..

Oh yeah? I am too, somewhat. So you don't think the Z looks good at all? I like the looks of it, but I've heard the breaks aren't the best. I've never driven one

[Frenco99]

damages


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[dgcantrell]

Yep. It's totaled. Looks about like mine when it got whacked by a lady driving a Ford LTD in the parking lot down on River Road in New Orleans in May 2005. A lady driving a Ford Crown Vic ran into someone stopped to make a left and it knocked her out. She coasted across the left lane into the parking lot were my car and my friends truck was parked. My car took the brunt of the impact, pushing it over into my friends truck. This was the second time it was totaled. The first time I wrecked it in the driveway hitting a rather large rock (bigger than the car) on the left side about in the same spot.... That was 1993.. That year sucked bad for me.

BUT.. It can be fixed. Used parts, check the subframe alignment on the front, and a paint job. It ended up costing me about $2700 out of pocket for the parts, paint, and bodywork.

[Frenco99]

Yeaah.. I figured it was. This is so bad man. Do you think it's worth while fixing or should I just find another? I already needed a new rack & pinion to begin with. I don't think I'll find another clean one like I had.. Went all the way out to delray beach Florida to find this one (I live in South Carolina)

[Frenco99]

Before the wreck


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[dgcantrell]

It's definitely fixable. It just depends on whether you can keep it stored away in a safe place while you gather the parts. Take the money left from the buy-back and use it go pay for the repairs. It won't be enough but it will help. There's a crap load of used parts here on the Classifieds. I'm sure those people will work with you on that. Shipping on the larger items is the killer though. If you can find things locally that helps a LOT. I was able to find almost all of the parts I needed locally while I was down there in New Orleans.

I've been though it twice and I thought it was worth the effort to save the car. In the 10 years since, the car is starting to develop some rust issues (body plugs were not replaced like they should have been the last time) in the rockers and other small areas. I need to down it and take care of those before they get too bad. I always said I'd keep it till it breaks in half. I really don't want that to happen though. LOL

[Frenco99]

I bet it was, not a lot of em roaming around here though parts nor 944s. I've only seen 2 ever here. But thanks a lot for the advice

[Wellwood]

Does your policy have a 'replacement' clause?

Take a look and see - if so, start looking for a replacement car that you can provide to the adjuster.

[ckelly78z]

I've had alot of Datsun and Nissan Zs, and never really like the 300 ZX, it's just too angular and futuristic, The 944, and especially the 951 has that classic cool sports car look, and IMO is a better built car all the way around than the Nissan

[Jfrahm]

Wow, unfortunate. Glad you are OK. I would not recommend a Turbo car as a replacement if you are just starting school, they are too easily modded into huge time and money pits and college is already a huge time and money pit to climb out of. IMO a fun car with a targa or convertible is more fun for college.

[Frenco99]

Originally Posted by ckelly78z

I've had alot of Datsun and Nissan Zs, and never really like the 300 ZX, it's just too angular and futuristic, The 944, and especially the 951 has that classic cool sports car look, and IMO is a better built car all the way around than the Nissan

Very true, all 944 models do have that original sports car look. But are you referring to all Z models? Or z31, z32 etc.

[Frenco99]

Originally Posted by Jfrahm

Wow, unfortunate. Glad you are OK. I would not recommend a Turbo car as a replacement if you are just starting school, they are too easily modded into huge time and money pits and college is already a huge time and money pit to climb out of. IMO a fun car with a targa or convertible is more fun for college.

Yeah I'm fine, just bruised ribs. And yeah I thought about that too, any car with forced induction is gonna be a pain in the long run I guess..

[ckelly78z]

Originally Posted by Frenco99

Very true, all 944 models do have that original sports car look. But are you referring to all Z models? Or z31, z32 etc.

I love the old 240/260/280 Zs and ZXs back when they were actually Datsuns. Anything newer than 1983 never held my interest.

[Frenco99]

Originally Posted by ckelly78z

I love the old 240/260/280 Zs and ZXs back when they were actually Datsuns. Anything newer than 1983 never held my interest.

Gotcha, I guess the older the better

[WizPorsche944]

Figures what hit you, those dumb rednecks think they own the road.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Totalled from a dollar standpoint but completely fixable from a driving standpoint. It's up to you. Personally I'd rip the fenders and hood off, replace (cheap) and go back to driving it (I'm assuming nothing suspension-wise got fuggered up or anything - even if so, probably still relatively minor $$$ since parts for the n/a cars are fairly inexpensive). Then either drive it as an "expendable" beater (nothing more fun than thrashing around in a P-car you don't really care about - it seems so wrong but it's soooooo fun) or a track car.

I hope the knucklehead pooped himself thinking "OMG I just hit a PORSCHE!!!" (most people have no idea that our cars are book valued so little).

It bites. Been there done that - in my case it was a modded 951 that caught fire. That one stung (but it did set up the purchase of my 911). Worst case, get another. All the best.