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sunracer

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Posts posted by sunracer

  1. A few weeks ago I got my daughter a new car (her grad present :-) and it had satellite radio built-in and turned-on (trial period). It was the first time I tried satellite radio and I have to admit that I really liked it. So I checked ona retro fit with my Porsche dealer...they said that they've done a number of 997 retro fits with Cayanne parts and it works perfectly.

    They said that the only small glitch is that the mounting of the new antenna is a custom fit because (as decribed in this thread). The installed cost is $1500 and they said that it would be perfect and look all original although the warranty would only be that of the parts department which I don't see as a problem.

    I haven't done it yet as I'm considering the SRX built-in radar detector and I'd prefer to do both together and I'd prefer to do them myself...not just to save $...

  2. The discussions here help me feel better about what I decided to do - buy. I picked-up my new C4S tonight - identical to the one that was wrecked a month ago and I bought it. It just wasn't worth it to lease with only $200/month difference between lease Vs buy (36 mo lease Vs 60 mo buy). I love the car and plan to keep it a long time. I can already write-off my mileage (buy or lease) so I'm not too worried about that and I wasn't thrilled about the undisclosed parts of a lease so I punted...

    Thanks for all the comments and advice!

  3. Again, thanks for the great comments and advice! My concern around leasing is exactly what you're hitting on - the fact that it's more complex than buying and that the dealer (most likely to lease from) doesn't have to disclose all the details.

    The finance officer at my dealer ran numbers for me and I was a bit shocked at the $ for leasing. A 36 month lease with 15K miles/year was going to cost within $200/month of an out right purchase. Of course after 36 months I can just walk away but I may not actually own any more of the car if I bought it anyway. Again, I'm wary of anyhting that seems to be pushed so hard and it seems like all dealers are pushing leases.

    Talking with salesmen at other high end dealers it's pretty clear that most high end cars, or even mid-line cars are leased these days. I don't take this as a sign that leasing makes sense mostly because I believe that most people spend beyond their means. For example, over half the new house loans in my area are interest only loans which seems either ridiculous or unrealistically optomistic to me.

    At this point I'm leaning toward buying with no cash down - something that I wouldn't normally do. The reason is that I plan to buy the gap insurance and that only makes sense if I maximize the loan amount. I hate to do it but if the car gets wrecked in a year I could end-up forfeiting all of my down payment if I have to rely on the gap insurance.

    I guess that I'm just gun shy after having a 3 week old 911 get wrecked due to an idiot on a cell phone - normally I wouldn't worry about most of this stuff. Thanks again for the advice and comments.

  4. State Farm finally decided to total my car even though the repair costs came to only about $20K. They paid off my loan and gave me a check for my equity. Essentially they gave me a full refund for my car. I've already ordered a replacement that is identical to my wrecked C4S and it wil be at my local dealer in a couple days. The GM at the dealer even gave a small discount over the discount that he gave me on the first C4S (about 8%).

    It was a rough 3 weeks but I feel like SF made me whole and I dodged a bullet. Thanks to all the advice here I was able to work through the process with confidence and I hope I never need to again! :-)

  5. Great info thanks for the posts!

    After reading these I'm even more nervous about leasing than before. I've never leased a car and I've done okay on resale. In my case I need to drive 10K to 15K a year and my biggest concern is that I get another idiot on a cell phone plow in to my back end doing serios damage. With a lease I wouldn't really care too much because it's not really my car. If I own it then I'm stuck.

    At this point the car I'm getting will be at the dealer soon and I'm actually getting more than $8K off a brand new 997 (albeith the sticker is a bit over $100K). This seems like a great deal to me but the finance manager spent a lot of time discussing lease Vs buy with me and he was definitely biased towards leasing. This makes me feel a bit like I'm being sold on a lease and that makes me wonder what I'm missing.

    My preference by far is to buy the car and insure the hell out of it so that it's easy to get whole if it get smacked, even a year or two down the road. IOW, I'd like apolicy that explicitly states replacement, not repair or replacement - I'll have to check with my insurance rep.

    As far as the tax situation, I already write-off my mileage in full since my car is used almost exclusively for business. If I could write-off the lease payments and not just the mileage then we're talking...

    The other comment about Porsches needing major service sometime in 10 years has me wondering...a clutch or exhaust or brakes are not a problem but what do you mean by "major?" I've had plenty of BMWs run more than 10 years with no major and almost no minor service at all...

  6. I'm getting a new C4S in the next few days (see my last post in "any advice on wrecked C4S") and I've always bought my cars but I'm considering a lease this time around.

    This makes my 3rd new 911 in 6 months and I expect this to be my primary car for at least a few years to come. I don't drive too much, maybe 12K to 15K per year and I'm mostly concerned about having some jerk wreck my next 911 after it's a year old and can't be totaled like my last one.

    Does anyone have any advice or experience with leasing Vs buying that they can share?...

  7. A quick update...

    State Farm has decided to total my car even though the damages came to only $20K. Thats $15K in parts plus another $5K to remove and re-install the engine. The engine has to be removed to replace the lower rear frame rails that hold the rear bumper. I go a salvage price of $60K but then I would have to fight for at least another $15K in dimished value. This is possible but it will take more time.

    I pushed SF to total the car and since I bought the gap insurance when I bought the car I'll come out completely whole. In fact, the total claims adjuster on my case has already started looking for an identical 911 and they may even buy it and just hand it to me as a full replacement!

    I've never heard of this but if it they give me a replacement (I should know in a day or two) I'll certainly be thrilled with State Farms service...

  8. In my case, I made it very clear to everyone that I didn't want the car repaired - although I did take it to a repair shop the same day. I didn't know where else to take it. I had the option of dealing with Allstate (the other guys insurance) or State Farm (my insurance) but I decided to let State Farm handle it and let them go after Allstate.

    The repair shop is alao a State Farm appraisal shop and they told me that Allstate is cheaper on repairs and may try to have them use aftermarket parts if available. They would certainly add significant time to the process since they're much slower at getting adjusters out and so on. In fact, the Allstate adjuster just called almost 10 days after the accident.

    Also, I was hoping to get State Farm on my side and make it a battle between me/State Farm against Allstate. It sounds like I may have made a few mistakes. But I did tell both SF and Allstate that I didn't want the car repaired. I plan to call SF tomorrow morning and make it painfully clear that I want the car totalled and replaced...

  9. My prefernce by far is not to repair the car but to walk away from it. I did sustain some soft tissue injuries, mainly to my neck AKA whiplash. I didn't think I was hurt for several hours after the crash but I've been in some significant pain since the day after my accident. The guy did hit me ahrd enough to crush both rear frame rails and I attribute the seat belt to keeping my injuries low. In fact afew days later, I found marks on the jacket I was wearing apparently from the belt tightening on me.

    My plan now is to try and get some salvage quotes asap. I still need to get a full estimate from the shop. They keep telling me that they won't know the total cost until the car is done. I plan to talk with my insurance company Monday morning and ask them to insist on a written estimate from the shop. In fact I thought that a written estimate was a requirement.

    With the salvage quotes and full estimate it should be simple math from there. I just don't know is I can recover dimished value if I go this route. If so then I need to get an appraisal so I'll have to find an appraiser. The diminshed value appraiser recommended by both the Porsche dealer and the repair shop won't appraise the car until it's fully repaired...

  10. thanks for the encouraging words and advice. I will definitely take your advice. I'll canvas the local high-end dealers (Lexus, BMW, Ferrari) and see if I can locate more salvage dealers. I did find one and I'm planning to get him out to give me an estimate but he was adament that I'll be able to get the insurance company to total it if I try hard enough. My insurance company is State Farm and the other guys is Allstate. The other guy freely admitted guilt and got ticketed as well so Allstate has not been pushing back so far.

    The repair shop here in GA is telling me that I'll only see $50k-$60K for salvage and I'd be better off repairing it and making a solid case for $15k-$20K in lowered value. The owner of the shop claims to have been an auto insurance adjuster and he offered to help me make my case. I also spoke to a personal injury lawyer reffered by my Porsche sales guy. The lawyer is the owner of a 2005 991 Turbo and it was recently damaged even worse than mine. He was very helpful and he strongly recommended repairing the car and going after a high diminshed value settlement (the same advice as the repair shop).

    So I'm still trying to figure out how to get whole on this mess and it's clear that I'l be without my 911 for at least another 4-6 weeks - that's how long it will take to repair.

    Here's a question: if I salvage the car can I still make a dimished value insurance claim? ...Scott

  11. I tried to get 3 salvage quotes and I found that the repair shop would not offer any help in this area. They simply said that they didn't know anyone. They asked an independant appraiser for a guess at the diminished value of my car once repaired adn the number was $15-20K less value. This is about where I expected and the appraiser is the same guy my Porsche dealer told me to use to argue my case with the insurance company.

    The damage on the rear end includes both rear frame rails (the part that holds the rear bumper mounts) and the rear bulkhead. The estimate is now growing closer to $20K since the engine has to come out. According to the repair shop, salvage value is probably in $50K - $60K range. The only salvage company that I called that would give me a quote said probably $35K sight unseen. Obviously, I'm in a pickle...

  12. happ911...thank you very much for the advice... Unfortunately, it sounds like you know exactly how I feel. I'm sick over the idea of settling for a repaired new car...especially one I really love and wanted to enjoy for a long time. I hadn't considered salvaging the car although I did tell the repair shop that I didn't want it back - they didn't offer to get salvage quotes. I will definitely do this.

    I've already met with the service manager and pre-owned sales manager at my dealer and they are very supportive. They even gave me the name of an appraisal firm to help build a case for higher diminished value. I'm glad to hear that this was a good move.

    It's really a shame because 99% of the car is still perfect as new and when repaired it will be be a sweat ride for someone. But as you say, I just don't want to settle - I bought a new car and want a new car.

    BTW, how long did it take to work through the whole process for you?

    Scott

  13. After trying several cars over 2 years (2 BMWs, an NSX, a 911 turbo) I finally found the perfect car for me...a 2006 Black/tan C4S. Last week after owning the car for only 3 weeks and 1200 miles I was rear-ended by some idiot on a cell phone. He hit me hard enough to push me in to the car in front of me.

    The good news is that only the front bumper cover and hood are damaged and the air bags didn't go off. The car drives and runs fine. The rear bulkhead stopped short of the main engine pulley by less than 1/8 of an inch. None of the exterior sheet metal was touched other than the front hood.

    The bad news is that the exhaust is shot, the entire rear bumper, the rear bulkhead behind the bumper and both rails that mount the bumper and run all the way to the rear axle. The engine has to come out so all the supporting metal can be cut out and new parts be welded in - $15K so far and fully covered by insurance.

    My concern is probably obvious...even once repaired I'm concerned about driving the car as I'm paying for a new, "virgin" 911. Here in GA I'll get paid something for diminished value and the shop is very high-end. They do the work for PCNA, BMW and the local Ferrari dealer and they gurantee that the car wil be perfect. I've never had a car repaired before and I'm wondering if I'm being too anal. Also, I'm looking for advice on how to best maneuver through this mess...any ideas?...Scott

  14. I just took ownership of a fully loaded 2005 Turbo S cab. I traded-in my 2000 NSX with only 8K miles on it for this car. The NSX was a hanger queen since I deemed it too delicate to drive everyday. I've also got some BMWs including a 2005 330CI that I can't part with.

    After buying the 911 I had a bad case of buyers remorse (and unhappy wife) since I've never owned a Porsche and I wasn't sure if a got a car that I would be happy with. Now that I'm getting used to the car I like it more and reading the messages on this board certainly makes me feel like I'll be able to tailor it to my needs. However, I have some questions now that I'm getting into the Porsche world.

    1.) I know my body style is a 996 but what else would be pertinent to describing the car in Porsche'ese?

    2.) I have the new Navi system and it works...but that's about the best I can say for it. I saw ehre someone installed an Eclipse AVN double DIN in the same spot as a Porche Navi system but my car has the new bus radio (I believe). Does anyone know if it will still be staright forward to install the Eclipse? (I put an Eclipse in the NSX and I loved it - their very nice units especially the new hard disk based ones).

    3.) Is there any way to know if my car has the PSE (Porsche Sport Exhaust)? The car is a bit loud (drones) with the top up and doesn't seem to have a very distinctive exhaust note so I don't think the exhaust is the best for the car.

    I apolgize for the newbie questions...Scott

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