After thinking about this a lot I am changing my original answer to "Yes, quite likely...".

Rainier

 

Glad to see you are getting to the end of it and that you will get your car back soon.
It is always scary to see the car at the body shop. A bit surprised and disappointed by the tools left not the leather seats etc. Porsche certified shops are supposed to have very high quality standards. When they were working on my car, they had removed most of the interior trim to avoid damage and get a perfect paint job.

Anyway, you'll get your baby back soon in great shape and that's what matters the most. Enjoy it!

 

You're a brave man. I wouldn't be able to look at my baby while it's in surgery.

Edit: Hope you get your car back soon.

 

Wow Rainier - that really is major surgery.

Glad to see that it's almost back in one piece, because it probably would have been written off by most insurance companies on this side of the pond.

Did you take pics before surgery?

 

Those are some intense pictures... I can't imagine seeing my car in pieces like that.

Hope it all comes together very, very soon. You've been pretty patient through it all.

 

I don't know... if I were in the market for the your car used and the listing described 'minor' damage from a crash and then I saw these pictures I would freak out.

It's great that your car is getting repaired by Porsche, but with all due respect I don't know if it's ever 'good as new' after something like this. Am I wrong?

 

The rear fender had a minor ding as well as the driver side sill was pretty much wrecked. Porsche removed effectively the entire side panels as you can see and replaced with new.
They did a perfect job as you will see with later pictures. In some ways it is better than new - the painting seems of better quality than original from the factory.

They also replaced both front fenders and the bonnet. Neither of these was damaged (and I have been given these parts - the bonnet could make a nice artwork on the wall of my garage...).

Yes, it does look terrible when you see a car in this kind of state - but all damage is cosmetic and once the panels are on and a (good) painting job has been completed you can't see any history - you shouldn't of course as there is none left.
Most importantly, there is zero damage to the chassis, engine, suspension or anything else that matters. The impact was at very low speed so there is nothing to worry about.

I have had the car back for a week and must say that I am quite impressed overall with the work done. She drives as well as ever. Impossible to pickup any evidence of the surgery by eye. It's perfect.
Some minor issues (really minor) are being attended to by Porsche now and I should have the car back this afternoon.

Better than new ? In some ways yes - my automatic windscreen wipers never worked in automatic mode. Now they do. Best of all - the stupid auto start/stop now remembers its last setting - Three cheers for that one !

You know I gave this thread the title "Ultimate rattle fix". That was a bit of a joke of course. However - ***ALL*** rattles and squeeks are gone. The new dash (it was completely replaced) is as solid as a rock. The original one wasn't.

The insurance took a few weeks to make up their minds but they have come to the party. I even got 4 brand new tires. If I could wind back the odometer you could sell this car as new.
The final cost came to about $50-$55K equivalent in U.S. currency, a bit less than the original quotes.

Now I am considering putting in some mesh for the front leaf catchers. Since I have two brand new radiators I'd like them to keep looking new.

Rainier

 

Rainier - very happy for you!! Be careful now and will you post picture album now??

 

Congratulations on your "new" car. Glad to hear you past issues have been fixed and that the surgery came out flawless. Happy motoring.
!

 

Well, the southern hemsiphere (that's south of Mexico, far, far away), we shut down completely over XMas. I was hoping for the car to be ready before the three week shutdown at Porsche but that was not to be.

A new dash with new airbag had not arrived. It's the only thing we are waiting for. Airbags may not be transported by aircraft so this is going the slow way via Ship. It's going to be January...

On the upside, the nasty wounds are closed and healed rather well. The new side is looking good. Nice paint job. Grafting of the new panel has been done very well. Perfect finish.

I arrived at Porsche with the body shop empty - all had gone to party...
Placed on temporary wheels my baby is looking somewhat lost and lonely.

 

I collected the car on Friday after it was back to have some minor issues attended to. The repair has been completed to my satisfaction.
No doubt to the new dash that was fitted, it even has the coveted "new leather smell".

Enver and his team from the Porsche Cape Town body shop. Job well done !



While it was being worked at, I asked that the black stone guards be replaced with the standard clear ones. The "911 Carrera S" writing on the doors is sufficient to break the otherwise somewhat bland look.

Final comments on the repair:
Spray painting has been done very well. I would rate this as better than factory standards. Most noticably around the front bumper area - the factory paint was applied thin with some orange peel visible.
The car drives as well as before, suspension alignment is perfect.
No faults of any kind.
All remaining squeeks and rattles are sorted (I fixed most myself but some remained). The new dash in particular seems more solid than the old one.
Automatic wind screen wipers never worked - they do now.
Unrelated - but not unimportant to me - the auto-start stop now remembers its last setting.

It's taken a long time to repair the car, effectively from the end of October until middle of February. Partly this was due to the closure over Christmas which took three weeks but also partly due to the dash with new airbag taking a long time to arrive.

Insurers are Sella Brokers which represent Hollard. There where some initial hickups around appointed accessors which caused some worries. Communication could have been a bit better but in the end there was no issue.

I still do not know what the original cause of the accident is. I tried to simulate it (in a safe environment) but the traction control fixes any oversteer induced instantly and very effectively. So I am a bit baffled on this one...

Rainier

 

I need to add one things regarding the solidity of a car after a panel replacement like this..

Often, the car is better than new. As long as the shop does the right job.

I'll explain:

I had an audi S4 that got rear-ended by a semi truck (40,000 lbs). It damaged the rear "pan" but no frame damage. Car had 2000 miles on it, so they would not total it. So I went to see the car at the shop and the entire trunk and floorpan was gone. It just had the side rails....OMG!!

So, i go over to the shop foreman and ask him if the car will be safe. He got a twinkle in his eye and said that they have built over 100 race cars...

I was like "So???"

He said that there were 20 or so spot-welds holding the whole pan in as it came from the factory. He said that his shop seam-welds the entire panel. he said it would be 20-30% stiffer than before. I shrugged my shoulders and left.

A month later I picked up the car and the job was fabulous. The car felt like it was carved from granite. The small creak I used to hear coming up my driveway was gone! He also produced some amazing paintwork too. I had the car 3 years after the accident. When I traded it in, I signed stating that the car had been in an accident. They did not believe me. They said even the paint-thickness tester showed great paint uniformity. (I specified no blending at all...that is very, very hard to match. )

Sadly, I took another car there a few years later and the job was just so-so. Then again it was my wife's Acura TL and it was covered in dents anyhow...

 

Congrats Rainier on getting your car back. Looks great. Glad to hear everything worked out to your satisfaction (sadly, in most cases, that does not happen). Back on the road cruising. Awesome. Looks like the shop has quite a number of porsches there.

 

This is interesting. I think in the USA this car would have been a total loss. That repair cost is too close to replacement value. I assume these cars cost a lot more in South Africa.

Impressive repair work too.

 

Glad you finally got your car back!! Enjoy!

ChuckJ