Quote:

Originally Posted by geestyleed

Do you think these many stone chips might be a result of the open carrier transport?

I actually don't. They look typical of a car that was driven in the winter on a highway treated with lots of road salt. You said the car came from Michigan, right? There's your answer.

A car being transported, even by open carrier wouldn't be subject to stone chips because most, if not all of these would be blocked by the cab of the truck. If it was transported on the top level then there would almost a zero chance of this type of damage because stones kicked up by other cars wouldn't even go that high. I recently read an interesting article on stone chips and how they occur. I tried to find it for you but I couldn't come up with it. The article said the stones and other highway debris never get very high and are only airborne for a relatively short period time. They stated how most SUV's and pickups have significantly less of this type of damage than cars.

Sports cars with sloped front ends like ours are subject to more of this type of damage because of the way air flows over them. Porsche works hard on reducing the drag coefficient to make our cars faster but the downside to that is more stone chip damage. Before Porsche I drove Mazdas for the last 25 years. My generation 1 and generation 2 RX-7's were very susceptible to stone chip damage. I also went through several windshields in each car. My generation 1 Miata wasn't subject to as much stone chip damage. I think part of the reason for that was driving style. By the time I got the Miata I was older and more mature. I wasn't always up on everyone's butt eager to pass like I was back in teens and 20's with the RX-7's. If you leave enough space between you and the next car you will greatly minimize (though never totally eliminate) damage.

Now here's a sad story for you. The day I picked my car up I had a problem on the way home. I was driving home at normal speed and just trying to get used to the car but several idiots cut right in front of me purposely. I believe the goal was to **** me off so that I would retaliate and they would be able to see what my car could do. I didn't play their game but one SUV cut right in front of me and was probably less than 6 feet away. As soon as he did this I heard the dreaded "ping" sound. When I got home there was a very small chip less than 1/4 of inch from the clear bra line where it was cut to go around the LED lighting unit on the driver's side. If only it would have hit 1/4 of an inch more to the left it would have hit the clear bra and not chipped the paint. I've already touched it up and it's virtually invisible but it still sucks that I had to do this on a brand new car with only 35 miles on it! Sadly, you can't keep them perfect forever and in my case even the clear bra wasn't able to stop the damage from happening.

 

Its even more a pain in a new car

When I read your post it came into my mind that it is - as you said - pretty impossible to get that many stone chips while being towed by a truck about 2 meters above the ground.

In that case I should have better picked a car from Californien....but now it is too late.

Whatever let's see what the transport company/Porsche Dealership is saying.

 

Those stone chips happen with normal driving (especially on a highway). I'd seriously get the bumper resprayed and then 3M'd or Ventureshield. Take pics of before hand to show the chips so you can show any would be buyer down the road. I'd have no problem buying a car with resprayed bumper so long as it wasn't due to being wrecked.

 

This is my fear that a paintjob lowers the resale value. Taking pictures for future buyers is a good idea!

At the moment the weather seems to get very cold - so I wont move the car for that time. I hope I can get a ultimate solution in that time.

Perhaps I really get the Aerobumper and get it with the hood painted.
But I dont want to dump too much money in the car

 

your car is 5 years old...(as are both of mine)...if you keep the car even 2 years its 7 years old...really, what is the respray going to take away from a 7 year old car...$500 bucks?

Forget about resale...get it resprayed...maybe a clear bra and drive the hell out of it and enjoy.

 

I'm going to introduce a new concept here and suggest that a car with a resprayed bumper and/or hood may actually fetch more money than a car sold with original paint containing a large amount of stone chips. Not every buyer is going to show up with a paint gauge in hand.

I realize that originality is the current trend in the collector market these days but we are not talking about 50-year-old antiques here. A pre-owned 911 with a fully documented service history isn't going to loose much, if any value due to resprayed panels. As long as the work has been done professionally and it wasn't due to a collision and the car hasn't become a "Bondo bucket" then there shouldn't be any problem.

 

Completely agree with Auto_Union post # 13 and 21. It is a clear cut case of road rash. Dr. Color chip have a road rash kit. Try that...if not satisfied with the results, just repaint and protect it with a clearbra.

My '04 Toyota Sienna has about $ 30,000 highway miles on it and despite a much higher wheelbase has quite a bit of road rash. Given how low the Porsche hood is it would not take that much highway miles to suffer the same fate.

Auto_Union, I feel bad for the stone chip. I was in a similar situation...got a bad rock chip (actually saw the stone being pelted from the tire of a F150 that was passing me come my way in slow motion) just one day prior to my scheduled clear-bra intall.

 

I have not replied on your threads but I will chime in . Part of the reason I had not posted is that when you were car shopping I saw the target price range and had a hunch that something like this could follow . I didn't want to say I told you so and still don't --I would rather help . At this point .. you have the car .

I agree with Auto Union --even though i haven't read all his advice . I don't think its the transport , and do think its road rash .

I would not paint the car unless you just can't stand to look at this . I feel a car with scratches is better than a painted panel because paint throws up the first red flag of potential damage . More importantly is that you just got the car and if this is the first hint of imperfection then before spending any money .. give it some time . You can always paint the car in the future . Just be sure that this is the endpoint of problems before spending any more.

 

As always yrralis 1 brings up a very important point. Try color chip...wait it out before repainting. Don't be in a hurry. Put the pedal on the metal and enjoy the ride for sometime.

 

I read somewhere in a german Porsche Forum: You always get, what you paid for.

I thought when buying a CPO to minimize these problems, but this was wrong

 

First, many have all replied to your threads in the past, (including Larry in October) with buying advice. The consensus was that the dealers were asking for too much for the cars you were looking at. So don't knock yourself for waiting to get a good deal.

Second, I'm not sure what you paid for this car but I don't think its as simple as you make it out to be in buying a cheap car.

Not sure if you ever owned a black car before but road rash and paint imperfections come with the territiory.

It will not cost that much to get this car looking great and the effect on resale value will not be much.

Some posters attitudes and obsessions with resale value take the enjoyment out of driving these cars. Don't be one of them.

You didn't buy this car as an investment. You bought it to put a smile on your face.

 

The total solution would be to pre-paint the car THEN add 3M over the front end; I would go from the front bumper back to a third of the way up the hood. If you get a relatively thick covering it will protect the paint from MOST rocks on the road.

BTW IMHO the damage show seems to be normal for a car driven regularly especially if it is in a cold part of the country. Salt , highway work zones etc all contribute to the problem.

 

That's an excellent point. Remember, you bought a base model just like me. Even if you bought an "S" the story would most likely be the same (which is why I didn't pop for the extra 10K for the "S"). I personally feel that the "investment grade" cars would be the Turbo, GT3, GT3RS and perhaps especially the GT2 since those are produced in the lowest numbers. If you did own one of these you wouldn't be able to drive it if you were looking for maximum return on your investment. At that point it's not really a car anymore, it's just a collectable. I already have another hobby that involves collectables, I bought my car to be a driver . . . well, a 3 season driver anyway as I don't want the additional hassle and expense of snow tires.

Since it's not an investment you should do what is going to make you happy. I still say there is nothing wrong with re-painting and then adding a clear bra which will protect the front end from most (but not all as my story above sadly proves) stone chips. Remember to seek out a quality body shop. If you can't afford to have it done properly now then wait until you can. A quality re-spray will be undetectable to all but the most experienced buyer or the very rare instance that someone does show up with a paint gauge in hand. In that case they are probably too picky of a buyer to begin with.

 

I agree that he should repaint --eventually --just not yet.

He bought the car unaware of this road rash and before he places another cent into it why not give it a little time just to factor out any other issues that he may not have anticipated. He can always paint the car but my vote leans towards more certainty and confidence before he does it.

If he does paint it in a hurry , and the car has even more unforseen problems then he really stuck . He spent more money , the car is harder to sell , and fixing it can take even more money.

The key when there's doubt is to evaluate before taking action .
The strategy to is avoid a money pit and carefully evaluate his next step.

 

agreed...can't argue with a wait a while and see approach