Underbody Protection Panel damaged. Batteries and coolant lines need inspection. $72.5K replacement & labor cost. Dealership is Tom Wood in Indiana

[Boss Hogg]

Depending on the debris and its velocity (mainly direction) neither are likely to be better protection than and ally plate - though more likely to spring back

I was thinking the new glass fibre version may prevent high speed, high energy point/puncture impacts better by dissipating the forces like a kevlar bullet proof vest. I have no knowledge of how the new underbody is constructed but an improvment to robsutness vs the metal plate is part of the reason for change.

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[wmras]

I was thinking the new glass fibre version may prevent high-speed, high-energy point/puncture impacts better by dissipating the forces like a kevlar bullet proof vest. I have no knowledge of how the new underbody is constructed but an improvement to robustness vs the metal plate is part of the reason for change.

And weigh less.

 

[f1eng]

I was thinking the new glass fibre version may prevent high speed, high energy point/puncture impacts better by dissipating the forces like a kevlar bullet proof vest. I have no knowledge of how the new underbody is constructed but an improvment to robsutness vs the metal plate is part of the reason for change.

The engineering design and effectiveness of a part depends on more than just the material it is made from and something like a shield under a car requires different characteristics to resist scuffing over a fixed height speed bump, for example, than say driving over some solid debris which is high enough to maybe roll along under the car.

With the weight of a Taycan it is not easy to avoid puncture or dent from debris bigger than the ride height if lowered onto it or rolling under the car but should be relatively easy to resist scuffing from a fixed obstacle.

Carbon fibre's properties vary with fibre choice and the component made with it on fibre orientation, resin type and resin content so is very variable.
Kevlar is stronger than many carbon fibre types but never as stiff.

Composite designs have a very high engineering potential but at the highest level need hand layup and are spectacularly expensive to produce.

Enough resin to be shiny and woven fabric gives the lowest level of engineering performance fwiw.

Kevlar is good to resist penetration, glass not far off but both are pretty flexible so won't give much protection from impact normal to their surface.

IMO the biggest benefit of a glass fibre shield would potentially be a bit lighter for the same level of protection on more protection at the same weight but it depends on the specifics.

When we started looking at impact protection regulations for Formula 1 back in the 1980s what was clear was that no two accidents we studied had the same impact or required the same counter measures, so we had to come up with something we hoped would be universal which has been refined ever since.
It isn't simple but thankfully it is rarely required.

 

[Caraholic]

Not rare at all mine has a nice dent in the panel too. Tried to do the same let’s pay 5k to inspect it. Luckily I had a video of the battery repair and it was there then.

 

[BigBob]

Sorry for the quickfire posts - just had a call from my dealer stating that they'll match the insurance estimate now and it's basically giving me everything at list price.
So from $72.5k we're now at $46.1k - now this I don't think is a coincidence

You could buy a nice car for the amount of money they've just 'discounted' by!! Moreover, the inference of supplying at cost isn't normal for insurance repairs. They do normally try to make money from insurance jobs as well, right?

As an aside, now you've made the insurer aware of the 'accident' / potential need for a claim, they'll still hammer you're underwriting risk, even if you don't actually make a claim. Clearly they wouldn't be able to impact your no claims discount (Not sure what you call that in the US) if you have one. But your insurance premium will (probably) still go up as a consequence. I'd think you will also have to declare it to a new insurer (even if you don't actually claim) as well or risk having future insurance invalidated. Pretty sure that's how it would work in the UK and most other insurance markets globally.

I guess my point is it might be worthwhile backing out and leaving it to the insurer. At the moment you're doing the job for them and i suspect not doing your blood pressure a lot of good. Let the insurers pay for solicitors if that's what they think is necessary.

Notwithstanding I fully understand where you're coming from on this. I'd be beyond livid!

 

[DerekS]

Not rare at all mine has a nice dent in the panel too. Tried to do the same let’s pay 5k to inspect it. Luckily I had a video of the battery repair and it was there then.

Wait what are you saying here? Did you repair or no? What was the cost for inspection in the end?

 

[Caraholic]

Wait what are you saying here? Did you repair or no? What was the cost for inspection in the end?

Saying I declined the inspection as the dent was there prior to the battery repair. A have a very strong feeling it was CPO’d with this dent as I never hit or scraped on anything.

 

[Maelstrom]

You could buy a nice car for the amount of money they've just 'discounted' by!! Moreover, the inference of supplying at cost isn't normal for insurance repairs. They do normally try to make money from insurance jobs as well, right?

As an aside, now you've made the insurer aware of the 'accident' / potential need for a claim, they'll still hammer you're underwriting risk, even if you don't actually make a claim. Clearly they wouldn't be able to impact your no claims discount (Not sure what you call that in the US) if you have one. But your insurance premium will (probably) still go up as a consequence. I'd think you will also have to declare it to a new insurer (even if you don't actually claim) as well or risk having future insurance invalidated. Pretty sure that's how it would work in the UK and most other insurance markets globally.

I guess my point is it might be worthwhile backing out and leaving it to the insurer. At the moment you're doing the job for them and i suspect not doing your blood pressure a lot of good. Let the insurers pay for solicitors if that's what they think is necessary.

Notwithstanding I fully understand where you're coming from on this. I'd be beyond livid!

I think the point of doing it to match it to the insurance estimate has come from PCNA rather than a gesture of goodwill from the dealership.
And yes, my renewal will be more expensive due to the claim and if I decide to not fix it then there will be a record on CarFax (similar to HPI if I remember correctly) that there is an outstanding insurance repair.
Either way - there is a decision point in terms of just getting the car back and then seeing if I get any errors and/or lights etc. - at the end of the day the repair cost will remain the same!!

 

[Maelstrom]

I would keep leaning a bit on Porsche North America.. feels like a design flaw, you could point to the Tesla recall, and push them a bit on technical specs for dings etc. seems deficient for the job.

Oh, trust me, I'm not done with PCNA - the email i sent them has this thread in it too so they can see the overall reaction to this.
Design flaw aside, the way my dealer has treated me is deplorable and the petulance with getting the loaner back is disgusting.
I have lost faith in this dealer period! I'm going to get my car back and weigh up other options with other dealers (Columbus OH is the closest to me I think).

 

[laua]

I joined this thread late but holy crap what a journey. Kudos to @Maelstrom for escalating this to Porsche NA. I selfishly hope this gets flagged by Porsche corporate as a broader issue but now I see why the forum is hating on Porsche and the Taycan these days.

 

[DerekS]

Oh, trust me, I'm not done with PCNA - the email i sent them has this thread in it too so they can see the overall reaction to this.
Design flaw aside, the way my dealer has treated me is deplorable and the petulance with getting the loaner back is disgusting.
I have lost faith in this dealer period! I'm going to get my car back and weigh up other options with other dealers (Columbus OH is the closest to me I think).

I can't blame you, but if you switch dealers:

- Will they return your car without a 6.7K fee?
- Will you get the same insurance match at another dealer?

 

[DerekS]

Saying I declined the inspection as the dent was there prior to the battery repair. A have a very strong feeling it was CPO’d with this dent as I never hit or scraped on anything.

Well if anything else, we've learned to look under the car as part of pre-purchase inspection on used purchases!

I still find myself with mixed feelings about all of this.

I'm glad @Maelstrom can get his car fixed without personal financial injury, but I can't help but feel this is still an achilles heel on the car, and that the repair costs are very disproportionate to the value of the vehicle...even adjusting for the Porsche tax.

I've landed on "drive it until the wheels fall off and just forget about it" for my own vehicle.
I do still enjoy driving it, even with all the issues that drive me crazy about it (see my Model 3 Performance thread for a breakdown.)

This has, however, put a kibosh on the eager enthusiasm I had for the upcoming E-Boxster. Partly due to the repair costs, partly due to the apparent fragility of the system, and partly due to the strong depreciation we've all experienced.

This very nearly caused me to give up on the Taycan and by extension, Porsche.
After 26 years.

I can't go back to ICE, so there really aren't any other cars I would want at this time.

There are worse places to be stuck, I suppose!

I'm going to wash my car this weekend (first time since I drove it to California) and try to reignite some of my love for this car and brand.

 

[Maelstrom]

I can't blame you, but if you switch dealers:

- Will they return your car without a 6.7K fee?
- Will you get the same insurance match at another dealer?

I've asked for that estimate yet again so we'll see. My email response did outline fee's to date and the return cost.
Either way, getting it back and weighing up my options is probably the way I'm going to go, subject to change of course lol

 

[DerekS]

I've asked for that estimate yet again so we'll see. My email response did outline fee's to date and the return cost.
Either way, getting it back and weighing up my options is probably the way I'm going to go, subject to change of course lol

Well, thanks for sharing this journey with us. I think it has been a wake up call. I'm even more careful than ever going over speed bumps and dips now.

 

[gramorris]

One thing I found out this week was that one of the luxury brands in the UK sign their dealerships to an annual minimum spare parts spend. No idea if it’s something Porsche do but it would be an interesting conversation to be involved in if a manufacturer asked a dealership, who were trying to hit a manufacturer target, to reduce their charges.

Porsche tax aside there’s no guarantee manufacturers aren’t complicit in price gauging and identification of phantom issues that require repair.

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