Insurance and Paint Stripping

[NeunElf]

Many of you have seen this:

My '65 911 at the Palm Springs Air Museum

Unfortunately, the trip home went badly. I took the scenic route through Idyllwild and stopped for coffee. Idyllwild has on-street perpendicular [actually 75°] parking in a little town square. When it was time to leave, there was a big SUV to my right so I tried to get out gradually. I came back roughly 2 feet and stopped. Then I was nailed by a big Subaru which just caught the 911's left rear corner:

The SUV that had blocked my view actually left just after the collision. Had I only known her schedule...

Eventually, my insurance (USAA--I'm under-garaged) approved repairs. But they're balking at

Stripping Paint

Back in the late '90s the recommendation was that if the existing paint was still sound you didn't remove much because it had a good bond to the metal. Now we have dramatically different paint formulas and the paint's already pretty thick. 911 Design recommends soda blasting. Otherwise, the paint supplier (Glasurit - BASF) won't warranty the result.

I've been putting off calling USAA and begging. Any suggestions for dealing with them?

[RSTarga]

It seems they are going to have to grind the paint off to be able to hammer and lead that out anyway, how do they propose to fix it otherwise?

[NeunElf]

The bent body parts aren't the problem--it's a matter of blenging paint on other surfaces: forward on the fender, the door, and forward on the deck lid.

[ejboyd5]

Pay for the stripping yourself, if that's what you want.

[Frank Beck]

What a shame.

So are you saying that you believe they should pay to have the entire car stripped and re-painted? Sorry; I'm not quite clear what you're asking. Have a qualified collision/restoration shop write it up any way they'll guarantee the work.

And certainly no harm in calling in the claim now. When they ask if you've gotten an estimate yet politely say "no".

[StephenAcworth]

This......

What a shame.
Have a qualified collision/restoration shop write it up any way they'll guarantee the work.

[raspy2point2]

The whole car will have to be painted. The original yellow has too much age to be matched properly. I would make a claim to that extant and hope for the best. good luck Chris

[bliebler]

can you put in for " diminished value claim "
That may help pay for re-paint.
Beautiful car and beautiful color, hang in there and do it right.

[NZVW]

Good grief,, that bumperette soaked up some force.
The up side is that you are ok and not whiplashed to hell.
I am sure that you will do whatever it takes to get your 55 back to your satisfaction but it is never nice having to repair our loved ones.. God damn SUV's I detest the way they block my vision especially when reversing out of a park.

[Unobtanium-inc]

Two things, don't get advice from either the insurance company or a standard body shop, take it to someone who knows Porsches and have them both evaluate it and do the work. The good news about this is most of the regular restorers would jump at a job like this, it's a quick high profit job, as opposed to what they usually get, full restorations that last years and aren't always high profit.
Second thing, get a classic car insurer like Hagerty who will understand fixing a classic car is far different than fixing a new Camry. This won't help with this wreck but moving forward it will be worth it.

Last piece of advice, cover the difference to have the work done right if you have to, cutting corners on a valuable car is not a good move.

---Adam