Groundhog (or more likely a Raccoon) 0, Taycan -$17.8k (damage)

[Watchesandburgers]

The initial 2020 spaghetti of pipe design was replaced by a single manifold the following year.

The new coolant manifold looks like this:

That's cool!

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[Jonathan S.]

Glad you’re fine. And glad it is not totalled. Hope you have your car back soon. GL!

Yes, with modern automotive safety technology, both vehicle occupants were unharmed - perhaps the coolant system took one for the team to protect us from the groundhog!

 

[Jonathan S.]

The initial 2020 spaghetti of pipe design was replaced by a single manifold the following year.

The new coolant manifold looks like this:

Reminds me of how some Lego sets substitute a large preformed piece that could have instead been constructed from many smaller pieces.
But this seems like a good sign for the cost estimate possibly being composed mainly of that one part with relatively little labor.

 

[Jonathan S.]

That's cool!

Pun intended?

 

[Jonathan S.]

ouch, i am so sorry for this experience

Yes, our 14 yo daughter was upset about being complicit in the death of a groundhog.
(Oh, you mean the car. Now she keeps saying how she misses The Porsche. Even though the front passenger seat of the A6ar is probably more cushy for her than the Taycan.)

 

[mikezhang31]

I went to Rutgers University as a commuter, and the commuter lot requires walking past the university golf course. I used to take pictures of ground hogs I spot during my walk to the parking lot because they are so fat and cuddly. Then one day, I saw a dead ground hog with a broken golf club beside it.... still makes me upset to this day.

 

[Jonathan S.]

^ You can rest assured that the dead groundhog you saw has now been avenged by a martyred groundhog! Or was this martyr seeking justice for how years ago my wife borrowed a neighbor’s trap for a groundhog that was eating her plants, then we transported the ensnared groundhog for surreptitious release in a nearby state forest?

 

[Jonathan S.]

Try not to laugh too hard at the pertinent excerpts from this rather not-so-detailed cost estimate, which is barely above the level of, Your radiator is broke, we fix um for almost eighteen grand.
(And yes, I changed the thread title for the updated estimate.)

 

[Jonathan S.]

 

[SergeyIndy]

This is totally unacceptable and looking like the 3mm case where no evidence of damage (of the component to replaced) has been provided and big numbers are thrown around. I would demand for the forum's benefit to see pictures of what has been damaged and why they believe the radiator is "worn". There is a difference of getting something like this done under warranty vs. making it an insurance claim where the dealer makes big bucks.

 

[Jonathan S.]

I hereby accede to your demand:
Dealership Pics

Also hot off the press -- or rather, just received via email, after transmission problems from the SA for the pics, and after prompts from me for more details -- is the part breakdown:

 

[SergeyIndy]

This looks like massive damage that I cannot imagine can be caused by hitting a groundhog. I understand that the impact would cause a lot of plastic to break and then have enough force to smash the piping and damage the radiator, but how can substantial scraping pattern be explained.

Groundhog had many claws to cause this pattern?

 

[Jonathan S.]

^ I don't know. All I know is that I've never hit anything with this car besides the critter I hit on the night of Nov 8, and then the coolant error message appeared Wed morning Nov 13. (The prior owner had accumulated some underbody scrapes over the course of ~18k miles, but I'd driven it ~24k miles since then.)

BTW, I might unfairly be blaming Marmota monax for all this.
After dropping of our daughter at school yesterday morning, I saw some roadkill (which presumably caused significantly less than ~$18k damage) with a striped tail ....
... which reminded me of how I briefly (as in, less than a second) saw a tail that might have been striped ...
... although could have just been an effect of the headlight pattern?

According to:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raccoon

" [...] body length of 40 to 70 cm (16 to 28 in), and a body weight of 5 to 26 kg (11 to 57 lb). [...] The animal's most distinctive features include its extremely dexterous front paws, its facial mask, and its ringed tail, which are common themes in the mythologies of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas surrounding the species. The raccoon is noted for its intelligence, and studies show that it is able to remember the solution to tasks for at least three years. It is usually nocturnal [...]"​

 

[Tooney]

I had looked online to figure out what parts for damaged radiator might cost.
The cooler (radiator) costs $560 online at Byers Porsche.
The radiator fan costs $1093 online at Byers Porsche. (and at other Porsche OEM online parts suppliers).
Those prices are 31% off the MSRP parts prices on your quote.

It is interesting that not only the radiator was damaged, but apparently also its fan which sits behind it on the left side (driver) of the car.

Edited: Link which describes heating/cooling system in the car

 

[Jonathan S.]

^ Thanks for looking that up -- interesting that those parts prices are publicly posted.

I think my sequence of upcoming events is something like this:

1. See what USAA is willing to pay (probably finding out early next week).
2. See what Hoffman Porsche is willing to compromise at.
3. See if other southern New England Porsche dealerships are willing to do it for less.
4. See if my local Porsche specialist is willing to do it.
5. Get a License to Kill.
6. Look forward to getting my Taycan back eventually and then stopping to charge solely for the fun of it to see if I can finally hit the max charging curve at a newly operational station just off the interstate that has installed two of these monsters: https://autelenergy.us/pages/maxicharger-dc-hipower ... w/ $ from CFI (apparently a cousin of NEVI).

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