BS: car dameged by unknown SOB

Subject: BS: car dameged by unknown SOB
From: fogie
Date: 18 Nov 03 - 04:48 AM

I'd just like to moan a bit, out of frustration, because my car has been dented by someone in a car park , who took off without admitting it, and know I'll have to go through the hassle of cost of repairs and not having it for some time. I suppose I've been lucky in that previous bumps have been either admitted to and paid for or I've bitten the bullet and used my car fully comp insurance to repair it. I'ts such a small dent, that I dont know whether to comprimise my no claims bonus again. Its so frustrating not being able to do anything about it, and I feel helpless and angry, and it just messes up your whole mood for weeks.

Subject: RE: BS: car dameged by unknown SOB
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 18 Nov 03 - 05:18 AM

Welcome Fogie to the world of bastards, I too had this same sad experience last year. To add insult to injury the incident was witnessed and reported to the police, but the kind soul who saw it didn't get a complete registration number. So although the police tried on their computer to match what data they had, no joy. End result a claim for nearly £1000 for a new door, and zap went my NCB.
I hope your costs are a lot less.
Commiserations.....Giok

Subject: RE: BS: car dameged by unknown SOB
From: Mooh
Date: 18 Nov 03 - 08:46 AM

Sorry to hear this and I hope things work out in the end.

Two assholes smashed the windshield of our little Nissan last summer...while we watched! Car alarms had been set off nearby (we don't have one) and a plumber's van was damaged minutes before. We had awoken at 4ish am to the alarms and had just called the police when we heard our window smashing. I gave chase but in bare feet I didn't get far. To make a long story short, the assholes were caught within a few days, I understand due to the cooperation of neighbours (mostly strong-willed elderly women) and a mouthy perpetrator.

In the process of all this we met a good new repair guy in our small community.

Never ever fail to report and investigate. Without neighbourly assistance police work would be a lot harder.

Good luck. Mooh.

Subject: RE: BS: car damaged by unknown SOB
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 18 Nov 03 - 09:18 AM

Happened to me a couple of years ago when I foolishly left it in a small car park that wasn't overlooked, during a singing weekend in a nice quiet respectable village, and some kids from the nice quiet respectable houses round the corner gave it a kicking.

Only cosmetic damage, but the insurance wouldn't pay for all the repairs, because it would have cost more than the value of the vehicle. So it's still got a few dents, and its resale value is zilch.

Still, I'm not planning to sell it, and I don't worry too much now about getting it nicked, because car thieves normally like cars without dents; and if I get the odd bump or scratch, that isn't too much of a worry these days, so there's something to be said for it. It's not worth losing any sleep over this kind of stuff. Not like a real accident where someone gets hurt or killed.

Subject: RE: BS: car dameged by unknown SOB
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 18 Nov 03 - 10:46 AM

We usually put this down to the 'Door Ding Gnomes' - they inhabit car parks and go round with little hammers putting dings into doors or wings where you don't notice it for days. When you do notice it, it's far too late to do anything about it.

It's a dent...so what?! If it doesn't affect the running of the car, why bother repairing it? Dinging dents out or filling them in usually makes more mess than the original ding.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: car dameged by unknown SOB
From: Amos
Date: 18 Nov 03 - 11:33 AM

Our insurance company -- AAA -- treats these incidents as no-fault claims and is willing to pay for them (providing we pay the deductible, which is a couple of hundred bucks per incident). The repairs come out looking like new, so I guess it is worth it. We have had two such incidents, and in both cases the perpetrator just vanished.

By contrast, when Barky was learning to drive she put a tiny scratch on a car in a parking lot, and I made her stop and leave our phone number under the windshield wiper. The car was ill-used anyway tot he extent htat the owner called and wanted to know why we had left our number!! But at least we felt we'd done right.


A

Subject: RE: BS: car dameged by unknown SOB
From: The_one_and_only_Dai
Date: 18 Nov 03 - 11:44 AM

It may surprise those of you who know me, but I am scrupulous about leaving my details when I ding another car. I say 'when' because it happens with depressing regularity - I've popped a headlamp because some tw%t boxed me in - and left my number. I've demolished a van's wing mirror, 'cos the id!ot was double parked - and left my number. Accidents all.

Can someone explain to me, therefore, when I've built up all this good karma by taking sole responsibility for putting right the damage (albeit minor) that I've caused, that when something happens to MY car (like, for example, in the work car park receiving a long stripe down the side where somebody's bumper has merrily scraped along because the driver, for some reason, never learned the approximate dimensions of their own vehicle) there's no corresponding note? HMMMMM?

I'll pause, now, for McGrath to shout at me for being racist, or a vandal, or something.

Subject: RE: BS: car dameged by unknown SOB
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Nov 03 - 12:15 PM

Knock on Wood: these incidents are rare for me, but I bumped a large Ford with my Chevy at a traffic light and the only damage was the dent in my bumper. I paid for the repair thinking it would be small but the body work (I popped some thingies behind the bumper) amounted to about the same as a month's rent. I was rear-ended by a Toyota in August and his insurance paid for it. But records are kept, and though my truck looks pristine, the folks at Chevy know that both bumpers have been replaced and body work done both times. It turns up in the research when you sell a used vehicle, affecting the price you can get for it.

This said, I plan to keep it. It's paid off, and that counts for a lot!

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: car dameged by unknown SOB
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 18 Nov 03 - 12:38 PM

Why on earth would I say that, Dai? More to the point, why on earth would you think I might say that?

Subject: RE: BS: car dameged by unknown SOB
From: Dead Horse
Date: 18 Nov 03 - 05:15 PM

Hand written note on windshield of damaged car......

Dear sir or madam,
I have just accidentally hit your car, and witnesses think I am leaving my details in this note for you to claim against.
I am not.

Subject: RE: BS: car dameged by unknown SOB
From: SINSULL
Date: 18 Nov 03 - 06:39 PM

Happened to me too. Some idiot clipped my rear end and broke the tail light. To add insult to injury, on my way home I was ticketed for driving with a broken tail light. Some days it hardly pays to get out of bed but compared to the innocent people who have been bombed out of their homes in our misguided attempt to inflict democracy on Iraq, this is minor.

Subject: RE: BS: car dameged by unknown SOB
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 18 Nov 03 - 06:52 PM

"To add insult to injury, on my way home I was ticketed for driving with a broken tail light."

That's a bit rough! I doubt very much if that'd be likely to happen here (unless all the rear lights were gone, or you were rude to the copper maybe, or you'd been going too fast.)

Subject: RE: BS: car dameged by unknown SOB
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 19 Nov 03 - 03:53 AM

Hell, after watching 'Traffic Cops' last night, I'm surprised they bother with broken rear lights..... it seemed to me that a good 33% of drivers don't bother with insurance, MOT or seatbelts, a busted light seems totally pathetic!

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: car dameged by unknown SOB
From: Dave Bryant
Date: 19 Nov 03 - 06:41 AM

Kevin - I must admit that when I first saw this thread right after Buntingford weekend, I wondered if there was any connection. Now if you can just find out who the idiot was who drove off with a car door open . . . . . . .

Subject: RE: BS: car dameged by unknown SOB
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 19 Nov 03 - 08:17 AM

Happens to me all the time. I visit customers and often have to park in public car parks and dodgey side streets to get anywhere near. I work on the basis that I buy a car, usualy about 2-3 years old, do around 100k miles in it in about 5 years and then get a new one. Any money I get back on the old one is a bonus and I live with the cosmetic damage.

Had a front wing resprayed once and scraped it down the side of the door pillars taking it out of the spray shop. Decided I would never make that mistake again;-)

At the end of the day it's just a lump of metal. Live with it!

Cheers

DtG

Subject: RE: BS: car dameged by unknown SOB
From: Wolfgang
Date: 19 Nov 03 - 10:38 AM

After many SOB stories a good guy story:

Last time something like this happened with my car I didn't notice the dent in the dark and drove off. There was a piece of paper under my wiper and I thought 'Once more one of these spam advertisments' and operated the wiper with success to get the piece of paper off without having to stop the car. Even that didn't help for that guy already had told his insurance company and they phoned me next day about the dent. 'Which dent?' I did ask and they told me the dent's location on my car from that guy's report.

I phoned him to say thank you and not all people would do what he had done though they should.

Wolfgang

Subject: RE: BS: car dameged by unknown SOB
From: EBarnacle
Date: 19 Nov 03 - 10:49 AM

A note from the other side: In my neighborhood, parking is difficult. People often take 2 spaces, I believe out of sheer laziness or greed [it seems to be the same people, week after week.] The urge to modify the vehicles of these inconsiderate SOB's comes upon me regularly. Although it has never been acted upon, when I catch them parking thus, I do occasionally ask them to move

Subject: RE: BS: car dameged by unknown SOB
From: Dave Bryant
Date: 19 Nov 03 - 11:06 AM

I once saw a delivery truck reverse into a parked car and virtually write it off. I took the truck's number and put the details under the wiper. As I walked on to the office, the truck drove past me again and I saw him stop and remove the slip of paper. I left it for an hour and popped out with another slip - as I got there, the owner was looking dejectedly at his wrecked vehicle so I was able to give him the registration number and a description of the truck.

A couple of days later I recieved a phone call from the company who owned the truck - the driver had said that he'd reversed into an old wall, but having been contacted by the insurance company, they didn't believe him. I told them that he'd removed my first slip and they said that it wasn't the first time that he'd hit things and lied about it, and they sacked him. A month later the car's owner sent me £25.

Subject: RE: BS: car dameged by unknown SOB
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 19 Nov 03 - 11:58 AM

And presumably your prosthetic leg is a result of what the sacked driver sent you?

Has anyone ever rung that number you see on the back of vans that ask if they are 'well driven?'

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: car dameged by unknown SOB
From: Arnie
Date: 19 Nov 03 - 12:14 PM

A delivery van reversed into my Renault in a shop car park a few years ago. Strange really as it was a large car park and I was the only car in it!(apart from the offending delivery van). The driver came into the shop, where I was the only customer, and asked who owned the Renault? As I was the only person present, this was a bit of an obvious question...Anyway, he gave me his company's details then drove off. As I stood surveying the pretty major damage to my car's wing and bonnet, a caravanner who was parked at the entrance, told me that the delivery driver was going to do a 'runner' until he notice the caravan owner watching his every move! Just as well really as the repairs and respray were extremely expensive and his company paid!

Subject: RE: BS: car dameged by unknown SOB
From: GUEST,Nancy King at work
Date: 19 Nov 03 - 01:04 PM

I usually ignore minor door or fender or bumper dings, unless it affects the drivability of the car. Heaven knows I've put at least as many of them there myself as have been caused by others.

A couple of weeks ago, however, an unknown SOB smashed out my driver's side window in the parking lot of the library where I work. This managed to mess up the operation of all of the electric windows as well, and as luck would have it, the windows were all open about an inch, and since heavy rain was forecast for the next day... What a drag. The police were called, came immediately, and took a report, but didn't hold out much hope for catching the SOB. My insurance company took several days to come and assess the damage, giving me dire warnings about how they might just total the car (a '92 Subaru with 187,000 miles...). Meanwhile, of course, I had to cover the window openings with plastic, held in place with duct tape (messy...), and to top it all off, once I had the plastic and tape in place on the driver's side, I couldn't open that door without dislodging it all. So for a week I had to crawl in the other door, over the shift lever and handbrake and seatbelts. It got old pretty fast, but eventually it all got fixed and the insurance paid all but my $200 deductible.

Mine was the first of four (that I know of) cars damaged in that lot over several days, the most recent being a van belonging to the security guard! They stole his briefcase, and the cops got a tip later that night that someone had been seen with it. A bunch of teens were found that night in a vacant theater building, drinking and going through the briefcase. When the cops told them they were "all going down," one of them said he had some information about who damaged the car. So, we're hoping that all this damage will stop, at least -- it would be even better if we could be reimbursed for our costs. Nothing will be able to reimburse the hassle, though.

I know, it's not as bad as being hurt or killed, etc., but it sure is a hassle.

Cheers, Nancy

Subject: RE: BS: car dameged by unknown SOB
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 19 Nov 03 - 01:22 PM

Vandals and accidents are a drag, but inescapable - but what really annoys me is the way insurance companies put their own valuation on a car, which is far less than what it is actually worth to you, which is always more than what you could sell it for, or what it would cost to   replace it.

I'd like to be able to insure my car for a sum that recognises it's utility to me, and pay an appropriate premium. That way they wouldn't go treating it as a write-off because of a few dents.

Subject: RE: BS: car dameged by unknown SOB
From: Wolfgang
Date: 19 Nov 03 - 02:02 PM

If that was possible then some SOBs would soon recognise how easy it is to make money from that

Wolfgang

Subject: RE: BS: car dameged by unknown SOB
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Nov 03 - 04:06 PM

A Seattle "fender bender"

The damage

The repairs

Photos

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: car dameged by unknown SOB
From: EBarnacle
Date: 19 Nov 03 - 06:13 PM

re: McGrath's comment. I tried to refinance my van. The bank told me that, even though I have been paying significantly more than the stated monthly bill, I owed more than the value of the vehicle. As a result, they would not consider refinancing.

Subject: RE: BS: car dameged by unknown SOB
From: LadyJean
Date: 20 Nov 03 - 12:45 AM

I accidentally dented a lady's car last month. There was no place to pull over near the denting site, without stopping traffic for several blocks. I had to go around the corner to stop. The car's owner stopped me there, and I gave her my number. (She's never called me!) I don't really know what I did to her car. I was terribly upset, and she was terribly angry. Yes I did give her my real number.

Subject: RE: BS: car dameged by unknown SOB
From: DougR
Date: 20 Nov 03 - 12:50 AM

Terrible, but SH.

DougR

Subject: RE: BS: car dameged by unknown SOB
From: fogie
Date: 20 Nov 03 - 05:42 AM

Thanks for the support- puts minor damage into perspective. McGrath reminded me of a sports car I loved dearly ,a nd was wiped out by a sleepy driver on a motorway heading out of liverpool. It meant a lot to me and I was angry and sad that I was only offered £4000 for it, and waved goodbye to it leaving on a trailer as a write off. I'd just resigned myself to the events when I was rung up by a guy with a west indian accent asking me how he was supposed to start the car ( I had fitted an engine cut-out on the steering block) I was very upset ant told him it wasn't my problem ,but he wouldnt let it go,and after 5 minutes of hassle I told him I'd handed my jack-plug type key in with the ignition keys. Now that really upset me. I'd asked my insurance company if they would possibly try to fix the car, but they insisted it was a write-off, and then some SOB has sold it on, and the new owner traces me and my phone number- and I'm ex-directory. I still havent come to terms with it. My car that started this thread off was its direct replacement.

Subject: RE: BS: car dameged by unknown SOB
From: Dave Bryant
Date: 20 Nov 03 - 06:05 AM

Nancy - I've had several cars broken into by smashing the window - in each case there was nothing worth stealing in the car, but replacing the windows cost a bomb. Most of this happened when I was living at Wandsworth and parking outside what was a relatively "posh" area by the common. In the end I started parking round the back on the council estate and never had any more trouble - perhaps the thieves believed in not sh***ing on their own doorstep.

Years earlier I'd had someone break into a soft-top landrover by breaking the side window - I was pissed off, because there were no locks on the doors and the hood was only tied down with cord.

Subject: RE: BS: car dameged by unknown SOB
From: JohnL
Date: 20 Nov 03 - 06:47 AM

My and my daughter's cars were "keyed" only two nights ago. Her's has a cross right across the top and scratched right along the sides and mine has been scratched right around the edge of the bonnet and also down the sides.

The cars are parked down a small cul-de-sac about 50 yards off a not too busy road, but these kids (I presume) bothered to walk down there and do this.

These are old cars and it'll cost almost their value to put it right and isn't worth claiming on the insurance and we certainly won't be able to change them for some time yet.

This mindless vandalism is so difficult to deal with and to live with.

Subject: RE: BS: car dameged by unknown SOB
From: Peterr
Date: 20 Nov 03 - 07:38 AM

A friend saw a car ding another in a store car park. Hewent into the store to report it, and asked if he could use the store's phone to tell the police (way before mobile phones). He was told, no, not their business. Two minutes later one of their managers came in to say that someone had dinged his car, and he wasn't happy. Sudden change of attitude, could they have the number of the offending vehicle. Sorry, said my friend, not my business.