Hit and Run today!

RuffRyder

RuffRyder

Enthusiast Extraordinaire
I had to go to Staple today to make a purchase. I was inside the store maybe a maximum of 5 minutes. When I came out of the store and woman was there to tell us that a car that was parked perpendicular to me backed straight into the car. I inspected the spot and found 2 parallel almost 7" long scratches above the rear passenger wheel well. The woman said that when my car was hit, it rocked from the impact. She said that the driver that hit it, didn't even stop to see if there was any damage, but quickly fled the scene. She said she was annoyed that someone would hit another car and just take off without saying anything. She was nice enough to give me the punk's license plate number. So I called the police, I happened to have gone from elementary school through high school with the cop that showed up by coincidence. He came and took the information down and paid the owner of the offending car a little visit. The guy says that if the damage is minimal he would prefer to pay out of pocket and not deal with the insurance companies. The cop said he would hold it is as non-reportable now, but if the offender doesn't want to pay up later, then he'll report it.



I am royally pissed off because: #1 my car is only 2.5 months off the lot and #2 having these long scratches down the side of my car.



For a shot of the damage to the paint:
21652m6scratches.jpg




The wheel that was struck now feel wobbly when driving at low speeds in addition to messing up my paint job, which luckily for me, the dealer didn't like me enough to install swirl marks to.



I'm taking it to the dealer tomorrow to give it a full checkup. But, to be honest, for the paint work I'm afraid to have somebody screw up my beautiful paint further when trying to correct the scratches.



Any advice on what should be my next move or dealing in cash vs. insurance I would greatly appreciate.



PS. Thanks for listening to this post even though it is partly ranting! :D And Mods feel free to move this wherever it belongs as I'm not really sure.



Edit: Pic update
 
Man roughy that's rough. At least you got the *******, I hate people who don't accept responsibilty for themselves.:up If you find a body shop that can give you a quote over 500 bucks, you can find a different officer to place the scrub under citizens arrest, payback is a good pain killer.
 
Screwed the guy and take it to his insurance. He should have thought about this option before he fled like a girlyman. Why should you go though the hassle of dealing with this jerk.



PS. It will also increase his insurance rates. A little pay back can be SWEET. :woot:



Sorry about the accident. :(
 
I am sorry that happened...



I would not deal in cash with twits that are willing to do this. Get a police report and track them down with your insurance company. You will get the damage repaired and hurt their premiums going forward as should be the case for such reckless behavior.
 
ruffryder i know how you feel! my sister who has only had her 05 acura tsx 4 months, was rear ended (back bumper when into frame and the impact exploded the back window) by a big dodge hemi last night by some 19 yr old kid, who said he was "falling a sleep" (filed report with chp). not to mention she just got her car back last week because the front bumper needed to be repainted (had to go to two bodyshops because the first one f'ed up and sprayed on to the front bumpers without permission to try and blend the color in). my sis said she doesn't even want the car now, after all the crap she's gone through. most likely.... the damage will be too extensive, so hopefully she'll get a new one. :nixweiss



p.s. anyone know if that would be the case, if the car is too damaged? i told her to take pics with the digi cam, even though the insurance inspector will look and calculate the damage....
 
My wife was almost attacked by a German Shepherd today as she put our two small dogs in her Camry. The dog managed to scratch up really bad the side of the door. I went out and thought all was lost but picked up my PC after a Spray & Wipe and attacked the panel on "6" with SSR2.5. It removed all the scratches after a combination of cutting and finishing pad.



I had Souveran over AIO so that probably helped but I wonder if this would help minimize greatly your scratches....?
 
I've been through this a few times. My advice? Don't play games, even if you have to go through your own insurance company. I've gone through mine and even though I had to pay my deductable up front, I always got it back when my ins. collected from his (or him if uninsured). Trust me, they are nasty about getting their money back and you'll see your deductable back soon enough and it won't raise your rates.
 
imacarnut said:
ruffryder i know how you feel! my sister who has only had her 05 acura tsx 4 months, was rear ended (back bumper when into frame and the impact exploded the back window) by a big dodge hemi last night by some 19 yr old kid, who said he was "falling a sleep" (filed report with chp). not to mention she just got her car back last week because the front bumper needed to be repainted (had to go to two bodyshops because the first one f'ed up and sprayed on to the front bumpers without permission to try and blend the color in). my sis said she doesn't even want the car now, after all the crap she's gone through. most likely.... the damage will be too extensive, so hopefully she'll get a new one. :nixweiss



p.s. anyone know if that would be the case, if the car is too damaged? i told her to take pics with the digi cam, even though the insurance inspector will look and calculate the damage....
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Only if the car is deemed a total will they pay you off at fair market value. The problem is, fair market value will be much less than the cost of a new one and may even be less than what she owes on it. Cars take a big hit in depreciation the moment it's driven off the lot.:bestwish:
 
Yeah, I'll make sure the estimate of the damages is through the nose. To be honest I wouldn't be as upset if the guy was standing outside waiting for me, but that he thought he'd get away with it and make me pay the damage is too much. I'll take it in and see what they say, but it probably will make more sense to just go through the insurance.



Is it wrong that I'm afraid of having some clown at the dealership try to correct the damage to the paint? But I guess that's the only way I'll get some money back. (lol maybe I can convince the guy to give me the money and take a PC or rotary and some polish to it! haha doubt it, plus I doubt they'll be able to correct the damage enough) In the end I'm just afraid when the lease is up, that they'll overcharge me for this damage, so I guess I should just get as much as I can from the offender. That way I don't get screwed for his stupidity.



FWIW, I'll keep this updated in case anyone in the future is caught in a similarly FUBARed situation.
 
"Is it wrong that I'm afraid of having some clown at the dealership try to correct the damage to the paint?"



No. Nobody is going to take care of your car as well as you.
 
Me personally, i would have the cop write up the report and go through his insurance. I mean this low life cant be trusted, dont give him the benefit. Its a shame we all cant be autopians, but some times you have no choice but to trust your pride and joy to someone elses care. I wouldnt go through with reporting him because you want to *stick it* to him, but rather its the right thing to do. What if down the road something is wrong with the car?
 
You are lucky to have someone who stand as witness and get the police involve.



Just remember most people only respect authority to enforce regulation/law. Regular citizen like us most people seem like to play trick and turn behind our back later down the road. In my experience, just be prepare, 90%+ of Mr. nice man will get push around by bad guy.
 
SilverLexus said:
"Is it wrong that I'm afraid of having some clown at the dealership try to correct the damage to the paint?"



No. Nobody is going to take care of your car as well as you.
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Same here as me. I rather wash my car then take it to the car wash. My wife thought that I am crazy
 
Why not just go to the dealer (or a very expensive body shop), get a written estimate, then bring the estimate to the guy and just get cash from him? Then fix the scratches yourself if you can, if not, pay somebody to do it. If you choose the shops correctly you can have your car back to pristine and make a few bucks for your hassle.



I don't see any moral problems with this, does anybody else?
 
Ben Z. said:
Why not just go to the dealer (or a very expensive body shop), get a written estimate, then bring the estimate to the guy and just get cash from him? Then fix the scratches yourself if you can, if not, pay somebody to do it. If you choose the shops correctly you can have your car back to pristine and make a few bucks for your hassle.



I don't see any moral problems with this, does anybody else?
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Yeah, I think I may do this. I took it to the dealer for them to do an overall check on anything mechanical plus the paintwork. They said there's nothing wrong with the steering, wheel, tire, or suspension. They give it the mechanical thumbs up. As for the paint damage, they apparently took some kind of dirty rag to it and marred/scratched the hell out of the surrounding paint. Yes, the scratch seems less, but that's because the paint around looks like they took sandpaper to it. They told me that I had had to do was take some compound and rub it out and it would be ok... :rolleyes:



So, I'm going to take it to the closest pro detailer/auto body shop to my house and get them to write me an estimate. If they tell me stupid stuff like the dealer did, then I'm just going to make up an estimate (what I think the products and stuff would cost me to correct it) and tell that to the guy. If he asks to see an estimate and says he wants to do it by the book, then I'll just tell my cop friend to file the report and have the insurance deal with it.



But if I did it myself I'd have to buy a PC, pads, and some products to hit it with (as I haven't gotten around to buying these things yet anyway). I could pick up this stuff for under $200. I have no basis of what kind of estimate a detailer or body shop would charge me. I guess that should be my next step, eh?
 
Ben Z. said:
Why not just go to the dealer (or a very expensive body shop), get a written estimate, then bring the estimate to the guy and just get cash from him? Then fix the scratches yourself if you can, if not, pay somebody to do it. If you choose the shops correctly you can have your car back to pristine and make a few bucks for your hassle.



I don't see any moral problems with this, does anybody else?
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Nope not at all...



It's really called an overestimate... basically taking advantage of one's mistakes...:p I mean especially for this person. Man I just can not tolerate ignorance.:angry
 
blkZ28Conv said:
Screwed the guy and take it to his insurance. He should have thought about this option before he fled like a girlyman. Why should you go though the hassle of dealing with this jerk.



PS. It will also increase his insurance rates. A little pay back can be SWEET. :woot:



Sorry about the accident. :(
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Good advice, idiots should learn to drive or just take the freaking bus.



I got rear ended by someone back in December, he was pressuring me to have is "buddy" buff it out. Sorry but missing paint can't be buffed out.



I took it to the most expensive place in town, I think his rates just went up. Should have thought about driving before I took his insurance for a ride.



Ask someone that knows a lot about cars for some body workshops. A good shop will make it look like nothing ever happened.
 
I have had the same luck recently within the past 2 months. The first came with a shot to my lower fascia and chrome bumper on my GMC Sierra. It looks like it was brushed by another car and unfortunately the bumper needs replacement. The 2nd came last week with 2- 4 foot long perpendicular scratches along the left side of the bed and traveled from the wheel well all the way into the tail light. The third happened last week and is the worst. I have 4 big dents on the truck from somebody throwing rocks. One is on the right door, another on the right rocker panel, another on the left side bed corner and another just below the z71 decal on the left side. PDR can fix it but its just more $$$ out of my pocket and something that annoys the hell out of me. I work in not the best of towns and I was worried the dents were from somebody testing to see if the alarm was on. I have a navigation system/dvd player and I have a feeling that this isnt the end of the damage. It may be a stolen audio system and window replacement next.
 
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