Nightmare detailing day!

0

02 t-wrex

New member
Before I start, let me get this off of my chest:



AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



<ahem> ok... now for the story :doh



Last weekend I spent a little over 6 hours detailing my black Alfa Romeo Milano... I clayed the whole car, hit it the hood, roof, & trunk with Meguiars #9 with the orbital, and applied Blackfire polish and 3 coats of Blackfire protectant, plus did all the plastic, etc. Today, the car was out of the garage (garage door open) as I was prepping it for next weeks track event at California Speedway... all of my tools were out, and the windows were open. I needed something at the store, so I left everything as it was and took off for about 15 minutes. When I returned I noticed there was some water on the roof of the Milano... and the ground was all wet. I became angered because I thought someone from my family had come out and watered the plants and sprayed the car. Upon further inspection I noticed that the interior was SOAKED. The racing seat was saturated, and there was 1" of standing water on the floor (its stripped, so no carpet)... and to top it all off... my toolbox drawers were FULL of water! :mad:

Worst of all, the car was in the full sun, and by the time I got there it was covered ALL OVER with hard water mineral deposits!



Here's what happened... someone left the hose on overnight (it has a spray nosle on the end of it) and the hose had burst! Of course the hose reel was right next to the car... and EVERYTHING got soaked by a high pressure spray of water. Luckily a neighbor came over and turned the hose off before the garage floor flooded.



After almost blowing up and breaking something, I thought I'd give removing the waterspots a try... so I washed the car, clayed and clayed, and clayed, and then in a last effort I tried more Meguiars #9 on the orbital... all of which made the marks less noticable, but still definitely there!



So then to top it all off... later today as I was leaving a beach party in my WRX I was rearended by a Mexican man & his son. There isn't too much damage, but enough to really bother me. To make it all worse, they didn't have insurance... and as I got a pen to write down thier phone number (which probably would've been bogus anyway) they sped off! I did get the license plate #, and I will be driving down to the police station on monday to make a report.



Oh boy... what a day! Hopefully tomorrow will be better :shocked
 
man that is bad.... sorry to hear that...



I would go the the cops tommorrow morning. The soonerthe better. They are open 24/7 you know ;)
 
I'm pretty sure they were Mexican... The older man was speaking Spanish, but too fast for me to understand (I know very little... just from my required 2 years of Spanish class in High School).



I did call the police... but they just told me to take the car down to the station on monday and file a report so they can look at the damage, etc. I am just worried that they'll look at the damage and say "what that little thing, that's nothing... buzz off"
 
Yeah, that sucks...:o



Well, today I went to Tacoma for a festival, and there were radio station boothes everywhere!

Well, I got back and my car was covered in radio stickers!!!!!:mad:



They weren't put on very hard, so they were easy to remove without any residue(thank God! I was ready to blow up!!!).



It's not as bad as your situation, but it made me just as mad!!!
 
Man that does make for a crappy day :(



I don't think the police would tell you to buzz off because this man is driving without any insurance, which makes him a timebomb if he gets into something serious. Also, he DID commit a technical hit-and-run. Very bad. Damage is in the eye of the beholder only to a certain extent. There IS damage to your car and it's not up to them to judge what's "nothing" and what's "real damage". I hope they nail that guy! :mad:



Crack open a couple beers and mellow out for a while if you haven't already. Even if you think you're over it, it will help.
 
I'm not a lawyer, if you want legal advise see a lawyer, blah blah blah...



In most jurisdictions, hit-and-run or leaving the scene of an accident, is a misdemeanor. YOU get to swear out a warrant on him...its not up to the police officer to say its not much damage.
 
02 t-wrex said:
So then to top it all off... later today as I was leaving a beach party in my WRX I was rearended by a Mexican man & his son. There isn't too much damage, but enough to really bother me. To make it all worse, they didn't have insurance... and as I got a pen to write down thier phone number (which probably would've been bogus anyway) they sped off!
Click to expand...

That is pathetic! I recall crossing the border from below San Diego and seeing signs warning that I'd have to show evidence of an auto insurance rider (which could be purchased on the spot, of course) in order to drive into Mexico. I could only wonder whose pocket those monies were going to line in order to visit that stain known as Tijuana.
 
Thanks for all your responses. I'll let you know what happens on Monday when I go down to the police station... and I'll post some pictures of the damage later today.



The worst part about this is that MY insurance company is going to end up paying to have my rear bumper repaired... and my insurance is going to go up, as if $3000+ per year wasn't bad enough already!!



It also makes me very mad that no one ever wants to be responsible for thier mistakes. Nobody around here EVER leaves a note if they hit a car in a parkinglot, and this is the second time I've been hit & the guy ran! When I still had my Alfa Romeo 164S, a guy ran a stop sign and smacked me good in a parking lot, then squealed his tires and took off. It was night time so I couldn't get a plate #... and I tried to chase him down, but he ran a redlight and I wasn't about to get myself or others killed over it.





drewski59 said:
Well, I got back and my car was covered in radio stickers!!!!
Click to expand...



That is just wrong! I can't believe people would plaster stickers all over cars that don't belong to them :confused:
 
Can you pay for the damage out of your pocket? It's just a suggestion. If you could just have it repaired on your own without telling your insurance, maybe you're insurance rate isn't going to go up as much as it would if you have the insurance pay for it?

I don't know if this option is worth for you though. When I went to the safety driving course, the instructor said a deer rammed his car, put a nasty dent. He just had it fixed out of his pocket co'z it saves him a lot more than having the insurance pay for it and then pay the increase insurance cost.



Be sure to let out your anger when you race man. Don't ruin the racing experience. Oh and, if you could post more of your racing videos. I love ehm. I hope one day I could afford a nice car to race in the speedways too:)
 
Wow, what a nightmare :mad: Has the water got into any electrics or caused any other damge.



I agree with not risking your life to get the guy who damaged your 164S (great car). Cars are great but not worth risking your life over.



Steven
 
FocusRun said:
Can you pay for the damage out of your pocket? It's just a suggestion. If you could just have it repaired on your own without telling your insurance, maybe you're insurance rate isn't going to go up as much as it would if you have the insurance pay for it?
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Maybe it varies from company to company but making a claim on the uninsured motorist portion of you policy should not raise your rates. I didn’t for me. Getting the police involved because it was hit and run and the fact that it’s rear end damage should back up the claim. Good luck





Adam
 
I'll call my insurance company (AAA) on Monday and find out if an uninsured driver claim will increase my insurance. If it is going to affect my policy, I might as well pay for it out of my pocket... the only problem is that racing my Milano has pretty much sucked up every last dollar recently ;)



Oh and, if you could post more of your racing videos. I love ehm.
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I'll have a new video to post after I get back from California Speedway on the 4th! :)
 
Here's a picture of the damage... looking at it now, it seems very minor. It still bothers me though... it's a brand new car, and it cost me a lot of money... I want it to be perfect!



damage.jpg




I circles the damaged spots, and there are also some scratches on the underside of the bumper that go all the way into the plastic. Its kinda hard to see in the pic, it's kinda blurry... but the long shape on the right side is where the plastic has been pushed in, and resulted in the paint "wrinkling/cracking" There is suprisingly little paint damage... but the plastic bumper has cracked and deformed from the impact.



arg.
 
I think I would have jumped in that AWD monster and tracked him down.... I would have did a little........ Police chase of my own, You dont hit one of my cars then drive off:mad:
 
Does anyone have any ideas on how I can get these horrible water spots off of my Alfa's black paint?



So far I've clayed over and over, tried going over it with Meguiars #9 a couple times... but they are still there. They're a lot less noticable.. but now I just have shiney water spots! The surface feels perfectly smooth to the touch, just like glass... the smoothest its ever felt in fact! I even tried using vinegar... with no success. Should I leave the vinegar sit on the surface for a while or just wipe it on with a mf towel?



Luckily I got the interior all dried out... without any electrical problems! My butt did get wet after driving it this morning though... I guess the seat hasn't dried out completely yet :eek:
 
I had a problem with bad water spots recently on my Cosmos Black M3. I've heard claying does nothing for water spots... I used SMR and a cleaner wax on my trunk lid, and the spots were pretty much gone, but STILL THERE. I tried a different approach with the hood and roof, and that was simply a DAWN wash. It seemed to get them off. I've looked in all sorts of light and have been unable to find water spots on those two panels... Worth a try perhaps...?



good luck, sorry about the lousy day you had...



:(
 
I don't think I'd get that fixed, you'll never be able to match that factory orange peel effect.:D You get the bumper cover repainted and it looks so much better than the rest of the car you'll want to repaint your car. Just think of it as a battle scar and wear it with pride.
 
02 t-wrex said:
I was rearended by a Mexican man & his son. There isn't too much damage, but enough to really bother me. To make it all worse, they didn't have insurance... and as I got a pen to write down thier phone number (which probably would've been bogus anyway) they sped off!
Click to expand...



Irrespective of the person's race, nationality, skin color, etc..etc.. talk about setting a great example for the son. As much as I hate to hear about what happened to you and your car, it also ticks me off that a person is willing to act like that right in front of the child he is supposed to be setting a good example for.
 
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