Hi guys- O.k., so I went out to get in the modena in my office garage downtown to find that my drivers door was scraped by the door of the car parked next to me- the kind of wide and tall scrape when a door swings wide and catches the car next to it. I have an reserved space as does the car next to me so it is always the same car next to me. I park nose into the space and this car always backs in so it was his driver door. I saw it on approach 50 feet away and thought for sure they left a note (he had already left for the day). Well, no note. I called the garage office mgr and told the security guard and he wrote up a report. It was 5:40 and I had to run to pick up the little man from school by 6:00 so no time to call the police (it is private property anyway so I don't they would have come anyway) What should I do next? My feisty side would like to kick his a** but I will still be $1k in hole for the deductible to fix it, plus a possible increase to the insurance premium. So instead, I come to you guys to help me figure out what I should do tomorrow using the clear thinking method instead of the "crazy asian chick gonna go bruce lee on you" method. hold me back!!!!!!
Leave a note on his car with your telephone number which says "You may not be aware of this, but you accidently damaged my Ferrari yesterday. Please contact me so that we can make arrangements to have the car repaired." I did this when my truck was hit and it worked out fine. You might want to have an estimate ready. If he doesn't respond, get his license plate number, we'll tell you all about him
Thanks Tillman - I'll try your approach and hopefully he will be honest. However, if he decides to take the low road, then I'll pull out my Hattori Hanzo and slice his head off
Don't start with his head, Frances Find out who his boss is as well(or if he is the boss), for future reference. Is there a ding/dent too? Try Meguiars #9 first, then wax over it, but wait until after the bonehead own's it. If a ding, check touchless repair if paint not needed. What does this sloth drive? Lee
LOL. o.k. I'll let you pick the starting point. Don't think he works for the same company - another office in the same bldg. Definitely not the boss - C level execs park in a different private garage attached to the office[ Not a ding - 3 scrapes with small paint chips (like a capital E)- if he was parked a 1/2 inch further away, his door would have cleared. Close enough to make contact but not close enough to prevent his door from opening all the way Newer toyota corolla- with a huge dent on the rear qtr panel. surprise. If only we could pick we get to park next to!
God, that really sucks. I agree with Tillman, be professional about your approach. If you can, take photos of the suspected car that hit you. See if there is any of your paint, markings, or damage on the other vehicle. Aluminum is pain to work with & can be very time consuming, Id contact Jano ASAP & see with he can do. Good luck
Without a witness or other proof (maybe the garage has a video camera?), I'm afraid you're at the mercy of the culprit stepping up.
Get his license plate number and we'll give you his name and address. Then when you leave the note, you can have the envelope addressed to him. Just a subtle way of saying... uh... that you've done your research!
Interesting update without jumping to any conclusions yet....my parking neighbor was not there this morning - he is always there before I am. I filled out the "official" report with the garage security guard and he even commented "that guy is usually here by now". I'll go out at lunch and check again.
Also notice if he parks in backwards this time...guilty conscience...so you won't be able to line up his door with your ding. I agree look at his door edge for paint residue. Photograph it if you can.
You might want to go down at an unusual time, just in case he decides to 'go out for lunch' -- like to maybe a detail shop?
Assertively confront him about it but be nice, if he denys it there's not much you can do and you don't want him to be vindictive if he's parking next to you everyday. You can probably get the door resprayed and repaired for less than $400.00, if they charge more than that they are ripping you off go somewhere else.
I had some hugely fat azz lady slam the back of my Trans Am at Walmart once, with me SITTING in it! She had jammed her Suburban into a VERY narrow space, and physically had difficulty exiting her behemoth...... She gave me a big smile and waddled on into the store, thighs chaffing against each other. I sat and steamed a few minutes, even pulling out and starting to leave....... I circled back around, popped the rear hatch for some handy pliers, went over and yanked out her wheel valve stems and threw them across the parking lot. As the air hissed out and the truck settled to the ground, I made a hasty exit. The dents still there, years later, but MAN I feel better!
Keep an eye out and get some HUGE orange traffic cones. Set them out when parking your car. He'll get the message.........
I came out of the grocery store once to find the lady next to me loading her things. door wide open against my car rubbing up and down and bumping as she put stuff in the back seat. She was about 100 so I didnt say anything and I suffered a couple knicks. I hate it when other people do dumb things that make me feel awkward about approaching them.
Frances ... Don't do the Bruce Lee on him ... unless you have a video camera handy that is... Follow Tillman's approach - the man has a sensible head on his shoulder! Best of Luck
The window in my old office looked out on the parking lot, so I always parked my car right outside my window. One day about 9:00, I watched someone that worked for my company slam open the door of her truck, then use the door for support while she lowered herself to the ground. Of course, her door was wedged firmly against car. I had a nice ding that removed the paint. The next day, I watched her do it again. This time I jumped up, ran outside and confronted her. Angrily and loudly. As she told me how careful she was everytime she got out of her truck, I led her over and showed her the 2 dings she had put in my car, complete with red paint that matched her truck. I then asked her to open her door again so I could show her how perfectly the ding and the door aligned. About that time building security showed up. One of our HR people saw me heading out the door and knew me well enough to know I was pissed. I got no $$ out of it, she couldn't afford gas, much less fixing my car. At least she quit parking next to me. I do like everyones suggestion about the license plate. Put a note on his car that says: Dear John Doe of 1234 Elm Street in Frisco. I don't believe you realize that you pushed the door of your 1999 Toyota Tercel, vin xmspel3445lxl39l, into my Ferrari, scratching it's paint. Forensics evidence has confirmed that the medium prune color paint chips on my door match the paint chip I removed from your car. Pay up.
the saga continues..... so I get a phone call from the wife. She is pleasant on the phone. She tells me that she was the one driving the previous day and states that she is always careful when she opens her door. I responded that I appreciated her courteousness and understood accidents happen. She then tells me that they have called their insurance company and they have been instructed to meet with me to look at the damage. (Not sure why they didn't look for it this morning when they parked and talked with the guard) She then tells me they are leaving early today and I couldn't meet with them at that moment so I told her that she could inspect the damage when they were at the garage. She then says she will leave their contact info and their insurance company under the windshield wiper. At this point, I am thinking "sweet...there is honesty left in humanity afterall." So I finally leave the office to get the info and I get a note saying "I can't find a dent in your door. Please schedule time to show me the damage" signed the husband. I never said the car was dented...I told them the paint was scraped by their car door edge. I tried in desperation to buff it out last night which helped but there are horizontal scratches that are very deep I could not get out or the three lines where the clear coat is scuffed. I will call the number they left tomorrow and try to schedule time to show them. With a witness, of course. Thanks for all your posts they made me feel much better. I am still holding out for a happy ending. So I guess I will call him
I drove the car over to Stuarts for get an estimate today at lunch for the insurance company (the other guys, not mine...he says his wife remembers seeing the scrape on the car but wasn't sure if it was them or not. Nonetheless, he gave me his insurance info.) So into the service bay she went for inspection...20 minutes later and voila! No evidence of the scrapes. Thanks to the many layers of additional clearcoating on f-cars, they were able to buff it out coupled with Stuarts expertise. I swear you can't tell anything had ever happened. Lucky for me and even luckier for the guy who hit me! Thanks for all your advice guys! Had it needed further repair, I obtained the guys insurance info using your advice.
