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So I went to buy groceries and came back to find that some jerk scratched up my left front fender and rear body panel. The best part is that when I went to the police station across the street they told me me to call 911. So I called 911 and it took almost 3 hrs for them to respond. When I went back to the police station to check on my request an officer told me to go a file a citizen's accident report myself which my insurance discouraged me from doing. Finally the police arrived and it was there was the same office that told me to fill out a citizen's accident report. My tax dollars at work
I'm hoping I'll be able to pickup the police report tomorrow and then find the guy that did it from the security cam footage. It would really suck to have to pay for this out of pocket.
I'm sorry to learn of this. The good news is that most of the damage looks superficial and can be polished out. You may still need the bumper re-painted to completely bring it back to factory new but I would go to a reputable detail shop and see what they can do for you first. I'm not a professional detailer but I consider myself an "advanced hobbyist". I have removed marks from friends cars that looked just like yours. From what I can see from your pictures most of that should polish out. This needs to be done by machine so I wouldn't suggest doing it yourself.
This would be my worst nightmare. I, too, am sorry this happened to you. The possibility of incidents like this happening is why I always advocate for parking far way from where the highest concentration of cars are in the lot.
most of it look like it will buff off. i think the only part that would need work are the scratches above the front vents. and TBH, most police departments won't come out for something like this, as no one was injured or hurt, so it's not a priority to them. Just doesn't make sense why they wouldnt just let you file a report when you were already at the station
most of it look like it will buff off. i think the only part that would need work are the scratches above the front vents. and TBH, most police departments won't come out for something like this, as no one was injured or hurt, so it's not a priority to them. Just doesn't make sense why they wouldnt just let you file a report when you were already at the station
That's what a lot of people have said, I'm going to take to the shop tomorrow morning. I guessing it's going to run about 1.2 to 1.8k to fix then accounting for the $500 deductible if the police wan't look at the security tapes.
As for why they couldn't file a report at the station, they said they had to dispatch a unit to the parking lot and that has to follow a particular procedure and protocol. :|
i feel your pain bro. my old car got broken into at a metro station in broad daylight. i called the metro police and it took them 2 hours.. i was like WTF! if you plan on keeping your car for a long, long time then by all means go the insurance route. however, if you plan on selling it within the next 5-6 years, best to avoid an insurance record on the car's history and just pay out of pocket, or hopefully the cams will catch that **** who hit you to pay out of pocket! i ain't no wiring, electronics, etc., genius but damn when i hear stories like that, it makes me really want to go out to the nearest store and just put in a dash cam immediately myself!
Disagree on not going through insurance. That's why you have it. Plenty of cars have been fixed and the repairs don't show on CarFax. Years ago, I was looking at cars and one seller told me his car had never been in an accident. I get there and I see two new headlights, a new core support, and a new radiator. I ask him and he said his wife had a minor fender bender. Well, you don't replace the core support for that. Inside the car, I found a work order for $4K from a body shop. Not on the CarFax.
Sorry this happened to you. I have to wonder how the *** hat managed to hit the car in the left front and left read. Mind boggling.
As bad as it looks I think the majority of that will buff out. Your very fortunate that it was not your fender and just the bumper cover. Back portion does not look horribly bad and a easy repair. What EVER you do though do not go through your insurance to fix this. See if you can find a good airbrush/paint company just to do a quick blend for what does not buff out. What sucks is silver is such a hard color to match when it comes to paintwork if you do end up getting some paint sprayed on her. I work in the auto business as a sales manager at a local Honda store. If you go through your insurance for this little repair it will post on your Carfax. You, the people in this thread, and I all know it was minor but once it posts on there you are going to take a hit when you go to sell or trade your baby down the road.. More than likely though from my experience since you called the police and filed a police report you already will have this on the Carfax unfortunately but you "could" get lucky.
Disagree on not going through insurance. That's why you have it. Plenty of cars have been fixed and the repairs don't show on CarFax. Years ago, I was looking at cars and one seller told me his car had never been in an accident. I get there and I see two new headlights, a new core support, and a new radiator. I ask him and he said his wife had a minor fender bender. Well, you don't replace the core support for that. Inside the car, I found a work order for $4K from a body shop. Not on the CarFax.
Sorry this happened to you. I have to wonder how the *** hat managed to hit the car in the left front and left read. Mind boggling.
well just because you own a gun doesn't mean you can use it whenever you want. sure if your home is invaded by all means blow up the *****, but if you get into an altercation at a traffic light, you shouldn't need to use your gun, fists will do. which goes to my point, if he can avoid the record of a "light fender bender" on his carfax, history record, etc., why shouldn't he avoid it?
that thing is only going to cost a few hundred to buff out and possibly repaint. its cosmetic damage, not any support or frame structure damage (which by the way the OP should get that checked just in case). if he were to get insurance involved whether they see it only as a cosmetic damage requiring light buffing, or a full smash affecting the bumpers, frame, suspension, etc., it's still reported as an accident nonetheless. once he decides to sell the vehicle in a year or two if he does, he'll have a hard time. i can tell you right now we all know lexus' hold their value well, so if i'm shopping for a used car and spending $25-30k on this car, i sure as hell ain't buying no car with accident(s) reported--even if its considered a "light fender bender" because as the buyer you'll never know what truly happened, in which case you'll just move on to the next best car. when was the last time any shopper believed a private seller, used car seller, dealerships' stories about how their "accidents" happened and how "light the tap" was? my point exactly.
now, if the OP can't afford to cover the costs himself, then by all means used your insurance bro.
Disagree on not going through insurance. That's why you have it. Plenty of cars have been fixed and the repairs don't show on CarFax. Years ago, I was looking at cars and one seller told me his car had never been in an accident. I get there and I see two new headlights, a new core support, and a new radiator. I ask him and he said his wife had a minor fender bender. Well, you don't replace the core support for that. Inside the car, I found a work order for $4K from a body shop. Not on the CarFax.
Sorry this happened to you. I have to wonder how the *** hat managed to hit the car in the left front and left read. Mind boggling.
I stopped by my shop today, will be a 2.7k fix (1.3k for the scuffed headlight). Definitely will need to go through insurance now, I'm hoping I can get the store to pull the other guy's license plate info from the security cam footage
Scuffed headlight >1K? Wow. I can't even see that in the pics. I guess it looks worse in person. Tough one to swallow. Good luck with the security camera and insurance.
well just because you own a gun doesn't mean you can use it whenever you want. sure if your home is invaded by all means blow up the *****, but if you get into an altercation at a traffic light, you shouldn't need to use your gun, fists will do. which goes to my point, if he can avoid the record of a "light fender bender" on his carfax, history record, etc., why shouldn't he avoid it?
that thing is only going to cost a few hundred to buff out and possibly repaint. its cosmetic damage, not any support or frame structure damage (which by the way the OP should get that checked just in case). if he were to get insurance involved whether they see it only as a cosmetic damage requiring light buffing, or a full smash affecting the bumpers, frame, suspension, etc., it's still reported as an accident nonetheless. once he decides to sell the vehicle in a year or two if he does, he'll have a hard time. i can tell you right now we all know lexus' hold their value well, so if i'm shopping for a used car and spending $25-30k on this car, i sure as hell ain't buying no car with accident(s) reported--even if its considered a "light fender bender" because as the buyer you'll never know what truly happened, in which case you'll just move on to the next best car. when was the last time any shopper believed a private seller, used car seller, dealerships' stories about how their "accidents" happened and how "light the tap" was? my point exactly.
now, if the OP can't afford to cover the costs himself, then by all means used your insurance bro.
Wow, take it easy.
The car I looked at with $4K of damage was an insurance repair and wasn't on the CarFax. If it had been, I don't know if it would do much to the value of the car. I didn't buy the car because the guy lied to me about it never being in an accident, not due to the quality of repair work.
Funny, you overreacted and then talked about using guns in altercations at traffic lights.
I had an $1100 claim on my other car 2 years ago due to road debris. It's not on the CarFax. CarFax doesn't pick up everything. Even if it did, I personally don't agree it's a reason to not go through insurance. We clearly have a difference of opinion on the subject.
That really sucks and I'm sorry this happened to you. I came out of a grocery store and someone had rammed a shopping cart against the door of my SC430. It made a huge dent. Paintless dent removal was able to fix it, but I drove around like a leper until it was fixed.
Good luck with getting it fixed, and just remember that karma is a *****. That keeps me going.
09-18-14, 07:16 PM
Came out of the grocery store only to find....
The good news is that most of the damage looks superficial and can be polished out. You may still need the bumper re-painted to completely bring it back to factory new but I would go to a reputable detail shop and see what they can do for you first. I'm not a professional detailer but I consider myself an "advanced hobbyist". I have removed marks from friends cars that looked just like yours. From what I can see from your pictures most of that should polish out. This needs to be done by machine so I wouldn't suggest doing it yourself.
