Season of goodwill? Not round here...

[Steve Maskery]

I went out this morning to find that someone had keyed my car. Rear wing and both doors on the driver's side. As I was loading up coming home from the Community Workshop I noticed that th nearside had been done as well. Not quite as badly, but bad enough. Front wing and both doors.

I went to Chips Away on the way out this morning and they quoted me £540 to fix it. That was just the offside, I'd not noticed the nearside then.

I can't get it done on the insurance, they will write it off, it's an 03 plate.

Why do people do this? I have reported it to the police, and the officer was good. Old School. Made no promises other than to ensure that the local Community Support Officers were aware.

One tiny bit of good news. You may remember that my workshop stuff was stolen. The officer who came to interview me was very good. But the officer who went to interview the farmer who was storing it was useless. Completely uninterested and came close to telling me that it was my own fault. Anyway, she said they would log it but not issue a Crime Report Number, just an Incident Report Number.

I related this to the guy on the phone and he expressed surprise. So I gave him the IRN and he looked it up. Apparently, although the case had been closed as Unsolved, it had actually been given a CRN. Not that it helps me at all, but at least it means that the numbers have not been artificially massaged. I was told that they would not issue one, but clearly they did.

So what do I do? I don't want to have my car written off, and I can't justify paying that sort of money for a respray. I guess I just drive around in a jalopy.

We live in a troubled world, but I guess my woes are insignificant compared to people in many other parts of the world. I suppose I should count my blessings, but it is still very annoying.

 

[RogerP]

I'm extremely sorry to hear this Steve. You are having more than you share of troubles!

You may find a much cheaper quote from a small one or two man repair shop. I know of one near me, that's not much use to you, but I'm sure there'll be something similar in your area. Have a look in Yellow Pages or ask the locals.

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

I had a biker smash off my wing mirror on the M25 a few weeks back....pure vandalism, no actual reason. I called it in and they checked CCTV but I only got the 1st 3 digits of his number plate so they couldn't find him.

It cost £150 to replace and you just have to suck it up. It's one of life's lessons, you cant control it so don't worry about it...chalk it off but...keep an eye out for the toe rag that did it because chances are he lives locally and may be spotted doing it to someone else's car. At which point you follow him discreetly and get his address!

 

[Steve Maskery]

Thanks, Roger. I do know of a place close to where I used to live, but it's a bit of a way from here
I'm sure you are right, there must be a "little man" round here somewhere, but I'm still a newcomer round here, I was 30-odd years in Beeston.
S
PS No disrespect intended to any short human beings.........

Rob
You are right, I'm sure. A sort of social tax.

 

[marcros]

Is it a solid or metallic colour?

Is it worth having a go with a touch up pen?

 

[Steve Maskery]

It's a metallic red, or at least it was when it was new.
Do I get a touch-up pen from somewhere like Halford's?

 

[nanscombe]

A couple of your previous posts came to my mind ...

...
It started with a visit from the BCO. He took one look and smiled. "Excellent", he said, "this is the best Shed I've ever seen." He went on to tell me that one of the neighbours had complained. "Have you seen that $%^&*() great big thing that someone has put up over there?"
"Yes, and it's all above board". Obviously I don't know which neighbour, but from his gaze it was someone on the parallel street. There is always someone who wants to rain on your parade, isn't there?
...

...
Indeed, not having much luck at all with cars at the mo, I had a visit from my neighbour yesterday asking had I seen my car. Someone had smashed eggs all over the windscreen and front wing. Why do they do that?
...

 

[finneyb]

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/how ... ratch.html

This guy repaired it himself - pictures and instructions are there - maybe something to consider.

Brian

 

[Stu_2]

Unlucky Steve, that sucks. You've probably got a jealous ****** who's annoyed that the benefits office won't build him a nice big workshop. I would seriously consider just leaving the car as it is for the time being. If you get it painted you're just giving them a fresh canvass to work with.

Just continue as is, and give the impression you couldn't give a s***, and hopefully they'll think it isn't worth bothering you any more.

 

[marcros]

It's a metallic red, or at least it was when it was new.
Do I get a touch-up pen from somewhere like Halford's?

Yes. I have only tried it on a plain car- I believe metallic may be harder to match in. It might make it less obvious though.

 

[jordec66]

Is it because we need a decent sized building to pursue our woodworking interests, which some may deem as unsightly - or the noise from said building. I was running my thicknesser on some oak this afternoon and am conscious of the noise, I mither about upsetting the neighbours, it only takes one to mount an offensive and your life can become a misery. I always make sure that I run machines at reasonable times but forefront in my mind is am I making too much noise.
I am not suggesting that this is the case with you, but it almost certainly sounds like a disgruntled neighbour.

 

[Ghengis]

If its a straight line how about getting a vinyl wrap done

 

[Baldhead]

Steve that's not bad luck, that's some toe rag going out of their way to wilfully damage your car, this type of thing boils my urine, even if the police catch the vandal, what will they get, a stiff telling off and probably not much more, it seams your stuck between a rock and a hard place re the repairs because of the cars age and value.

I must admit when I first read this post, my initial thoughts were that of nanscombe, also the fact that someone smashed eggs against your car, if the BCO was approached by the police he would have to give the complainers name.

Baldhead

 

[Phil Pascoe]

+1

 

[Max Power]

I would give serious thought to getting a cctv camera to cover your car Steve :evil:

 

[blackrodd]

I would give serious thought to getting a cctv camera to cover your car Steve :evil:

+1 To the above Rodders

 

[DiscoStu]

I have a camera in my Land Rover and it's great. I got some nice footage of an ***** 16yr old over taking me (he must have been doing 30, but making a lot of noise about it. Anyway the reason I was doing about 20 was because there was a sharp bend ahead. He. Just kept going straight onto some gravel and fell off. He was ok but having the camera gave me some amusement. Oddly I had an incident in my "normal" car the other day and I wished I'd had a camera in that as I would like to have shown the police officer what had happened. So that might be something for the new year. Best one around is probably the Blackvue but places like CPC and Maplin sell some for £50. Do consider getting a HD on though as lesser quality don't allow you to read number plates easily and often that is what you need. I can't offer any advice on the scratch other than to suggest looking at some of the detailing forums and see what they say.

 

[acewoodturner]

There will probably be a place near you that supplies the car spray shops with their custom mixed paint and lacquers etc. If its anything like mine nearby they will have a pile of business cards on the wall from all the local guys. They will know them well and will probably be able to recommend a cheaper bloke than the quote you've had. If you don't mind a few hours work they should also be able to tell you how to do it yourself. Its not too difficult and with an 03 plate and in this weather nobody is going to notice it any way. I bought a replacement wing for my wife's Fiesta and sprayed it silver and then lacquered it from spray cans. Looks pretty good and you cant tell its not the original wing. Also helped by the fact she never washes the car either!

 

[whiskywill]

I have a lease car which comes with my job and when it was due to be returned last May, it was in need of touching up, a mixture of small scratches, small dents and a key scar along two doors and a wing. A local body shop wanted £650 as long as it was paid in cash. I found a small two man shop about 5 miles away who did a good repair job in 2 days for £170.

Shop around and you might get lucky.

 

[Harbo]

Going by what you have said about your area it will probably happen again - I would have a go at touching it up myself.
The blighters might feel sorry for it and leave it alone?

Rod