[mtwow789]

Hi,

I am first time poster here, I am just frustrated so much so I am asking all you veterans what to do about my situation.

Today, when I went outside to get into my car, I found this huge vertical scratch on my car. Looks like someone just opened the door and scratched my car badly. I think it is someone who lives in the apartment.

I live in an apartment complex and I park at the parking lot that's in the complex. The parking lot is not numbered so anybody who lives in the apartment can park. When I went out this morning, the there were no cars near mine. Two spots were empty on both sides of my car. So I have no clue who did this.

I asked few neighbors in my building and nothing came up.

What should I do? Should I contact police?

[Penso di no]

Ah, man, that sux. My 2002 330xi got keyed three days after getting home from Euro delivery, so I know how you feel. That was not an inexpensive paint job, but insurance covered most of it--depends on your deductible.

I'd walk around the complex early in the morning when most cars are likely to be there, and look for white cars and check for scratches on the trailing edge of their doors and see if you can find one that looks fresh and matches. You might even find some of your paint on it. Take a camera and make sure you get some good pictures--both closeups and whole-car showing the door and license plate. It's not solid proof, but it's a start and you can ask them to pay.

Of course, it also depends on your neighborhood. In some places it's best to just suck it up. Your call.

[Beyu]

Sad to say but I think your only options are to either report to insurance, pay out of pocket or leave it like it is.

I had a similar experience back in February where some guy left a big 2-2.5 ft long scratch that ran horizontally and ended up making a dent on the rear fender where it initially made contact.

I hope you get it all sorted out or perhaps catch the guy if he does indeed live in your apartment complex; perhaps keep an eye out for any cars that have a big scratch on their car where it looks like it'll match up.

[LEDZEP]

Unless you know for a fact (and can prove) who did it, you are stuck. Did they leave any of their paint on it?
Worthless low-life scum.

[sfax]

Take it to a scratch / dent / repair place and get a quote. Some of these guys can do an amazing job and you'll never know it was there.

Forget trying to find the idiot that did it. I saw someone open their car door on my old car and they put a small dent and scratch in it. The guy denied it even though I had watched him do it, and then just drove off. Insurance / police didn't want to know unless I wanted to just claim on my own insurance. You just have to forget the anger and injustice and concentrate on getting it sorted out. Good luck

[Radioactive]

If it is just "paint" you may beable to rub it out.

[Lotus7]

Move!

[Dukat]

Worst part of buying a new car is having to park in public places like the mall/supermarket parking lot.

I had 3 cars hit with doors, twice while I was still sitting in the car.

Sucks that half the population are scum with no respect for other people's property.

[Dr Stig 2]

1. Find the car in the lot by looking for your paint on their door outer edge (measure the height of the scratch off the ground to match to their door height, and look for any of their paint on your car to match the colour)
2. Approach the driver to politely ask for their details for your insurance claim
3. If they refuse, try Karma
4. If Karma fails, its rocket launchers at dawn and blow the a-hole into the next dimension! I hate door-ding trolls.

[02420X3]

As Lotus7 said, Move!

Sadly, that's not an option for many. I'm fortunate enough to have two driveways to park in, and I will cheerfully walk from the farthest corner of a public parking lot.

You'll never prove who did the damage. The best that you can do is file a claim with your insurance company, or to eat the cost of the repair yourself. A good body shop, and we should all know one, may be able to do a repair for minimal cost. Or not - it doesn't look like a door replacement, but a paint match and a total repaint of the door may be required.

[mnmkw]

My dealer has a person that does a lot of work for customers to get out dents, scratches, etc, especially on leased cars at a very reasonable price. Not an official part of the dealership but sets up shop in the back parking lot. You might check with your dealer and see if they have someone like that.

[02420X3]

Good advice, mnmkw.

[sard]

Really sorry that happened man. Fucking assholes.

[sfax]

Originally Posted by Dukat

Worst part of buying a new car is having to park in public places like the mall/supermarket parking lot.

I had 3 cars hit with doors, twice while I was still sitting in the car.

Sucks that half the population are scum with no respect for other people's property.

It's often young children opening the rear doors so avoid parking next to big cars (er, like an X3 ) or anything with toys in it. Not much you can do if they park next to you though

[Steven40]

Buy the new X3 !

[powertech83]

Unfortunately things like this are hard to prove, really sorry for your situation.
When parking in public I usually try finding parking spot in the corner, but at the end of the day you can only do so much. That's what insurance companies are for, to deal with these as$h*les who can't respect other's property.

[BIMMER UK 76]

Originally Posted by mtwow789

Hi,

I am first time poster here, I am just frustrated so much so I am asking all you veterans what to do about my situation.

Today, when I went outside to get into my car, I found this huge vertical scratch on my car. Looks like someone just opened the door and scratched my car badly. I think it is someone who lives in the apartment.

I live in an apartment complex and I park at the parking lot that's in the complex. The parking lot is not numbered so anybody who lives in the apartment can park. When I went out this morning, the there were no cars near mine. Two spots were empty on both sides of my car. So I have no clue who did this.

I asked few neighbors in my building and nothing came up.

What should I do? Should I contact police?

Find them and k*** them! Put a reward on their heads!

[Mako]

my wife recently got our LR2 messed up in a hit and run while she was parked at work! she came out to her car to see white paint all over it, scratches and a couple dents! local body shop quoted us $1300 to fix and we haven't done anything yet. our deductable is $1000 so its probably not worth claiming (because it will also make your insurance go up), we are sort of thinking about just turning it in for a trade in (for X3) and hoping the dealer takes off less than $1300 from the trade in value (as they can fix it for much cheaper than that).

what sucks about stuff like this is the paint work! your scratch probably needs to be buffed and repainted so they have to take the whole door off and repaint it. I think on our $1300 quote about $900 of it was paint related as they have to paint 2 doors and another panel on top of that. My wife spend 1/2 hour looking at the cars in her parking lot to see if she could see who did it, of course 2 weeks later her company installed security cameras outside

But in general if your car is going to be a daily driver and the car used for shopping it will get messed up. My C63 hardly ever gets marks on it because it really is just for going to work and home (small company, people are more careful when there are only 50 cars in the parking lot). But our SUV has so many dings/scratches on it because my wife takes it everywhere with the kids and grocery shopping. Those places are the worse, places where people are in and out quickly and where there are kids getting out of the back seats, kids are really bad at door dings (nothing you can really do about it).

What BMW and other car companies need to do is make those side and rear cameras record to the harddrive even when the car is off, so you have evidence of who did it

[Penso di no]

Mako, if a hit & run claim makes your insurance go up, I'm pretty sure you should look for another insurance company.

[perto]

Not park nearby a old station wagon with child seats. Find a car similar or better than yours. Reverse in so your side mirrors take it if car "next Door" opens their rear doors. Change out mirror i less expensive than plast and paint your parking dents.

[Mako]

Originally Posted by Penso di no

Mako, if a hit & run claim makes your insurance go up, I'm pretty sure you should look for another insurance company.

really? I did read in a few places that it shouldn't but a few other web searches said it still could because the insurance company determines how they think the accident happened!


My wife is already paying double what I am for insurance and thats messed up! she is driving a SUV worth less than half of what the C63 is currently worth, is over 30 and married, her insurance should be rock bottom, but 2 accidents in 3 years that she was "at fault" for really screws that up (both rear ending accidents in a road rage filled Chicago area). Then she gets a ticket for going 61 in a 40 (said the LR2 can't go that fast, ) and having an expired license, insurance card, and having a tail light out. Then blames me for all of it.

[Mako]

Originally Posted by perto

Not park nearby a old station wagon with child seats. Find a car similar or better than yours. Reverse in so your side mirrors take it if car "next Door" opens their rear doors. Change out mirror i less expensive than plast and paint your parking dents.

Problem is when you are running errands, those cars park next to you! even if you park inbetween two other brand new cars, they can leave and a new person pulls in...

and reversing in just means your back doors will be hit by front seat driver/passengers

this is a no win situation when there are so many people in the world that don't give a shit about other people's things, and you having a nice car makes them care even less!