Grrrrrr....Sometime during the 15 minutes I was in Argos at lunchtime today, some idiot has scraped my car (03 reg metallic silver) leaving a long strip of red paint across the wheel, wheel arch and door.
Presumably this happened while the other car was leaving the car park, and judging by the mark I can't believe the driver didn't know what they had done. I'm gutted - there was masses of space between my car and the cars either side when I parked.
So being a bit clueless about such things here are my questions...
Presumably no way of knowing who did this? If they have CCTV in the car park do I have any rights to see it?
Should I leave well alone and get a quote from the garage, or should I let Him-asleep-on-the-sofa have a go at sorting out? And what products would he need?
Do I need to inform the insurance company if we don't intend to make a claim?
Thanks for any help and advice, or just sympathy, that you can give.
Rebecca
PS - I see this site gets a mention in this month's Reader's Digest...I wonder if site traffic will increase as a result? Feel the need to point out I'm not a regular RD reader!
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Yes you can access the CCTV. The Operators are required by Law to have an Operating Protocol and this includes signing up to Data Protection Act. Consequently they MUST provide what is called subject access i.e. If they film you they must provide you with the footage usually for an admin fee. Hurry up though sometimes they rotate tapes every 24 hours.
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Hi Rebecca
Some "person" did that to me when my car was parked - though I was nearby,heard the slight thump and went outside.
Coincidentally the car that hit mine was red as well...
I used colour back T-cut to remove the offending stripe,which ran from the back of the rear passenger door to the rear bumper.
It took a few attempts but it did come off.
I would try it quickly though before the paint gets weathered and harder to remove.
Hope you catch the so and so who did it!!
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My freinds wife parked their car in their local Tescos and somebody scrapped along the side denting every panel. She went inside the store to ask about cctv and Tescos paid for all the repairs to the car.
Not bad service for a supermarket eh.
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Without being cycical about Tesco, who are a fine organisation and I shop there myself, I do think that in these litigatious times they might realise that their painted spaces are too narrow, and that the roads within the car park are also too narrow, to get safely in and out. Some of them are so narrow that it is impossible to get in (turning to the left say) without going over onto the 'wrong' side of the road and even then one sometimes has to back up and straighten up. 5 and 7 series, Mercs etc literally can't be got in and then the doors opened. Perhaps Tesco and others know this and find it easier, and good publicity, to settle for minor damage than be chased thru the courts re their parking arrangements?
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I saw something similar happen a year ago to a virtually brand new Rover 25 in a Plymouth car park. As usual the idiot who did it didn\'t leave a note....
.....but I did!
Got the reg number, took a note of the time and left my phone number and wrote - hope you get to hang him by the pink fluffy dice! - OK no I didn\'t put that, but after leaving it on his windscreen I did get a witness form from his insurers and wrote that I would be only too willing to give a statement in court it that\'s what it took.
If anyone in the BR drives or hires a newish camper van and remembers sending his passenger out to inspect the damage to the car they\'d just hit in a Plymouth car park I\'ve got something to say to you.....
GOTCHYA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The feeling was so great!
I highly recommend anyone to grass (no not that sort - steady on!) It really is good for health!
H
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Confession time... I scraped someone's car in the office car park last week trying to get into a space where there were cars parked opposite.
In my defence I did go to some trouble to find out who the owner was. Surprisingly, he seemed relatively unconcerned. I think this was partly because his car was old and already battered (I certainly wasn't responsible for the Sellotaped passenger door mirror) and partly because he knew it shouldn't have been parked there in the first place: his wife had parked there to go shopping. I offered to pay for the damage but he declined.
The damage was fairly minor but my car has a small area over the wheel arch that I can only describe as a graze: the top layer of metallic silver paint has scraped away. Can anyone offer any tips on dealing with this? Is it worth trying to touch it up myself or am I better off going to a professional? The area is no more than an inch square.
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Well it's nice to see someone is honest.
Depending on what type of repair you want; if you want a nice job that no one will notice, then go to a pro.
If you just want to stop rust etc, then touch it up yourself.
I sold a car once that I had touched up quite a lot and it was noticeable. When the chap saw the car I immediately pointed out these areas and justified it by saying that the car didn't justify the huge expense as it was only worth £800, but I didn't want to leave the areas as the car would have only deteriorated. He seemed happy with that and bought it.
Just out of interest, a similar thing happened to me. I pulled into a supermarket car parking space and scraped the bumber of a Metro. I immeiately began writing out a note with my phone number on and was leaving it on the windscreen when the owner showed up. The owner was absolutely amazed that I took the trouble. He had my phone number but never contacted me. I guess he felt that the graze on his bumper wasn't worth the trouble, his car wa also quite old.
****Signature? - Ideas on a postcard please anyone!****
Hugo
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