Vauxhall Corsa D - Someone keyed my car - best course of action? - robjm

Hey Everyone.

Shortly before Christmas some kind soul decided whilst I was at work to key the entire length of my car (I was parked legally on a public road, not blocking any drives etc) - I assume it was a disgruntled neighbour.

I reported it to the police and whilst they didn't do anything about it they did give me a crime reference number.

I enquired online at the time about claiming through my insurance however people told me it would affect my no claims discount and so with Christmas coming up I decided to leave it till the new year and attempt to sort it then.

In the new year I wasn't very well with my health and so the car took the back seat if you like and I only recently tried to touch the scratch up with a touch up pen - which didn't help at all and has potentially made it worse.

From calling several companies (chipsaway, autoglass etc) it appears I'm looking at £500+ to fix the damage as the scratch is over three panels - I never realised it would be this expensive.

I'm assuming I am now to late to claim on my car insurance if I did so wish to do that? As in the insurance would want to know why I've left it so long to make a claim (is there a time limit I'm assuming?)

Can anyone recommend any other suggestions on how I could potentially hide the damage?

[U]Attached a few photos of the damage:[/U]

[URL=imgbox.com/u8D7hWJg][/URL]

[URL=imgbox.com/SpOWLZRB][/URL]

[URL=imgbox.com/vjwnpqYO][/URL]

Many Thanks for your help,

Rob

Edited by robjm on 16/03/2019 at 22:52

Vauxhall Corsa D - Someone keyed my car - best course of action? - Leif
If you go through insurance, you’ll have to pay the excess, and you’ll lose your NCD, so you could end up paying more overall. For such a sum I’d pay it myself and avoid making a claim.
Vauxhall Corsa D - Someone keyed my car - best course of action? - Chris M

+1

Vauxhall Corsa D - Someone keyed my car - best course of action? - craig-pd130

Ask around for the details of independent body shops at work, with your friends etc. Someone will know of one.

I had a parking incident with a previous car that Chipsaway refused to touch because the damage was over a wide area. A local bodyshop removed the entire front bumper assembly (a huge piece of plastic) across the nose of the car, from wheel arch to wheel arch, filled and sprayed it. Utterly invisible repair. £240 all in, which was less than my insurance excess.

Vauxhall Corsa D - Someone keyed my car - best course of action? - drd63
Loss of NCD does depend on the insurer so worth checking.
Vauxhall Corsa D - Someone keyed my car - best course of action? - nellyjak

I'd check details with your insurer...just to be sure.

But it does look a "bodyshop" job and therefore worth getting a few quotes and then biting the bullet...assuming you want to return your car to the condition it was in prior to the damage of course.

Vauxhall Corsa D - Someone keyed my car - best course of action? - catsdad
With a solid paint you can do quite a bit with T Cut and a coloured polish to improve the appearance. T Cut might help a bit in this case but deep scratches on light metallics like this really need professional attention, or left well alone. Amateur touch- up paint will make it look worse.

Coincidentally we have a "hit and run" damage on our 2010 Corsa D. The paint is unbroken but its beyond smart repair and two good local bodyshops quoted £500 and £750 respectively. We decided just to live with it and take the price hit when we sell or trade it in. As it reaches banger status the effect on price will decline.

We might feel differently if it was a newer car or one we particularly liked but it isn't and we don't.
Vauxhall Corsa D - Someone keyed my car - best course of action? - Chris M

"I'd check details with your insurer...just to be sure."

But then you will have to declare an ''accident" whenever you seek renewal quotes whether or not you actually claimed. Insurers will penalise you because you will be viewed as a worse risk.

Vauxhall Corsa D - Someone keyed my car - best course of action? - Smileyman

I agree it's very annoying and makes one want to give someone a good hiding. (But don't in case they hold a knife up to you). So unless the damage really bothers you why spend good money? Leave the damage until you want to sell the car then see how it affects resale value - or until some urchin damages it further and there is a need for further repairs. (Or the MOT if it is failure issue but looking at one of the photos I'd doubt this is the case).

This is my approach with damage to the drivers' door of my car, caused overnight about year ago whilst parked legally roadside, car was 8 months old then.

(PS the photo link I clicked brought up some interesting pages, I refused all the cookies, wish I'd not clicked on the link)

Vauxhall Corsa D - Someone keyed my car - best course of action? - Robert J.
Tend to agree with Smileyman. If it has not gone through to the metal and liable to let corrosion start and you can live with it, leave it for the time being. You could end up spending a lot of money only to have it damaged again. When the time comes to change the car you could have picked up other dings by then, so get them all done at the same time. N
Vauxhall Corsa D - Someone keyed my car - best course of action? - gordonbennet

You might have been better not using a touch up pen, as said above that colour magic stuff can disguise quite nasty scratches.

Don't bother with bodyshops that have receptionists and carpets or worse still a suited manager (all need to be paid for), you want a little 1 or 2 man and their dog workshop, or a chips away type chap, i doubt you'll get away with less than £300 to paint three panels properly, you might find the right smart man a little cheaper but if i was going the smart route i would leave it be until just before you want to sell...in my experience smart repairs are not always as long term as a proper oven baked bodyshop job.

Vauxhall Corsa D - Someone keyed my car - best course of action? - edlithgow

DP, sorry

Edited by edlithgow on 18/03/2019 at 04:12

Vauxhall Corsa D - Someone keyed my car - best course of action? - edlithgow

The best course of action is to buy a car that already looks terrible. then you never have to worry about this sort of thing, and you'll get it cheaper.

Failing that, if you let nature (aided by human malice, in this case) take its course, you'll eventually reach that state.

Don't be King Canute. It didn't work out at all well for him, and he drove himself nuts.

Or was that Lear? Anyway, you get the idea. As above, it could easily happen again so don't fix it unless you're selling, when you MIGHT get some of your money back from a higher sales price.

Vauxhall Corsa D - Someone keyed my car - best course of action? - Andrew-T

I have a theory that any recently-acquired vehicle (new or used) is rather accident-prone during the first weeks or months of ownership. That may be partly due to one's own unfamiliarity, but not in the case of our present car. Within a month of buying it, and under a year old, some scrote chose to give it a deliberate gentle side-swipe while SWMBO was travelling home. Luckily nothing worse than a faint dent in the passenger door, and I didn't bother to spend anything on it.

Now 10 years on, there are a few other small blemishes, most but not all self-inflicted. I had one door resprayed to repair a visible scrape, and the front end reconstructed after a young lady appeared unannounced from a hidden side road. The car is still with us because it has always been 100% reliable.

Edited by Andrew-T on 18/03/2019 at 09:36

Vauxhall Corsa D - Someone keyed my car - best course of action? - Leif

And then there are people who spend a fortune having their cars 'detailed' which to my way of thinking is throwing money away. Then again, my car doesn't have big wheels with low profile tyres, or a big exhaust or spoilers. Neither do I spend Sundays cleaning my car.