I walked out to my car this afternoon and the first thing I noticed was that it was taking up two parking spots, tilted 45 degrees from where I had parked it. Then to my horror I realized someone had hit the rear right side of it and knocked it sideways. This is the first time something like this has ever happened to me and I'm distraught. I've already called the police...now I'm just waiting. It must have happened early this morning because I've been home all morning and I can see/hear my car from my window. Maybe I'm being naive, but I'm hoping they can catch this person since whoever did it either lives in this apartment complex, or knows someone that lives here or else they'd have had no business being in my parking lot to begin with.

More facts: someone threw a party last night just above me. As soon as the police officer gets here I'll ask him if we can question them to see if anyone left drunk, or if they saw/heard anything late last night. Someone humor me...what are the odds they will catch this person that hit me? I'm thinking slim to none because whoever did it obviously was either uninsured, or drunk, which would be why they fled. But do the police even look around local body shops to see if anyone is having their car repaired from the damage they received when knocking the shit out of mine? I noticed there was some white plastic out there, and a piece of glass, so whoever hit me busted a light, obviously. I'm so pissed off right now. In the unlikely event that they do catch this person, how harse a crime did they commit? Is this a felony? Can I sue? I'm clueless...I've never been in a situation like this.

o man..that f-en sucks!!! sorry about that bud!!

well i hate to have to say it to you but even if they do catch someone it is extremely unlikely anything will be done to them, unless you have a witness or even better a video. does you complew have security cams that might have caught it. in any case im very sorry to hear this. nearly the same thing happened to me except it was a moving accident. my girlfriend was driving my durang around a blind corner in the outside lane when a red chevy 1500 came tearing around the corner in her lane leaving her nowhere to go but into the trees. to further exascerbate the situation the chevy took off knowing full well of the acident.

a couple of weeks later i divcovered that same chevy parked next door to one of my clients houses. i reported it to my insureance agent and the police and they both said they could do nothing for me without at least a witness. i also decided that i could do very little without a good supply of thermite. unforunately i thought it best to take the high road and not beat the driver within an inch of his life.

in any case the moral is your chances are not good of the authorities doing anything. if however you get lucky and they do let us know.

Its always a shame to see such a beautiful car damaged hope you can get it all gixed good as new.

Originally posted by Spinny 3ngls
well i hate to have to say it to you but even if they do catch someone it is extremely unlikely anything will be done to them, unless you have a witness or even better a video. does you complew have security cams that might have caught it. in any case im very sorry to hear this. nearly the same thing happened to me except it was a moving accident. my girlfriend was driving my durang around a blind corner in the outside lane when a red chevy 1500 came tearing around the corner in her lane leaving her nowhere to go but into the trees. to further exascerbate the situation the chevy took off knowing full well of the acident.

a couple of weeks later i divcovered that same chevy parked next door to one of my clients houses. i reported it to my insureance agent and the police and they both said they could do nothing for me without at least a witness. i also decided that i could do very little without a good supply of thermite. unforunately i thought it best to take the high road and not beat the driver within an inch of his life.

in any case the moral is your chances are not good of the authorities doing anything. if however you get lucky and they do let us know.

Its always a shame to see such a beautiful car damaged hope you can get it all gixed good as new.

I feared as much. There are no security cams up, but I am going to ask my landlord if I can put up a flyer advertising a reward for information allowing me to prosecute this low-life.

God help you if you need a new wheel.

I hope they can catch the person who did it. Best of luck to you and I hope you get your car fixed soon!

Collect the busted parts you found in the lot, and get your insurance company involved. My company, USAA, has always been my greatest advocate in helping out, including sending someone out to look around. Maybe they can ID what kind of car the busted light came from. Get pix of your car, including close ups if you can see paint scrapings from the other car on yours. You can tell the color of the car that hit you; keep an eye out for a car of that color with damage to the right front. If you find it (like next Friday nite!) get pix of the damage to that car and license plate. This sooo sucks and sorry for your bad luck. Is the car drivable?

I'm about to go ballistic. I went to start the car, and the key won't turn because the when the piece of crap hit my car, the wheels turned into the curb so I can't turn the steering wheel and the key won't turn. This is easily the most stressful day of my life so far. After the cop came, he asked me if I wanted to press charges, and I said "yes", which gave me a false sense of satisfaction. He said he was not going to file this as an accident, but as a hit and run, and that he would be referring my case over to a detective. He told me they have hit and run detectives for cases like these, and that they may call me, etc. etc. I'm still doubtful.

I feel your pain, truly. I probably wouldn't sound as calm as you do, and I know ur stressed out. Is there any way to muscle the wheel a few degrees left or right to get the key in? Is your insurance company onboard with this, and ready to help out?

Maybe get out your jack and get the front end off the ground so you can turn the wheels and get the key in. Just be careful jiggling the car it its raised up.

Sorry to hear this. That's terrible.

On the bright side, if you know the party was in your apartment, then at least that's a start. Hopefully a detective could get some leads from the party-thrower.

Thanks for the responses. I'm trying my best to stay calm, althought I'm so angry I want to explode. I called my insurance agent to file a claim, but looks like I won't be hearing from them until Monday. I don't know how far they are willing to go to help me, the lady that I talked to on the phone was just a "first report" person. I asked her how this would affect my insurance rates, and she said she didn't know. Does anyone know if my rates are likely to go up over something like this? It just sickens me to think my rates are going to go up because of something that was completely out of my control. I'm going to have the damage appraised on Monday at a BMW shop up the street. Unfortunately I have huge deductibles at $1,000, so I know I'm most likely going to be out that entire amount. My tailight is about to fall off. Woe is me. If they catch this guy I'm going to try and sue if at all possible. I don't care how much it costs me, I want them to pay for what they've done.

Do you think I should offer some kind of reward for information leading to an arrest? Or should I hold out and see if some honest person will come forward and give me information (I plan to put u a flyer Monday with the landlord's approval)? I'm so lost.

more questions.... I'd imagine that this incident lowers the resale value of my car. Am I right? This would show up on a carfax report if I were to sell my car, right? AHHHH I want to catch the guy that did this and pound his face into the pavement.

I can't wait until Monday to find out. Are my insurance rates likely to go up? Can anyone that has had something similar to this happen to them answer this for me?

I have my other rides broken into plenty of times & the bumper on my ford ranger got smashed while minding its own buisness in a mall parking lot. None of it ever raised my rates.

Originally posted by Knerk
I have my other rides broken into plenty of times & the bumper on my ford ranger got smashed while minding its own buisness in a mall parking lot. None of it ever raised my rates.

Thank you, Knerk. That is good to know, and has been the only good news I've received today. I should go buy a lottery ticket...with all the bad luck I've been having lately, surely I'm due for some good luck, and what better way than in the form of a lotto ticket.

I'm very sorry to hear about what happened to your car. I am amazed how poised you are after all that has occured. I'm sure all that have read your thread wants that person brought to justice, goodluck.

[Gulp.] :(

What a total bummer. We're with you in your pain.

This should be covered under "comprehensive" on your policy. That means a few things...
1) I sure do hope you have comprehensive coverage. You most likely do.
2) Your deductable under comprehensive is separately stated on your policy and might be different from collision.
3) Comprehensive loss, like you said, is not controllable and I don't think the rates will go up when you have this kind of claim.

Check your policy for comprehensive coverage & its deductable amount - now.

I'm sure that your instincts are good concerning your situation, but, by the way it reads, it seems to me that one way or another, and probably sooner than you think, the perpetrator will surface. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT try to even the score in any way. You will immediately become the "bad guy". That would not be good.

Man, and I was having pitty parties for me all day long over my malfunctioning heat pump...this is 100 times worse. You have my sympathies!!!

I share your pain...this happened to me twice on my 2nd gen Rx-7. One time I was at school and the back quarter panel was crushed in when someone backed into it and drove off..the car was like a year old....the 2nd time I was working late at my office and someone crushed my left quarter panel in so far I couldn't move the tire....in both cases insurance paid for repairs and my rates never went up...then a few years later i was turning left at a light and this lady ran her light and nailed me in the right back tire area...really bent up my frame but didn't total it...got it fixed but she's never set right or sounded right since, but you can't really tell by looking at it...take lots of pics and get your insurance guy out ASAP...good luck!

Your rates should not go up for a no fault or other party at fault accident. Try to go as far as you can with the law, but I am not sure that will go anywhere. I do hope you catch the bastard. In some states the insurance company has to compensate you for the loss of market value the accident causes to your car--check it out. Good luck. I am reminded of the line from Pulp Fiction about fucking with a man's car being the lowest thing you can do to another man, and it almost being worth it for them to fuck with your car if you could catch them.

...I'm sorry to hear about what happened. Are you good acquaintances with the fellas on the floor above ya? Maybe, just maybe they might know who did it, and dislike them enough to let you know...Of course...the immature way to go about it is to beat it out of the party-throwers, so don't do it.

Winning_BlueRX8: I feel your pain bro. Don't worry about your insurace, it's a hit and run and as long as you filed a police report your insurance won't go up. I had a similar thing that happened to me a few months ago in my prior car. I was parked on the side street and when i got out i noticed that my car was so close to the curb. I then realized that i was totally smashed in the side. I was worried about if my insurance rate would go up,... but it didn't. As for the damages it was pretty bad, lets just say that I can almost buy a new rx-8 with the amount that my insurance had to pay to fix it. Hopefully the damage to your car is not as severe.

sorry to hear no witness yet or seurity camera.
But I have more goods news for you.
like you said you want this ahole at all cost, I know I would.
you should take this case to the extreme.
Her is the good news. You already have the detective looking for the car that hit you. you have the evidences left behind on your car(paint) and broken light on the parking lot. Take thses evidences to a lawyer(not to say I like lawyer or not but they do work for good and bad) they will have somone analyze it and look for a match, of cause you need to find the car or any car that are suspicus with the right color or damages. this happen to me few year back when I went camping, someone hit my rx7 fender and fled. I found the car with my paint on it at the right heitgh and was to spot been in red. I could of had it anaylized but since aI just got to the camp and my car wasnt a new 8, I didnt want it to messup my weekend with my girlfriend.
good luck.

here's what you do if you find him
and find out he was drunk which was most likely the case cuz how else do you run into such a beautiful car?

Don't press charges
find him and slam with a beer bottle and kick the crap out of him.
then say it was a hit and run
haha
no seriously, go kick his ass.. it is the only thing that could make up for what was done to you and the anxiety you went through
but more importantly it is pounding a piece of crap who drove drunk

A girl hit me at sonic and it was 100% here fault and my rates did not go up (USAA) you will be ok if you have a good driving record. I whould also put somthing up in your apt about it (mail room)sombody may have seen somthing but they may not know the car is yours or somthing like that. Hope it gets better for ya.PS buy alarm with shock sensers on it so if it happens twice (hope not) the alarm will go off

Man that sucks! So sorry to hear your news.

don't click the freewebs link...god, stupid outwar game. That has been going on forever, and you know what? It's still dumb. You outwar people need to get a life.

Back to the car...I am planning to put a flyer up Monday with a $300 reward for information leading to an arrest. I have walked all around my complex checking cars to see if I can find the one that hit me, but I had no idea there were so many bad drivers here. It seems for every 3 cars I checked, 1 of them had damage on their bumper. I'm an optimist by nature, but I'm not hoping for much. I doubt I will ever catch this guy, but I sure hope he gets what he deserves one way or another.

I'm taking my car to a BMW body shop on the assumption that a BMW body shop would only produce high quality work. I wonder how smart a move this is. In addition the body shop is covered under my policy's "TLC" plan which guarantees 100% of the work over the lifetime of the car. So if something screws up, they pay to have it repaired again.

Sorry to hear it, Winning. You seem to be very level headed about the whole ordeal, but just the same, please don't even think about retaliating physically. Violence will not improve the situation, and it could possibly turn the tables on you and land you with assault charges etc...

Otherwise, if the guy was from your neighbor's party, I would think sooner or later he will surface. Just have to keep your eyes and ears open, whenever any of them or their friends are around.

Sometimes you can poker-bluff someone into a confession. Maybe too late now because you put up a reward sign. Tell your partying neighbor you filed a misdemeanor hit-and-run and that the case detective will be contacting him for a field inquiry shortly since he possibly was entertaining the offender. Tell him you have paint, tire and glass evidence and your insurance company is aggressively working with the local PD to find a match. Tell him your brother is a local cop and the guys on the force are looking out. If you have an apartment complex security guard, mention he saw it but couldn't get the plate #. I'd even lie and say a neighbor came forward who saw/heard it happen while walking his dog that night and that it was a white car(or truck). Tell your neighbor that if it was his guest, he is in a heap of trouble and should come forward to claim responsibility so you can settle it and drop the investigation and subsequent charges. If he's not helpful, then you have lost nothing. If he knows the friend or of damage to his friend's car, you can bet he'll be on the phone with him the moment you leave so stand outside the door for a bit. A few days after when you run into him, ask him if the detective came out for the field interrogation yet(of course he didn't). He'll say no, then mention that the PD and insurance company called you and stated evidence processed thus far looks enough to prosecute and they have a vehicle match but you can't discuss it until after the subject's arrest has occurred. Thank him for his help anyways and give him your phone number in case he finds anything.

btw, got any pics?

DON'T MOVE THE CAR UNTIL YOUR INSURANCE HAS COME OUT AND TAKEN PICS.

When talking with your neighbor, maybe bring up something about serving booze and how it is the responsibilty of the party host to watch his guests. Are they maybe under age as well?

Its all worth the try.

Got to be careful there Sea Ray. You don't want to accuse an innocent party host of misconduct or that he is a suspect who contributed to the "accident". You want to come off as cordial yet concerned and you want to put the entire event behind you, making it the lesser of two evils. If you're aggressive it will likely drive the culprit deeper underground besides hurting neighbor relations. You want the suspect to come forth admitting guilt no questions asked, and either be reimbursed or agree to report it to the insurance companies. Don't even mention alcohol involvement. An old saying is you catch more flies with honey than vinegar.

Damn, well I just got done hanging up the flyers...but that is an interesting angle I could have played, toadman. Oh well, it's in the past. I'll just hope someone wants to earn some cash and squeal on whoever did it.

Sorry to hear that. Any luck so far? I will kill the guy if I saw him doing it! :D

Originally posted by Toadman
Got to be careful there Sea Ray. You don't want to accuse an innocent party host of misconduct or that he is a suspect who contributed to the "accident". You want to come off as cordial yet concerned and you want to put the entire event behind you, making it the lesser of two evils.

That and the fact that you'd rather keep the host/neighbor a "disinterested neutral third party" as well. Implication in anything tends to turn peoples' loyalties against you in a rapid fashion.