First dings
 

Well, it happened. On my way home from dinner last night, I noticed that my neighbor was parked really close to my 8, in front. It was dark, and he was unloading his minivan (yes, all I could think was "I bet he just backed into my car"). But I just said hi, I went into my house. Sure enough, this mornig I walked out there and there are two half inch scrapes on either side of the front end. Leading me to beleive that he actually hit it twice! Because there is no way to put those scrapes in at the same time because of there locations. Very clean, but right through the paint.

I don't know what to do except get over it.

I am sure that they have insurance, but what can I get out of it except a bottle of touch up?

I almost wish that he had just macked it, then I could get a new bumper.

Having a hard time getting over it...

Bummer...you may want to 'request' that he be a bit more careful next time.

That sucks. I hate when people do crap like that. You could...

- Talk to him and mention your car has two scrapes in that weren't there before his minivan was parked there and just ask him if he backed into your car. He may not know he hit you and might offer to fix it if he's a decent person. Especially if you can show him that the sharp objects on his van line up perfectly with the scrapes.

- If he's a dirtbag and you know he'll deny everything, you could always blow off some steam by nicely striking up a general conversation with him and then drop a "some asshole hit my new car. I think it was a minivan" or something like that.

- If you can't or won't address this problem with him, move on and chalk it up as a learning experience so the next time you think something happened you will address the problem immediately instead of saying hi and letting it go.

Ouch, that really sucks. Especially 'cause he's someone you see often! It really kills me how careless people are sometimes. No respect!

I found the first ding on my passenger door about 2 months ago and almost cried. It's barely noticable but has a hairline scratch in the paint, not even big enough for touchup paint. Not much I can do except deal with it...I feel your pain.

Similar thing happened to me and I had an estimate on my two scrapes(Rear right fender) last Friday and they want a whopping 1,300!!!

Would be hard for me not to just break a window on his minivan right then and there

Yeah, well I am going to ask him to be more carefull. But as I have to park on the street often, I guess I am worried about creating a situation where he would feel the need to "hit" my car in a way that doesn't leave evidence implicating him.

I think that it was bound to happen. Drove my car into the city the other night, and kind of expected it to happen then.

On further inspection I found my paint/plastic on his bumper. What's odd about that is it's on the soft part of his bumper. It was not gouged or poked, just rubbed.

I'm thinking this sucks, he's got a soft plastic bumper, and so do I. How come my brand new bumper just gave up it's paint?

If he was aware of what he did, he probably would have tried to get the paint off of his bumper to cover it up.

Sounds like he doesn't know. You should just talk to him.

Take pictures of his bumper before you talk. Soft evidence has a way of disappearing.

You do, indeed, have a problem here. Remember, the vast majority of people don't obsess over their cars like we do. To most people, a scratch or a couple of dings are meaningless - the cost of owning a car. I once heard a co-worker say "my whole car is a ding", and everyone in the room laughed and agreed. Most people feel that anything smaller than a major dent - clearly visible from a distance - is nothing. Yes, it's sad that ordinary, "nice" people have such little regard for other's property, but I'm afraid it's just the way things are. The irony is that, unless your neighbor has a passion for cars, he'll sincerely think you're nuts, and wonder why you're unfairly and unreasonably picking on him. (Just my 2 cents, of course.)

I couldn't have said it better myself (and didn't). Thanks. That's exactly what I think my neighbor will think.

So, my decision is to let it go. Park somewhere else (this is hard cuz I don't have a driveway). Get a new bumper, or this one painted when I get a driveway (which will be within the next year as my GF and I are looking for a place). Considered this bumper initiated, and stop sweating all the chips I am bound to suffer anyway...

For now it's touch up. Though I am condifering a bra, not sure I like the look though.

If it's any consolation, I slightly scraped the rear bumper on my 6-month old VW GTI while backing up in a public garage. So I logged on to the VW forum and asked if anyone knew of a really good body shop in my area. Long story short: I found a place with a great reputation. The shop was nice and clean, and there were even several classic cars being restored. I wanted the bumper replaced (I'm totally anal about my car), but the owner told me he could repair it so that it would be completely undetectable. So I let him do it and, to my surprise, he was right - you simply can not tell there was ever a scratch. He charged me around $400 - way more than most shops wanted - but it was worth it - the bumper is perfect! So… I'm pretty sure your car can be fixed to your satisfaction.

I think that everyone here is pretty anal about their cars. Hence, my freaking out, as well as my thinking that I have to replace the bumper to have it perfect again.

My experience with touch up is that, you can always tell where someone has used it. But you are right, I can probably have it repaired and have it look new again.

Thanks all for being just as anal as I am about your cars. In my day to day life, most of the people I know just don't understand...

Try to park in the same fashion as the first night. Act as though you haven't seen it yet and call the police. The evidence is there! Just call the police and be taking pictures in the meanwhile.
I guess I'm just one of those that think people should be responsible... and if they aren't, then I will find a way to make them pay!! :D

Sounds like a plan. Who gives a crap what your neighbor thinks? Make him pay! Besides, minivans suck.

I feel your pain. I bought a 2001 Ford F-150 Flareside Extended Cab pick-up in Sept. It only had 6000 miles on it and is definitely show worthy with is hard tonneau cover and rear spoiler. My neighbor has an "outdoor" cat with claws who likes to come into my driveway and climb on my vehicles. Put a nice set of scratches in my truck, and my Eclipse. Now that I replaced the Eclipse with the RX-8 I'm completely paranoid about that damn cat.
But what can I do? They're not going to make their cat stay in the house - and there's no way to keep it out of my driveway (it just crawls through the existing fence). If I say something, all it is going to do is create a very awkward situation :mad: - and I don't plan on moving anytime soon. Waiting for my truck cover to arrive, and debating on what cover to get for the RX-8 as I have heard conflicting reports on these.