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Someone just scratched my car!

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by Godiva, May 19, 2006.

  1. Godiva

    Godiva AmeriKan Citizen

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    I came out of the school district's Instructional Media Center today after a library meeting and as I'm walking towards my car I notice a white line. I get closer and it's a long scratch. I was hoping it was paint transfer but I went over it with my fingernail and it's a scratch down to the base metal. EXPLETIVE!

    I didn't do it.

    I washed the car Sunday and it wasn't there.

    When I parked yesterday the car was facing so I approached it from the passenger side to leave school and the scratch wasn't there.

    Today I faced the opposite direction so I approached from the driver's side and didn't notice if there was a scratch on it at school. But there was after that meeting.

    I parked between two cars and the car that was parked on the driver's side was gone when I got back.

    I have no idea what was used. It doesn't look like a key. It's a pretty straight scratch so I don't think it was done by hand. Not to dig that deep.

    I am just so p¡$$ed. I can't afford to have my door panel repainted. So it will just look like fertilizer with touch up paint. No matter how good I am, it will still be touched up.

    Did I mention it's a black car? Every imperfection shows.
     
  2. benighted

    benighted New Member

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    Thats a bummer, I feel your pain.
    My Prius is still at the dealership getting water flushed out of the fuel rail (not covered by warranty).
     
  3. daronspicher

    daronspicher Active Member

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    I made it 2 months before I got a heafty door ding in the driver side rear door. I figure that day was when the car became what it was intended to be....

    A commuter car... purely for putting on a LOT of miles and it's nice for it to look nice.. but.. bummer.. and moving right along...
     
  4. hycamguy07

    hycamguy07 New Member

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    Time for door mouldings

    Same with the wife some one scratched theupper right side qtr panel, it looked deep but got it out with claybar whew. It never fails you buy a new car, wash it / wax it take really good care of it. then bam you get a ding or a scratch and you think oh well its a used car now.... ;)

    I still wax mine every 5 months & hand wash once a month & machine wash once a month..

    This 04' driftwood pearl still looks new!
     
  5. cairo94507

    cairo94507 Active Member

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    I am so sorry to hear that your car was victimized by some vandal. If you have insurance this would be a comprehensive loss and would not count against your insurance for renewal purposes, if my sources are correct. I hate that some people are just jealous when they see that someone else has something nice that they do not have so they damage it.
     
  6. galaxee

    galaxee mostly benevolent

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    sounds like vandalism to me. call in the insurance agent.

    sorry your poor prius has been through so much! :(
     
  7. Kiloran

    Kiloran New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galaxee @ May 19 2006, 10:13 AM) [snapback]258010[/snapback]</div>
    I agree, vandalism or hit-and-run.
    Call your insurance agent.
     
  8. Jeff Beaver

    Jeff Beaver Junior Member

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    That's a shame. Maybe there was a surveilance camera in the parking lot(s)? Even if it doesn't seem likely, I suppose it's worth inquiring. You could also ask the District's security people if there have been other incidents. If there were, you might be able to make a case in small claims court that you should either have been notified, or they should have posted more security -- or installed a security camera. In any case you might try submitting a written claim to the District. Make them feel guilty that there is no camera and no security. Probably won't work, but what the heck, it will only cost the price of a stamp. And how about insurance? I suppose this is covered by your Comprehensive, which may have a low deductible.

    If I were you I would at least show it to a body shop. If the scratch is deep, it might rust unless it gets more care than you can provide with a bottle of touch-up paint, and if you are going to make a claim, you'll need an estimate.
     
  9. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

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    Check with your insurance agent. My policy automatically includes a $0 deductible for vandalism. You may be able to get it fixed for free. Good luck.
     
  10. SW03ES

    SW03ES Senior Member

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    Absolutely call your insurance company, thats a comprehesive claim.
     
  11. Godiva

    Godiva AmeriKan Citizen

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    It was about six inches above the moldings.

    Yes, I do have comprehensive.

    And yes, it was probably vandalism. At school, not the Instructional Media Center.

    I talked to my library tech today and apparently when kids know what car you drive and don't like you they vandalize your car. Hers has been hit twice.

    Doesn't exactly endear me to this school. I worked at my last school for seven years and my car was never touched. The kids would cut through the parking lot and knew who drove what and still nothing.

    Only three kids know what car I drive. Because I gave them rides on a field trip. And one of those kids had his report card withheld this week because of library debt.

    But I can't prove a thing.

    The district will pay my deductible. I have to make a police report to the school police, fill out some forms and then go get three estimates. So there's the time to get the estimates and then the time the car is in the shop. I sure wish someone had seen him do it.
     
  12. Kiloran

    Kiloran New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ May 19 2006, 07:10 PM) [snapback]258311[/snapback]</div>
    I think you ought to inform his parents of your suspicions (not an accusation or demand for monetary damages, just suspicion).
    Unless his parents are total tools, he'd be unlikely to target you again as that'd be a dead give-away.
    If you don't, he'll most likely do this again to someone's car soon.
    (Of course, if his parents are total tools, he probably would target you again.)

    I hope the body shop does a great job for you!
     
  13. hobbit

    hobbit Senior Member

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    Definitely try to find out if the lot has camera coverage and ask
    to review it if so. Do it soon before the recording media gets
    recycled.
    .
    _H*
     
  14. Godiva

    Godiva AmeriKan Citizen

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hobbit @ May 19 2006, 07:08 PM) [snapback]258341[/snapback]</div>
    It's a Junior High School. We're lucky to have toilet paper.
     
  15. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

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    Just because you gave only 3 kids a ride, does not mean only those three kids know what car you drive. Anyone might have seen you get in or out of your car, or those three kids might have told their friends that, "Hey, that teacher Godiva drives this really cool Prius."

    An accusation of vandalism is a very serious matter.

    And parents are unlikely to believe anything bad about their own kid. My step-brother saw a neighbor kid pouring sugar in his gas tank, and went to the parents, who denied it and called my step-brother a liar.
     
  16. GUENWYVAR

    GUENWYVAR New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ May 19 2006, 12:40 AM) [snapback]257915[/snapback]</div>




    So sorry to hear about the vandalism. I don't know if you're a teacher or not but I am and a few weeks ago one of our teachers got her car keyed in the school parking lot by some as yet unidentified brat. When I got my new PRIUS 3 weeks ago I parked it right where I can see it from my classroom window. I'll be at another school next year & hope I'll be able to do the same thing.
     
  17. Godiva

    Godiva AmeriKan Citizen

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel @ May 19 2006, 07:46 PM) [snapback]258368[/snapback]</div>
    I'm not going to accuse anyone. I'm not going to say anything, not to kid and not to teacher. But I don't think I'm going to drive next year.

    I usually get to school before most kids arrive and leave after they've left. Very few students know who I am or what car I drive. Kids don't usually go through that parking lot either.

    I am very familiar with the NMK parent (Not My Kid).

    BTW here's a fun anecdote for you from a school I taught at about ten years ago. Kid went to a counselor complaining that the math teacher was prejudiced against them and that's why they got bad grades. Counselor asked if they had taken a look at the teacher's wedding photo on her desk. No, they said. Suggested they go take another look. Math teacher's spouse is African American.

    I love that story.
     
  18. mywhitenoise

    mywhitenoise New Member

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    This story pisses me off. Kids, and a lot of adults too, have no respect for anyones property. Just two days ago, around 15 cars in my neighborhood (including my brother's) had their car windows broken. We live in a pretty suburban area too, you're pretty much screwed anywhere you live in this country.

    I don't agree with everyone, and I don't like my fair share of people, but i'm not going to go out and key someones car just because of it.
     
  19. Godiva

    Godiva AmeriKan Citizen

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    Some people have a very warped and twisted idea of "fun".

    I know there were a rash of car windows broken a few years back. One kid would lean out the passenger side with a baseball bat while his partner drove slowly down the street. Kid would take out the mirrors and windshields of every car on the block. I'm not sure if they ever caught them.

    Right now there is someone throwing very large rocks off of a freeway overpass periodically during the early hours of the morning. One rock killed a woman passenger in the car. Mostly they've been taking out the windshields of cars on the freeway. *That* person, if they ever catch them, should go to prison for murder.
     
  20. hilore

    hilore New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ May 19 2006, 01:40 AM) [snapback]257915[/snapback]</div>
    Sorry that it happend. I know how you feel. My less than month old was broken into.
    Nothing was taken, about $530 damage for the front passenger window. Wouldnt it be
    nice if the Prius built in a motion sensor camera to catch the perp. Will your insurance
    cover vandal?

    --Hilore