What is it with people.

[damo76]

hey guys so angry, i have a 15month old focus sports and after 3 weeks of owning it someone scraped the passenger side rear quarter and grazed it. Now i go outside and look at the car only to see someone has scraped the drivers side, this time its pushed in the metal near the fuel filler and scraped all down the bumper. I mean wtf there was no notes left on both incedents and thats part reason why i got a smaller car was so no one would hit it. No one ever hit my other buckets of crap why this new car?
Anyway can i get insurance to fit it since it was obviously done in a shopping centre carpark, my insurer is rac?
ps its stressfull owning a new car, i might go back to an xf falcon.

[Franco Cozzo]

Insurance will cover it but most likely you will have to pay the excess.

When my old man took his new Mazda 323 home at the time, my next door neighbors grandparents reversed right into it in our driveway and smashed in the door in the first week he had it.

[GULL]

New cars are a pain and very stressful when left on their own in public ,and even every day driving ,but people just don't give a

[Stefan]

One reason I no longer bother with a new car as a daily.....

If you claim on insurance you pay excess and loose no claim bonus, it may be cheaper to get it fixed yourself.

[BLUEYBA]

Originally Posted by Stefan

One reason I no longer bother with a new car as a daily.....

If you claim on insurance you pay excess and loose no claim bonus, it may be cheaper to get it fixed yourself.

especially if they make you pay the excess twice for the two separate hits

[Wretched]

I feel for you. People out there are careless, jealous and or just total a-holes.

about a year after I got my Focus, my pride and joy I and the gf at the time had gone out to dinner for my birthday. I parked the car in Sth Melbourne. On the way back I had seen two drunk guys walking along the street, had kicked over a bin and then proceeded to do the same to a Scooter.

When I got back to the car, I saw what they had done, they had smashed my front windscreen, dented the roof (jumped on it) and the bonnet. After chasing them down, getting into a scuffle and having the cops catch them it took 3 months to get the car fixed and force the insurance company to pay up. They flatly refused to even though charges were being laid.

Sorry again to hear about the damage done. Hope it all works out for you.

[Hally]

It sucks. Recently had a dint put into the side of our X-Trail that also took a big chip of pint out (down to bare metal). Because it is a Pearl White the panel beater has advised they need to paint the whole side of the car, so definitely going to be an insurance claim.

Can anyone confirm that he is telling the truth about peal paint jobs?

[vdo]

Yep. They will have to paint the whole side. I would prefer that, as pearl doesn't blend in well and with painting only one panel, you would most likely see the difference.

[johnydep]

Happened to my wife's car last Friday, in the car park of the local shops. She comes out and notices several white lines along the rear black bumper. As she's standing there looking, a car pulls up and say's she's seen it happen and took the other cars rego.

My wife reports it on Saturday at the local police station, the oficer phones the owner and asks if she was at the local shops and hit a car. The answer - I'm not sure, maybe. I'm a nurse and work nights. I'll ask my husband". The Police officer then starts making excuses for her to my wife - 'she's a nurse and had just finished a late shift. being so tired she may have not noticed side swiping your car.' WTF!

Anyone that hits another vehicle with theirs and drives off = scum.

Happened twice to my Territory; once on the right front side, next on the left front side.

Now, when parking in car parks, I try and park the SS-V where people don't park - usually far away from the entrance. The annoying thing is I've noticed that people have an attraction to parking next to others. Couple of weeks ago, went to the local shops, car park was quite empty, I parked far away. When I come out a lady has parked right next to me, so close she had to squeeze out. Why? you've got 100 empty double parks everywhere.

[EBII Fairmont]

Originally Posted by johnydep

Happened to my wife's car last Friday, in the car park of the local shops. She comes out and notices several white lines along the rear black bumper. As she's standing there looking, a car pulls up and say's she's seen it happen and took the other cars rego.

My wife reports it on Saturday at the local police station, the oficer phones the owner and asks if she was at the local shops and hit a car. The answer - I'm not sure, maybe. I'm a nurse and work nights. I'll ask my husband". The Police officer then starts making excuses for her to my wife - 'she's a nurse and had just finished a late shift. being so tired she may have not noticed side swiping your car.' WTF!

So did this nurse just get off with it like that? My father was swiped a few back while driving. The driver of the van just kept going like nothing had happened. Another driver gave my father his rego. Went to the police who turned up to his house, inspected the damaged vehicle questioned him and charged him with hit and run or something like that and was forced to pay for the damage.

[damo76]

Gees happens a fair bit then. The thing people don't realize is that the paint job is the most expensive part of the car, for instance painting whole side of your car to repair a ding, that's a big job and you will have to make sure it blends in under certain light.
Yer i'll put in a claim get it fixed, looks ugly expecially because its metalic black.

[xtremerus]

Originally Posted by johnydep

My wife reports it on Saturday at the local police station, the oficer phones the owner and asks if she was at the local shops and hit a car. The answer - I'm not sure, maybe. I'm a nurse and work nights. I'll ask my husband". The Police officer then starts making excuses for her to my wife - 'she's a nurse and had just finished a late shift. being so tired she may have not noticed side swiping your car.' WTF!

And of course, he would be just as sympathetic if it had been a police car that the nurse hit. Yer right.

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by johnydep

.The answer - I'm not sure, maybe. I'm a nurse and work nights. I'll ask my husband". The Police officer then starts making excuses for her to my wife - 'she's a nurse and had just finished a late shift. being so tired she may have not noticed side swiping your car.' WTF!
.

Perhaps then she should not have been driving full stop!!
I suppose side swiping a parked car is better than running over somebody or running a red light

[2011G6E]

Usually most insurance companies will make you pay the lot if you can't identify who did the damage. Happened to my mother a while ago...hopped in her little 121 Mazda, just getting keys in the ignition, hadn't even started the engine, and bam, someone reversing out of a park behind her ran into the tailgate of her little hatchback, and just drove off! All she could say was it was a "red four wheel drive ute", no idea of the numberplate of course, and no one else saw it apart from someone in the distance who also had no hope of getting a plate. No security cameras either.
She had to pay the full excess on the insurance claim when they fixed it. However, I don't think it went on record as an "at fault" accident on her record.


Out here some people simply don't care and will open car doors happily against your pride and joy, and if you complain, they say "It's probably only a lease car anyway, who cares?". (Pro-tip...be very very careful about buying ex-lease cars...cheap? Yes. Abused? More than likely...)

Hanging's too good for 'em...

[nstg8a]

Originally Posted by johnydep

. The annoying thing is I've noticed that people have an attraction to parking next to others. Couple of weeks ago, went to the local shops, car park was quite empty, I parked far away. When I come out a lady has parked right next to me, so close she had to squeeze out. Why? you've got 100 empty double parks everywhere.

See, I see a nice car parked away by itself in a corner, and il go out of my way to park next to it.

Two reasons,
1, they obviously care about their car, and aren't likely to hit mine
2, I know I'm not going to hit theirs either, so I'm actually protecting that nice old classic parked away from everyone.

I took this pic a few weeks back, the owner probably came out and thought some ******* ford parked next to them, while I was actually helping them.




Then you get people like this, I saw both of these cars park, heaps of parks everywhere, the statesman pulled in first, straight into a 'small car' park, so it's *** is sticking out, then the little echo or whatever it is, pulled into one of the large car parks...



People just really don't care

[PooDog]

Originally Posted by johnydep

Happened to my wife's car last Friday, in the car park of the local shops. She comes out and notices several white lines along the rear black bumper. As she's standing there looking, a car pulls up and say's she's seen it happen and took the other cars rego.

My wife reports it on Saturday at the local police station, the oficer phones the owner and asks if she was at the local shops and hit a car. The answer - I'm not sure, maybe. I'm a nurse and work nights. I'll ask my husband". The Police officer then starts making excuses for her to my wife - 'she's a nurse and had just finished a late shift. being so tired she may have not noticed side swiping your car.' WTF!

Anyone that hits another vehicle with theirs and drives off = scum.

Happened twice to my Territory; once on the right front side, next on the left front side.

Now, when parking in car parks, I try and park the SS-V where people don't park - usually far away from the entrance. The annoying thing is I've noticed that people have an attraction to parking next to others. Couple of weeks ago, went to the local shops, car park was quite empty, I parked far away. When I come out a lady has parked right next to me, so close she had to squeeze out. Why? you've got 100 empty double parks everywhere.

agree we do the same park as far away as possible coz most people are lazy but you do get the odd p.o.s that wants to park next to you ...what ive started doing is take two spaces its normally quiet in the far corner and most of the spaces are only designed for a corolla

[falcon_bandit]

Originally Posted by johnydep

My wife reports it on Saturday at the local police station, the oficer phones the owner and asks if she was at the local shops and hit a car. The answer - I'm not sure, maybe. I'm a nurse and work nights. I'll ask my husband". The Police officer then starts making excuses for her to my wife - 'she's a nurse and had just finished a late shift. being so tired she may have not noticed side swiping your car.' WTF!

wife works at a smallish shopping centre, started 6am one day and came out after work with 2 doors and rear 1/4 caved in. Given that she had parked in a dirt patch behind the shopping centre, it was one of the other workers there. The height of the damage indicated a 4wd.

also another bloke from work came and told her he seen it was caved it when he started at 6:30am. Ok...... so now it was someone who had an early shift that day. Given that the police station was literally next door, hoping it might be on video. Nope. What about video of the roundabout 30m down the road, cant imagine it was that busy 620-630 !!. But nope, police not interested because we had insurance.

So the wife basically put it down to only 2 businesses in that centre who start their employee's that early and quizzed them, and nope, nobody knows nothing. So now the wife has resorted to getting work mates to check any 4wd's in the typical workers parking spots and send her photos of any that has fresh paint scrapes on the bar. A couple leads, were sent onto the police.

So after 3 weeks, we give up and was about to make the claim, and bear the 20% increase in premiums/rating stuffed because we had no name to give them, we receive a call from the police that the owner 'came forward' as the cops were checking out one of the cars we gave them details of. Cop arrived at our house, with a scribbled letter from the scum driver, admitting guilt, apologising as it was an honest mistake blah blah, and the cop had the nerve to tell my wife... " now this better be it!!! dont you hassle this woman!!!"

never were they helpful, everytime we asked for it, we had to "annoy" them to do it, and even when the person was busted, we were made to feel like assholes

but theyre so quick to jump down your throat if you got a bloody blown brake light !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[blueoval]

Originally Posted by falcon_bandit

wife works at a smallish shopping centre, started 6am one day and came out after work with 2 doors and rear 1/4 caved in. Given that she had parked in a dirt patch behind the shopping centre, it was one of the other workers there. The height of the damage indicated a 4wd.

also another bloke from work came and told her he seen it was caved it when he started at 6:30am. Ok...... so now it was someone who had an early shift that day. Given that the police station was literally next door, hoping it might be on video. Nope. What about video of the roundabout 30m down the road, cant imagine it was that busy 620-630 !!. But nope, police not interested because we had insurance.

So the wife basically put it down to only 2 businesses in that centre who start their employee's that early and quizzed them, and nope, nobody knows nothing. So now the wife has resorted to getting work mates to check any 4wd's in the typical workers parking spots and send her photos of any that has fresh paint scrapes on the bar. A couple leads, were sent onto the police.

So after 3 weeks, we give up and was about to make the claim, and bear the 20% increase in premiums/rating stuffed because we had no name to give them, we receive a call from the police that the owner 'came forward' as the cops were checking out one of the cars we gave them details of. Cop arrived at our house, with a scribbled letter from the scum driver, admitting guilt, apologising as it was an honest mistake blah blah, and the cop had the nerve to tell my wife... " now this better be it!!! dont you hassle this woman!!!"

never were they helpful, everytime we asked for it, we had to "annoy" them to do it, and even when the person was busted, we were made to feel like assholes

but theyre so quick to jump down your throat if you got a bloody blown brake light !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just reading this has my blood boiling for you. Where is the justice?

[Itsme]

Originally Posted by blueoval

Just reading this has my blood boiling for you. Where is the justice?

Se this is the problem into today's society, no one gives a damn any more,
cops don't care, courts let them off..... what bloody hope have you got these days!!!

[blueoval]

Originally Posted by trublu

Se this is the problem into today's society, no one gives a damn any more,
cops don't care, courts let them off..... what bloody hope have you got these days!!!

And they wonder why there is vigilante groups out there dishing out their own punishment

[GO FURTHER]

I have been very lucky so far (touch wood) that in the 18 months of owning my FG MKII XR6T from brand new, I don't have a single ding, dent or scratch on it.
Just the few small stone chips on the front and a few on the bonnet from all the country miles I do. And mostly those have been from following trucks.

When I do park my car, especially at shopping centres I have these rules I always follow;

Rule 1: - If possible always park at the end of the car park, and walk the extra distance.... Because a lot of car door dings and scrapes are caused by people navigating shopping trolleys between parked cars .... The closer you park (especially to a supermarket) then the more people are going to be passing your car with trolleys to get to their car...Parking at the very end of the car park, means no trolleys need to go past your car.

Rule 2: - If possible always park on the very left of a row of car parks (the first spot), because 90% of cars are driven by a driver without passengers, so there is much less chance of the car parked to your right, having the passenger door opened and hitting your car.

Rule 3: - Never park next to a "two door car" .... As the doors are longer on 2 door cars than 4 door cars, and there is greater chance their door will touch yours.

Rule 4: - You are better to drive into a car park than reverse into it... Because if someone backs into your car, it is better to have damage on the rear than the front... The radiator may be damaged and the car could be become undrivable more so than a hit from the rear. Less chance of being stranded and the cost of repair is usually less.

Rule 5: - Always fold in your wing mirrors when parked to give that little extra clearance.

Rule 6: - Don't park near or next to the "shopping trolley return bays" in car parks for obvious reasons.

Rule 7: - If you have to park between 2 cars , you are better, if possible to park between two small cars than two large cars, obviously their doors maybe shorter, and leave more space between the car park lines being narrower.

Rule 8: - Never park next to a "side door" loading van... Unloading these vehicles risks damage to your doors from boxes, hand trolleys, etc.

Rule 9: - Always try to find car spots with "2 point or more protection" ... i.e. Concrete kerb on one side and kerb, barrier or fence at the front so no one can park in front of you or on at least one side.

Rule 10: - If you are parking in a car spot with empty spots to the left and right of yours, always make sure you park "centred" between the lines, and not closer to one of the parking lines.

Rule 11: - If possible, it is better to park in a side street next to the shopping centre rather than in the carpark itself and walk the extra distance.

[Beastie]

Originally Posted by BAXRSIX

I have been very lucky so far (touch wood) that in the 18 months of owning my FG MKII XR6T from brand new, I don't have a single ding, dent or scratch on it.
Just the few small stone chips on the front and a few on the bonnet from all the country miles I do. And mostly those have been from following trucks.

When I do park my car, especially at shopping centres I have these rules I always follow;

Rule 1: - If possible always park at the end of the car park, and walk the extra distance.... Because a lot of car door dings and scrapes are caused by people navigating shopping trolleys between parked cars .... The closer you park (especially to a supermarket) then the more people are going to be passing your car with trolleys to get to their car...Parking at the very end of the car park, means no trolleys need to go past your car

Rule 2: - If possible always park on the very left of a row of car parks (the first spot), because 90% of cars are driven by a driver without passengers, so there is much less chance of the car parked to your right, having the passenger door opened and hitting your car.

Rule 3: - Never park next to a "two door car" .... As the doors are longer on 2 door cars than 4 door cars, and there is greater chance their door will touch yours.

Rule 4: - You are better to drive into a car park than reverse into it... Because if someone backs into your car, it is better to have damage on the rear than the front... The radiator may be damaged and the car could be become undrivable more so than a hit from the rear. Less chance of being stranded and the cost of repair is usually less.

Rule 5: - Always fold in your wing mirrors when parked to give that little extra clearance.

Rule 6: - Don't park near or next to the "shopping trolley return bays" in car parks for obvious reasons.

Rule 7: - If you have to park between 2 cars , you are better, if possible to park between two small cars than two large cars, obviously their doors maybe shorter, and leave more space between the car park lines being narrower.

Rule 8: - Never park next to a "side door" loading van... Unloading these vehicles risks damage to your doors from boxes, hand trolleys, etc.

Rule 9: - Always try to find car spots with "2 point or more protection" ... i.e. Concrete kerb on one side and kerb, barrier or fence at the front so no one can park in front of you or on at least one side.

Rule 10: - If you are parking in a car spot with empty spots to the left and right of yours, always make sure you park "centred" between the lines, and not closer to one of the parking lines.

Rule 11: - If possible, it is better to park in a side street next to the shopping centre rather than in the carpark itself and walk the extra distance.

All excellent advice, but do you ever find a park

[NTF6]

Originally Posted by johnydep

Now, when parking in car parks, I try and park the SS-V where people don't park - usually far away from the entrance.

I used to do that but all it did was make it really easy one day in Perth at Adventure World for some scumbags to pull the complete drivers door lock out, rip half the dash out to get to the stereo and 6 stack CD changer, steal all of our possessions and xmas presents as we were on a travelling holiday and all of this to a 2 week old $54k 4x4.

[Maka]

Sorry to hear about your misfortune damo76, its happend to me a couple of times too. It sucks when your pride & joy is damaged by inconsiderate *****. I hope you get out of this situation to your satisfaction mate - did it happen anywhere near security camera's? If so go & ask to have a look, you never know your luck!

cheers, Maka

[Falcojimmy]

It is an absolute bummer and surprisingly common. Especially in supermarket carparks where people are in a hurry and don't give a fat rat's about anyone else.

Over the last 3 and a bit years my galaxy blue EL has been hit from pillar to post and not one scrape has been owned up to. I've had a guy towing a trailer cruise past and take out the front quarter panel with the trailer mudguard (he drove off), I've lost 3 mirrors, the front bumper was shaved bare of paint on one corner, and someone has sideswiped the rear guard and left a long centimetre-wide scratch. The only person that hit the car who we saw was when a Landcruiser pulled out in front of my girlfriend before a set of lights. He then proceeded to give my concussed missus totally false details (fake license as well) and a summary investigation revealed that his number plates didn't belong to the car he was driving!
I know it's only an old Falcon, but I look after my cars and a scratch to me is like a facial scar on a newborn daughter! It is one of life's most infuriating and frustrating things when these lowlife scum violate your pride and joy.

[irish2]

Originally Posted by Falcojimmy

It is an absolute bummer and surprisingly common. Especially in supermarket carparks where people are in a hurry and don't give a fat rat's about anyone else.

Over the last 3 and a bit years my galaxy blue EL has been hit from pillar to post and not one scrape has been owned up to. I've had a guy towing a trailer cruise past and take out the front quarter panel with the trailer mudguard (he drove off), I've lost 3 mirrors, the front bumper was shaved bare of paint on one corner, and someone has sideswiped the rear guard and left a long centimetre-wide scratch. The only person that hit the car who we saw was when a Landcruiser pulled out in front of my girlfriend before a set of lights. He then proceeded to give my concussed missus totally false details (fake license as well) and a summary investigation revealed that his number plates didn't belong to the car he was driving!
I know it's only an old Falcon, but I look after my cars and a scratch to me is like a facial scar on a newborn daughter! It is one of life's most infuriating and frustrating things when these lowlife scum violate your pride and joy.

I find it interesting that the people who do 20km/h under the limit on the street, seem to fly through car parks. It is almost as it they stick to the one speed.

[_Ben]

Originally Posted by irish2

I find it interesting that the people who do 20km/h under the limit on the street, seem to fly through car parks. It is almost as it they stick to the one speed.

60 in a 70 zone, then 60 in a 50 zone. See it all the time, haha.

[HULK_I6T]

I caught someone in the act.. i was sitting in a friends car in shopping centre door opened on my mates car, id had a very bad day just prior.

Offender denied it and then basically said "so what are you gonna do"

he paid a heavy price.

my mate returned to his car to see all sorts of carnage, people and shopping scattered everywhere

[brismike]

Know how you feel . . I had my previous car, a Nitro Blue FG XR6 keyed on the rear passenger side door about 6 months after we got it. Then last year when my wife parked it at the local shops she returned to find some other lowlife keyed the drivers door.

Now we have got our new GT we are avoiding parking it at the shops. If she wants to go down I'll drive her there and pick her up later when she has finished. Luckily we are not too far from the shops.

It's a minefield out there when you have a new car, speed bumps, high gutters, walls, traffic calming devices (<<< *********g hate them) and inconsiderate people who seem to think opening and crashing their car door against your vehicle is ok ... WTF?

Mike

[Silver Ghia]

Originally Posted by brismike

Know how you feel . . I had my previous car, a Nitro Blue FG XR6 keyed on the rear passenger side door about 6 months after we got it. Then last year when my wife parked it at the local shops she returned to find some other lowlife keyed the drivers door.

Now we have got our new GT we are avoiding parking it at the shops. If she wants to go down I'll drive her there and pick her up later when she has finished. Luckily we are not too far from the shops.

It's a minefield out there when you have a new car, speed bumps, high gutters, walls, traffic calming devices (<<< *********g hate them) and inconsiderate people who seem to think opening and crashing their car door against your vehicle is ok ... WTF?

Mike

Which is why whenever I/we go shopping we use my wifes VW Polo. For some reason that car seems to resist dents and scratches in the doors etc, it must be made from hardened steel. Also when paint is exchanged from adjacent car doors, so far the VW paint has remained unscathed after over 7 years; it must be a harder paint. I just polish off the added colours.