Got HIT today!!
 

Some woman backing out of her parking spot in a big azz Ford Taurus wagon (beaten to hell) backed right into my bumper, cleared the paint right off, so I have a nice 4 inch scratch on my bumper.

I used Mothers Scratch remover to take out the scuffs, but I have to get that part repainted. I went to our family friend that has a body shop. He told me that he can get the 3 stage paint for me for nothing, as long as I do it...which I intend to do.

Here is the dilemma, and its morally based...he told me any shop would quote $350 CDN to colour match the whole bumper and if yer car savvy you want the car bumper repainted. Well, since its not that big of a deal, I will touch it up with the proper methods...so do I call her with a copy of the quote for $350 and say pay up, or what? I mean if I hit her, she'd take me to the cleaners no doubt...

Effin morality... :evil: effin scratch :evil: looks awful on my car...

Just because you got a good deal doesn't mean you have to pass it on.

Not sure how to take that comment Dame :? Are you pissin on my connections to maintain my car? Or encouraging me to take the money?

Anyhow....I gave the production codes to the guy, gonna get me the base white, the diamond coat and the clear coat.

You know, I would have been satisfied if she had apologized...I couldnt even get an "I'm sorry" out of her...wtf is wrong with people??

Euh... :roll:

get the $350. If she had been apologetic about it, maybe not.

I'm leaning that way....apologies are a powerful thing...well she can kiss $350 bone goodbye :?

Jim, I agree. Give her the bill for 350 CDN. Apologies go a long way. Not even getting a I am sorry would have ruffled by feathers. Get the 350 and get the whole bumper painted. It will look better in the long run.

Then sue her for emotional stress!! lol.. ok maybe thats going too far...

get a rental car too!!!

No Apology? Why stop at $350? I think the whole car should be repainted.

i dont think white diamond is that easy to duplicate!!!

Exactly, Tha paint can't be matched, and the car needs repainted.

I disagree. The white diamond paint can be matched. When I leased a new 97 Buick Riveria way back when, it was white diamond. When I went to pick it up from the dealer I noticed the whole bottom of the pass door had a pinkish tint to it. I thougt it was just a reflection from standing water on the ground. Upon further inspection it was the paint on the door. It came from the factory that was. Needless to say they had to repaint the entire door. They matched the white diamond paint exactly.

I am really sorry you got hit, that sucks!!!! Some people should not be allowed to drive :bash: Anyway...I think you should get the woman to pay up, hitting your car is one thing, but not saying sorry....now that is a whole different story!!!!!

Stupid people! Definately make her pay up! Make sure it didnt jar anything else loose either. Where did this happen at? (work,store,movies,etc...)

Take her for whatever you can get.
I worked in a parking lot when I was 18, and I never so much as put a scratch in a car.
If you can't drive, expect to pay up. :x

I haven';t the faintest if the paint can be matched, never tried to match any paint. But it would be a nice way to get a repaint if ya could swing it...

BTW, I've driven every work day in and out of peoples driveways, down main roads, putting 170K miles on my work truck in six months. The only thing I have hit was a WalMart bag. Hitting something is bad enough, But not being sorry is worse.

Ahh man :shock: Gotta hate it when that happens, of course she has to pay thats how you learn, through rules and penelties. Its up to you Jim to set her straight :twisted:

Factory paint can be hard to match. When they switch colors they just give the sprayer a cursory cleaning, it takes a bit of talent to blend paint to match. And I've heard that white colors are the hardest to do. :?

wow.. off the top of my head thats roughly 1000miles a day... depending on how many days you worked... Thats amazing... 8-12hour days.. lets say 10hour days... so 100miles pre hour... no accidents at that rate of travel going down those driveways... Simply amazing...

The scratch is right on a crease, so it will be easier to address and correct. I'll take care of it. Now that I will be getting the proper tri coat colors its going to be done correctly. She will however pay up the $350.

It happened at a local grocery store, private property, most insurance companies wont touch that mess with a 10 ft pole.

Either way....its minor compared to what I just heard.... :?

just raise that pimp hand and she'll know whats up...

OK, ok... I know we love our cars, but everyone makes mistakes. If ANYONE can honestly say they have never dinged someone else's car by mistake, then it is only a matter of time!

I do think she should have to pay, but the money should go toward the repair and not a new pair of speakers or something. :wink:

Missing the point
 

Jim, I don't think we're looking at a moral dilemma here.

The fact is that she hit your car. Another fact is that if you try to do it yourself and it doesn't come out the way you were hoping, you're in a lot bigger trouble and may not be able to go back after her for the money (which would be more at that point.)

There is no moral dilemma in having her compensate you for your damages- especially with the risk of not having it done properly on your own (even though we all have complete faith in you.)

It's not worth the risk, and you have every right to ask her to compensate you.

Re: Missing the point
 

Well said. I agree totally. I know I'm not going to settle for anything less than what my 1992 was worth at the time of the accident back in 02, plus I'm adding the $1,000 that was offered to me for the bodily injury (whip-lash) before Progressive decided that the guy who hit me wasn't covered at the time of the accident -why did it take 4 days after the accident to decide that they weren't paying the rental car bill or for my car, etc.....
And + interest to date.

Why should I settle for anything less than what is rightfully mine? Same is true in your case. Don't try to go for more, just get restitution and that is a top quality repair (your car was not damaged in that area before, there-fore it shouldn't show it in the future. This would be a moral thing, especially on her part.
I'm paying for the dent removal of the dent I put in my sister's GP fender with my head, even though she offered to turn it in to her insurance. It's my fault, but there's a price to pay -accident or not -it's still the person at faults' duty to undo their wrongs.

Re: Missing the point
 

And if you really want to wax philosophical about it, try this on:

Let's say you don't ask her to pay for her damages and she doesn't learn her lesson. (Judging by the looks of her vehicle, I'd say she probably won't unless she's forced to take responsibility.)

So the next car she carelessly backs into happens to be one with a newborn in the backseat...

Now you've got a moral dilemma :wink:

It could also work both ways though :wink: She pays, but gets really mad and goes on a road rampage scenerio for a week.

I still say make her pay though, dumb beeech

I get my tri coat paints tomorrow as well as a full blown quote for $350....she'll be getting a phone call :twisted:

Re: Missing the point
 

That explains all the stuff you do... :lol:

Re: Missing the point
 

ROFL! I didn't notice that. You actually dented it with your head?? :lol:

Re: Missing the point
 

Yeah, was changing the front brakes, and one of the bolts was giving me trouble so I just lifted myself up with all my weight through my arms into the wrench and that's when all hell broke loose. Trying to balance myself required putting my head where I thought was clear if the bolt broke loose and I came down, but the momentum carried me towards the car and I caught my forhead on the fender and put a nice 4"x6" dent about 1" deep into it and caused a ripple effect on the fender. For a second after it happened I didn't know what happened. My head was still throbbing three days later and now 4 days later it still is sore to the touch. I'll have to get some pix as soon as my family gets back from Milwaukee, as they took all 4 of the digital camera's (I guess they never thought I might have a need for one -I like to take a pic or two every so often when I'm out partying -which I did a bit of last night)!!!

Re: Missing the point
 

Sorry, i'm not buying that. Want an ethical dilemma? Not everybody drives around in a POS because they LIKE it or because they can't back out worth a damn. Some people are SERIOUS hard up for cash. You don't know how that woman's mind works and it's wrong to make assumptions. Who knows, maybe she went into a kind of "shock" - oh great, here's more of what I need, more repairs, etc. It's like someone getting hit in a car accident and having NOTHING wrong with them physically but still tries to take the offender to the cleaners because they make a MISTAKE. now THAT'S WRONG, morally/ethically/whatever. I know what happened to Jim sucks but you can bet it's probablly sucking for that woman now too. People make mistakes, and accidents happen. You really can't take someone to the cleaners or expect them to pay a fee that isn't needed. There's no such thing as emotional pain and suffering for having your car scatched as far as legal goes lol!
Go ahead Jim, give her the check, but be prepared for her to do nothing about it. If she offers to pay it, great, you're that much better off. If not, oh well...as far as I know, on private property she has absolutely no obligation to pay for the damages.

Unbelievably frustrating to know that our world works in this manner. Private property or not, you should be held accountable for carelessness.

And dont say for one second that if this happened to you, you wouldnt be in the same position as me, cuz I dont buy that for one second :evil:

I'd say only ask for what's her fault, milking it to pay for whatever else you have on a wish list, because she tapped you isn't right.

Re: Missing the point
 

It doesn't matter if it is private property or not, traffic laws/fault standards apply anywhere the public is not restricted from entering in a vehicle. Now I'm not so sure she can be CITED, but she DOES have to pay.

Yea, you're right, it is frustrating that our world works in this manner. But that's the way it is. Don't forget Dame that you are probably referring to the laws you know of, which would be US. Canada is generally a whole different ball game and as far as i know (however much that might be lol) you don't have to re-imburse because it's on private property.

Jim: I have had my car kicked in, i have had it rear ended, and I have had the tires slashed all by my ex. Was I pissed? Hell yes. Did he have to pay for the vandalism (kicking/tires)? NO because it was in my driveway and they said to claim it on our house insurance. Sarah has had her car backed in to in the parking lot and she was SOL for having insurance OR the other person pay for it.
It's just too bad. All i'm saying is if you are going to ask for the woman to pay, go with an open mind and don't go there thinking the worse of her, they are likely to pick up on that and become offense and be less willing to help you out. Just a tip from psyc. 101 :wink:

Okay- my $0.02.

If you touch it up yourself and it doesn't come out the proper way it could look like your car was in a more serious accident then it was. This will kill your resale value. $350 is money well spent. Good luck whatever your decision.

Nice guy alert.

I called her up, told her not to worry about it. I have the 2 bottles of paint ready to apply and I have enough to deal with other...imperfections on my bumper.

She was eternally grateful, so thats the end of that. Thats all I needed. I guess politeness is worth $350 dollars :wink:

Good for you Jim for handling it like a real man! We're proud of you, and you're right, politeness and kindness goes a long way. Who knows? she may just be real uptight for $$, and being in that spot myself, it can cause a lot of anxieties. Good luck with the paint, and if you want/need it, we've got an electric buffer.

Thank goodness. I was hoping this was how you'd end it--I didn't post, wasn't looking for another PJ voices counter-majority opinion episode--but I think that this was the best way to end it, you never know what she was thinking then or now, but putting her out 350 because she didn't say you what you wanted to hear (granted it's what any of us would expect to hear) or because you can, isn't the best way to go about it.

Is she your age/cute? :lol: