Any way to sue for damage causing value loss?

[bcwang]

Hi,



I'm the one who had my 04 SVT Cobra repeatedly door dinged by my assigned parking neighbor. The final road here is taking them to small claims court. The current repair estimate is almost $1200, and involves repaint of both the front door, rear quarter panel, and side scoop. So that's two major panels requiring a repaint which equals instant value loss for the car.



So my question is, is there a way to sue for this value loss as well? It hurts that these people took a car with a flawless finish, added 12 marks and denied it. But even if I win the case to get the repairs made, that still doesn't change the fact that I lost value on this car. So if there is some way to quantify the value loss so I can try to get that back as well, please let me know. Anyone with experience for this kind of thing, please help out.



Thanks!

 

[coupe]

What is an "assigned parking neighbor"?

 

[BobD]

Probably lives in an apartment or condo with assigned parking spaces.

I don't think you could sue...well, I am sure you COULD sue, but I doubt you would win. Proving it was from your neighbor would be impossible probably and it would be your word against his. That is why there is insurance. Also, as far as value. That car lost value the minute you drove it off of the dealer's lot.

 

[imported_bigfoot1]

I'dd call a lawyer before doing anything...



Joey

 

[01bluecls]

Video tape your spot from your window if you can...

 

[kompressornsc]

There was a thread abobut this a few months ago. Try a search for diminished value claim.

 

[Envious Eric]

park somewhere else

 

[imported_themightytimmah]

Probably not, your average judge/jury is just going to say "it's just a car, deal with it". Maybe if you get lucky they'll be an Autopian judge out there somewhere .

 

[imported_memnuts]

Consult a lawyer. Unfortunately, there is probably no recouping your loss.

Trade it in for something less expensive and save to buy a home or rental facility that will allow a better parking situation.



Get the home (garage) then get the nice cars.



Sorry about your situation.

 

[Tasty]

You're never going to be able to prove that in court. Think it over before pursuing it and investing your time and money, because you probably won't win.

 

[coupe]

Consult a lawyer. Unfortunately, there is probably no recouping your loss.

Trade it in for something less expensive and save to buy a home or rental facility that will allow a better parking situation.



Get the home (garage) then get the nice cars.



Sorry about your situation.

Thats what i was thinking. I see it all the time. People buy really nice or expensive cars but do not have the *proper* means to take care of it.

 

[bcwang]

Thats what i was thinking. I see it all the time. People buy really nice or expensive cars but do not have the *proper* means to take care of it.

Well I wouldn't say it's any more expensive than the multitudes of G35, acura tl, mercedes and bmws that park in apartment parking lots everywhere you go. I just happened to end up with a bad parking neighbor, and happen to be an autopian so I do care about paint damage and dents more than the average person.



I guess the difficulty in making that kind of value assessment makes this difficult to ask for loss of value. I'll just go ahead with suing for damages.



Man, those people just can't stop lying. I talked to him on the phone yesterday and he agreed that we would meet so he could look at the damage (his wife drives the car). I leave work early just to meet him, and when we get there, he doesn't want to look, all he wants to do is tell me "from this point on, I don't want you to call or talk to me, my wife, or my kid ever again". If he wanted to do that he could have done it anytime since we live in the same apt complex. Why did he have to make me leave work early just for that. In any case, at that point I handed him my demand for payment document with the estimate and 10 days later I'm pretty sure I'll have to give him court documents too. I can't believe anything those guys say, nothing has been honest out of their mouths, ever.

 

[coupe]

Well I wouldn't say it's any more expensive than the multitudes of G35, acura tl, mercedes and bmws that park in apartment parking lots everywhere you go. I just happened to end up with a bad parking neighbor, and happen to be an autopian so I do care about paint damage and dents more than the average person.

Those people fall into the same category, they do not have the proper means to take care for or protect a nice vehicle.



Since you do not have the proper means to care and protect your nice vehicle your just gonna have to deal with situations like this. I to once lived in an apartment, owning a nice car at that time was out of the question becuase i knew i couldnt properly care for it or protect it.

 

[paul34]

I honestly don't think there's any way you can prove what happened in court, unless you have a lot of video evidence. If you don't have the evidence, I'd advise against taking it to court - you're just wasting your time (time lost when you could be working), and money.



I know your situation sucks, and I'm sorry to hear it. However, I'd advise to just go ahead and file the insurance claim, set up a video camera, and also get those magnetic door-ding pad things.



Also, never argue with stupid people. You're the better person - don't forget that.

 

[bcwang]

I honestly don't think there's any way you can prove what happened in court, unless you have a lot of video evidence. If you don't have the evidence, I'd advise against taking it to court - you're just wasting your time (time lost when you could be working), and money.



I know your situation sucks, and I'm sorry to hear it. However, I'd advise to just go ahead and file the insurance claim, set up a video camera, and also get those magnetic door-ding pad things.



Also, never argue with stupid people. You're the better person - don't forget that.

I should mention I've already gone through insurance, with a door ding being considered a collision, my $1k deductible doesn't make me feel any better. Video evidence is impossible without me putting the video camera out in public and having the chance of it getting stolen. All the damage on my car is consistent (6 front door dings line up in height and size, 6 rear quarter panel dings all same size point impact with transfer) with being done with a particular model car only, matching the damage on their door edges and car model (all worn out).



In any case, I don't mind the hassle if I can get justice. People like that can't do $1200 worth of damage to another persons property and get away with it when all parties involved know full well who did it. My car finish remains flawless on the drivers side, the passenger side looks like it went to war and back.

 

[metload1]

I can definently understand why you are pissed, and from what you've said, you've already been more than nice about the situation. In the mean time though, maybe you could use something like this:



Car Door Protection from Magnetic Door Guards



That will help keep the dent count at 12. What kind of car do you drive? It may simply be a jealousy problem, because remember... it's your fault they don't have a good car too right? Anyways... (I get on rants about this stuff lol) I'd try some type of protection like that door guard if that's possible, that way at least you could hold them off until you file your case. I know what you mean about the hassle with the case, it's not as much that it costs you a lot of money, but the principle of the fact that someone is basically vandalizing your stuff and you can't do anything about it. I always am careful where I park but I've gotten nailed too, so many people just don't have that respect that us Autopians do. Well, I hope things get better for you.

 

[bcwang]

I can definently understand why you are pissed, and from what you've said, you've already been more than nice about the situation. In the mean time though, maybe you could use something like this:



Car Door Protection from Magnetic Door Guards



That will help keep the dent count at 12. What kind of car do you drive? It may simply be a jealousy problem, because remember... it's your fault they don't have a good car too right? Anyways... (I get on rants about this stuff lol) I'd try some type of protection like that door guard if that's possible, that way at least you could hold them off until you file your case. I know what you mean about the hassle with the case, it's not as much that it costs you a lot of money, but the principle of the fact that someone is basically vandalizing your stuff and you can't do anything about it. I always am careful where I park but I've gotten nailed too, so many people just don't have that respect that us Autopians do. Well, I hope things get better for you.

I did think about this at one point, but there is a problem.

1. As an autopian, I know placing something like that on the paint is going to leave scratches, especially when the finish isn't perfect as happens after driving.

2. It looks like an "OK" for them to swing the door as they want since I'm "protected", which may end up one day going right through and putting a big dent.

3. My car has marks from the rear wheel well all the way to the front part of the front door, it'd have to cover over half the length of the car, including some non flat surfaces.



However, if there were a way to, say, coat the thing in some plastic dissolving acid. And it could do something to their plastic saturn door edge on the next impact, I wonder if that would be worthwhile. First as proof of impact, and second, watching their door melt away.... haha. Just kidding of course.



What I really want to do is setup a metal pipe dividing our parking spaces, so anytime they swing too hard it's just into a metal pipe. Of course it'll make parking and entry/exit of the car difficult for both of us, but it'd be worth it for me. In any case, I doubt the property manager would go for that.