Bumps and bruises

M

Mr. Clean

The Man Who Knows The Man
We can expect to pick up some as we pass through life. Hopefully they heal up and are eventually forgotten. We've had several members recently who have gone through some health issues that though not life threatening, they are life altering. So I write this keeping things in perspective. Still I had to wait a bit to write so that the initial emotion could subside.

I've been trying to get Mrs. Clean's VW NB Turbo S cleaned up and ready for a couple of months of inattention due to other commitements. Three straight weekends I have primped and cleaned inside and out. The initial weekend I polished w/Meg's #80, did an IPA wipedown and then applied PB's EX-P with a finishing pad. (I did something different with the f/r bumpers - but that's not pertinent to this story) The two following weekends after washing I applied EX-P by hand. The end results appeared quite nice (though EX-P didn't have a really slick finish as I thought I remembered - but that also is not pertinent).

Friday evening we were going to dinner and Mrs. Clean lets out a gasp of disbelief. I quickly came to see what caused this reaction. My stomach sank as I saw what see saw...an arching scratch about 5 inches in length across the passenger front fender. It appears to be intentional due to the arching nature. It is a fingernail catcher along the entire length. In fact it looks so deep that I have my doubts as to whether I can make any improvement by buffing alone.

I've scratched my head trying to figure out when and where it could have taken place. It had to happen between Sunday and Friday, and two of those days it didn't move from our driveway. I drove it Friday a.m. to a doctors appointment, and parked in a parking garage and had to park next to another car, but managed to find a spot with a concrete pillar to get close to on the side that was scratched.

Not looking for condolences here as in life's scheme this is a rather small issue, but disturbing nonetheless. Why does anyone feel the need to peform such acts? She/we park as far away from other vehicles as possible and when that is not possible we strive to find the most "safe" spot on the lot, so it's not as though she/we cut anyone off for a parking space.
 
sorry to hear ..man that is the lowest form of whatever the reason to get at someone ..especially someone who takes pride in there auto. i remember someone dinged the fender on my red truck i had a few years back ..it ruined the truck . i showed it still but i didnt care as much .. i hope you get it fixed ..i should have . good luck
 
Hate to hear that. It appears someone went way out of their way to damage your vehicle. You think you could possibly touch it up with some paint and wetsand/buff/polish?
 
I've had similar situations happen to me over the years. In one instance I had a person leave me a note on my windshield that said something to the effect that this never would have happened had I not chosen the place I did to park. I was parked all the way at the end of a parking lot without a car close to me.

I think that there is a mindset in some people that simply says if I can't have that nice car you can't have that car nice. It's a sick way to think about things but I KNOW it happens to people. Sorry to hear of your situation. I'm a little OCD and something like this just tears at my gut until it is repaired. Unfortunately in these type incidents the worry persists because you always wonder how well the repair was made and how well the new paint matches. You'll find yourself looking at that corner of the car every time you approach it once it has been repaired asking yourself, can I see a difference?
 
My ex-wife and a friend of hers took my 6 month old then, 1986 Trans am to the horse
races on sunny spring afternoon back then. After the races they called me and wanted
me to meet them for dinner and cocktails that afternoon. I said sure. Meet you at the
restaurant. I pulled into the parking lot next to my Trans am and notice a full length
key scratch in the Trans am's side. My heart sank. It is sad that someone gets enjoyment in marring someone else property. Sick! Every since then, I do my best to foil or identify a person of that nature to the appropriate persons when I see it.
Sorry about your car.
 
JaredPointer said:
Hate to hear that. It appears someone went way out of their way to damage your vehicle. You think you could possibly touch it up with some paint and wetsand/buff/polish?
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Yeah, it would seem so. I feel fairly certain that it will take at least that much effort to repair, and as GH mentions below I fear a discernable repair. In my mind it won't be an easy fix with the arching nature of the scratch on top of the curve of the fender.

GearHead_1 said:
I've had similar situations happen to me over the years. In one instance I had a person leave me a note on my windshield that said something to the effect that this never would have happened had I not chosen the place I did to park. I was parked all the way at the end of a parking lot without a car close to me.

I think that there is a mindset in some people that simply says if I can't have that nice car you can't have that car nice. It's a sick way to think about things but I KNOW it happens to people. Sorry to hear of your situation. I'm a little OCD and something like this just tears at my gut until it is repaired. Unfortunately in these type incidents the worry persists because you always wonder how well the repair was made and how well the new paint matches. You'll find yourself looking at that corner of the car every time you approach it once it has been repaired asking yourself, can I see a difference?
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So someone actually did that because you parked out of the way? And took the time to write a note saying so? I just can't grasp such thinking.
cheapshot said:
Sorry to hear, this kind of stuff urks me all the time, every time i see something of this nature on a car.

I found this pretty cool site and have not tried it, but seems that it would work. I may be ordering a color or two.

Dr. ColorChip: Automotive Paint Chip Repair Systems
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Yep, there are several out there. Langka always comes to mind, and there was another that was talked about either here or over on Autopia some time ago. I'm sure with some research there will be many DIY options to choose from, just not sure I will undertake this job based on the reasoning I mentioned above. But I do have some hood chips that I might try first.
 
Mr. Clean said:
Yeah, it would seem so. I feel fairly certain that it will take at least that much effort to repair, and as GH mentions below I fear a discernable repair. In my mind it won't be an easy fix with the arching nature of the scratch on top of the curve of the fender.


So someone actually did that because you parked out of the way? And took the time to write a note saying so? I just can't grasp such thinking.
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I've heard stories (I don't know whether they are based on truth or not) of people who back into a car with people watching the whole time. The person gets out of their car in front of the crowd and writes a note and puts it under wiper. The people watching all assume that this person has done the right thing and left his contact info. In fact what this person wrote was, these people are standing here watching me write this note. Their happy and you don't have a clue who I am.

I'm not saying that this is what happened to me but the thought has always been in the back of my mind. My note simply said, this wouldn't have happened if you hadn't picked this spot to park, it had a little smiley face.

Here is where the story gets even better. I haven't told this story to many as I embarrassed that I was this immature. This happened to me my freshman year wile attending BYU. Money was tight but I found a way to get the entire car repainted, this car was fast and clean, it was my baby. The door was completely caved in and I couldn't stand the thought of looking at a door on my Mach 1 that didn't match the rest of the paint job. I made a deal with a quality body and paint shop, the owner went out of his way to help me. I went to his shop, used his equipment and completely stripped the chrome, bumpers, mirrors grill, doors, trunk deck and hood etc of off the car. I did much of the prep work with a nice body guy looking over my shoulder to make sure it was well done, their paint guy sprayed it. It was a wonderful paint job. I put the car back together and helped the owner strip 3 more cars to help cover the shop use and low cost repair. He was happy, my car looked great, I was happy.

I took the car back to school a couple of weeks after the door had been caved in. I parked in a parking lot about a block from where I was originally hit. I parked at the end of the lot with no one else around me. I came out only to find a yellow VW bug parked so close to me that I couldn't get in the drivers door. There weren't 20 other cars in the whole lot, it probably had 300 stalls. Well, you've probably already guess this, they had opened the VW door into my new paint job. The paint hadn't completely cured, it was Imron paint that dries very hard once cured, state of the art for the day. It didn't just chip the paint where the VW hit it, it peeled the paint for about 2 1/2". It looked very much like what you would expect to see if you had applied a paint stripper and then began to strip the paint off with a blade. I literally pulled the paint off in a shred. I went around to the drivers side of the car, I wrote a note with all of my contact information and explained the situation and what I guessed would be the price to fix my newly repainted door. I put it under the wiper and moved to the drivers door and took my knee and caved the door in. I climbed in my passenger door and drove away. I'm sure smoke was coming from my ears.

Yeah, I know this makes me the same kind of scum that did this to me but at the time it felt sooo right. I never got a phone call from the note I left. 25 years have passed and hopefully I have been forgiven of the "sin", I've tried to make it right with the man upstairs. I didn't keep the plate number and haven't any idea who the owner was, in the end I could not compensate the owner for what I had done. I looked for that car in the same lot for the next 3 years of school, every time I drove by I would look for a yellow Bug of course I never did see it. I learned a bit about myself that day, something I would just as soon not have known. There is no acceptable excuse for what I did I was young, dumb, broke and mad, I just let it go. Please don't think less of me for being such an idiot in my younger years.

I went back to the same paint shop, the owner was very good to me. I got the door repainted, the paint job was as good as it got in the day (matching an existing paint job was not nearly the science it is today). As good as it was, it never quite matched the rest of the car. I repainted the car again 2 years later.
 
GH, I've "heard" that same story, and not certain of it's veracity.

That situation with the parking is very familiar to us. We'll park way out, far from any other vehicle with countless empty spots and someone will come and park right next to us. I just don't get it.
 
Mr. Clean said:
G
That situation with the parking is very familiar to us. We'll park way out, far from any other vehicle with countless empty spots and someone will come and park right next to us. I just don't get it.
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i have mostly given that up as i think people think you are a snob to park like that and then go out of their way to cause damage ... now i look for a space where at least on of the cars is in good shape and a wide space too ;)
 
Poorboy said:
i have mostly given that up as i think people think you are a snob to park like that and then go out of their way to cause damage ... now i look for a space where at least on of the cars is in good shape and a wide space too ;)
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They need to get over it. They need to look at the positive, I've left that parking spot closer to the door. :)

But in situations where I must park amongst the general public ;) I agree, I try to find a parking island, an end spot, or a light standard or some physical barrier and allow the car I've parked next to as much room as possible.
 
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