ChrismanTSX

I've been driving my new '06 TSX 6MT since August 11th, and have been extremely happy with it. Sure, it's no "bahn-burner", but the balance of the car is outstanding.

My wife and I were out running errands with the kids today, and I ended up taking the kids to McDonalds for lunch (they needed to get out and burn some energy), while my wife went to pick up some groceries. She takes off, and came back to get me. We put the kids in the car, buckle them in, and I go around the car to get to the driver's door, and there it is... a 3-point gash in the driver's door.

After I go for a quick walk to blow off some steam (and use a few choice words I didn't want the kids to hear) , I asked my wife if she noticed anything (of course, she didn't), and I decide to go back to the grocery store parking lot, to see where she was parked, and who's parked next to that spot. Thinking that I'll call the cops and file a "hit and run" report. Turns out that as I get there, the car next to her spot is leaving, a 2-year old Toyota Prius. I flagged them down and asked whether they might have hit the car when parking (at first I thought this scratch was the work of a bumper).

Turns out the woman (passenger) opened her door, but the wind caught it, and it came to stop on my door... I guess this happens (a moment of inattention, it was really windy here today), but the fact that she decided just to walk away without doing anything (leave a paper with phone number, tracked my wife down, anything!?!) just pisses me right off.... It's not like the damage wasn't obvious, I saw it right away.

Anyway, I have their name, address and phone number now, so I'll be going to see my friendly Acura dealer to get an estimate of how much it will cost to get the door fixed. Then, I'll call them to see how they would like to proceed. The reason I kind of got lucky here is that I can now make a claim to my insurance relatively without pain: it's no longer a "hit and run", but an "accident without collision". Here, in Quebec (and I'm not sure how it is in other jurisdictions), claiming on a hit-and-run is a bad thing (it's exactly as if you were responsible, unless the police finds the culprit); now, because I went back and found those people, I can assign responsibility to them, which means that I shouldn't have to pay a deductible, and that my premiums won't go up next year.

Now, I just have to go through the motions of the evaluation, repair, claim, etc.

Do you guys have any advice in terms of what I should look for, where I may get screwed, etc? and what are the chances that they'll be able to fix it properly (ie, make sure there's no evidence of that hit)? I'm concerned that the ASM paint may be hard to match and blend in... any comments?

thanks,
Chris

EuRTSX

Depends on extensiveness of the damage. I'm just pulling this out of my ass, but I don't think ASM is that hard to paint match. I hear PWP is the hardest and nearly impossible to paint match.

I really hate it when people hit your car, just think that you won't notice. Really, I mean even people that go to church. Do they not have any guilt?

My car's been hit 4 times, and keyed once.
So I'm on the same page as you

ChrismanTSX

the funny part is that I first thought about you when I found my car... remembered reading about your 3rd rear-end accident and thinking I was so lucky I'd had my car almost 4 months and it was still intact...

so much for that now...

As for guilt, people don't seem to have any. which is why I'm so happy (!?!) that I found them and will make them pay!

Brandon24pdx

I try not to park next to people in busy parking lots if I can avoid it. Sorry to hear about the hard luck.

curls

We had a lady back into my wife's Protege5 a few weeks back and she freely admitted it (and felt extremely bad that she didn't see a BRIGHT YELLOW car while backing up).

Anyhow, we got 2 estimates by good shops I know if in Ottawa, and told her they were both about $1300-$1400. She consulted her husband and decided to go through insurance. We didn't pay any deductable, and nothing out of pocket. Rental was covered while the car was getting repaired (new door, paint + blend the areas in front and behind the rear door, etc...).

Dealers aren't always the best places (although Camco Acura here in Ottawa has a kickass body shop that many major dealers send their repairs to! Benz, BMW, Porsche, etc...). But, dealers are better than Maaco (CRAP) and many larger chains of bodyshops.

ChrismanTSX

Thanks Curls... i checked the damage today, and it's not only paint... the door is actually dented in 2 spots

I'll call my dealership tomorrow (Gabriel Acura in Pointe-Claire), and see what they have there for me. I expect the same discussion with the people who hit my car and will likely end up going to insurance (I can't see this costing less than 1300-1500). I know the Honda dealership near here has a good rep and does work for other dealerships... i guess we'll see tomorrow.

klas

sorry to hear about it. I hope you get it fixed not pay anything. Myself, I try to park away from people whenever I can and my wife allways gives crap about it that I am being paranoid. Btw, I don't let my wife drive my car and she still drives 96 Corolla which is park-anywhere-car.

marcest

pictures?

kennungesser

So far so good. Except when a woman rear ended me in traffic during the fair. It was bumper to bumper, and after she hit me she acted like it was no big deal. I had to tell her to back up, just to get off my car. Her front license plate gauged into me, and peeled the paint like a bad sun-burn.

I told her to meet at my parents house (1 block away). when we got to the intersection, she got into the right hand turn lane!! I let the window down and yelled at her, but she didn't even look at me. Everyone going into the fair thought I was a nutcase I was yelling so loud. When the light turned green for her to turn, I whipped in behind her. I chased her twice through the park before she stopped. She didn't even get out of the car, just slid into the passenger side of the car. A man and a kid jumped in, so I bailed out of my car a stood in front of hers. This dude asked what my problem was, and I told him what happened. He asked her if she hit my car, and to my utter shock she said " I don't know".

Well, we did exchange insurance info, and believe it or not, their insurance contacted me the next day!! Car is fixed and no problems. At least he was honest. Thinking about it later, although, I was as polite as possible (the yelling when she didn't follow me not withstanding) I guess I COULD have scared her, being that she was alone, and I had my wife and my friend and his wife in the car at the time.

Oh one more thing. The first door dent in my 1992 Dodge Shadow was done right in front of me in 1993. But I could not get angry. It was my Grandfather getting out of his car. He looked at me and said " you'll have that, damnit anyway" What could I say?

My 2000 Dodge Dakota SLT 4x4 V8 Club-Cab Bought brand new and now has only 34000k on it? Not ONE dent or scratch!!! Thats gotta be a record!!

ChrismanTSX

Not yet... i'm out of town for the next few days, but I'll take pics when I'm back...

ChrismanTSX

Can't seem to get pictures to show the dent. sorry.

I got my estimate from the body shop. $836 for the repairs, since they're not changing any parts. I'll call the owner of the other car and see if he wants to pay me or go through the insurance instead...

What scares me at this point is that they need to take the whole door panel and all the accessories off, pop the metal back in place from the inside, paint the whole door and close everything up. The guy there mentioned putting rustproofing stuff (what would they use? Paraffin?) inside the door because the metal's finish will get damaged from the hitting they will need to do inside. How do I make sure they did that?

And I'm worried about rattles. Since they'll have to remove the door panels, will everything fit properly after that? Did anyone have a similar situation?

curls

Shouldn't be a problem with rattles as long as they replace any clips they may break. As for rustproofing - ask them! Could be a mineral-oil (like many rustproofing places use), or parrafin as you mentioned. It's just to seal the metal inside the door from the elements.

Speaking of rustproofing - do you get your car rustproofed annually? In Montreal I'd HIGHLY recmomend it because of the salt they use (like here in Ottawa). Metropolitan Rustproofing is really good and based in Quebec - probably about $90 for the car, annually. Also, new cars get a lifetime warranty against rust if you go there annually. This applies to cars up to one year old or under 50,000km, whichever comes first. Even mine was accepted by them and it was 1.5 years old and had 75,000km.

ChrismanTSX

Thanks. I'll make sure they replace the clips. My experience with my Civic was that the clips are pretty much guaranteed to break as you undo them...

I know what you mean for the rustproofing... on top of that, I have indoor parking at the office, which just makes matters worse (good for me, not great for the car!)

I was debating between an oil/paraffin rustproofing approach, versus an acrylic-based compound. Those last longer, are less messy and also have a good guarantee. Anyone have any experience with those?

ChrismanTSX

Finally managed to get a few pictures that show the damage... it actually shows more when I use the flash and when the car is dirty...

Here is a view of most of the door panel:


and a close up of the damage:


There are 3 obvious impact points, and minor scratching above (middle of door panel), and on the side skirt. What the pictures don't show well is that the door panel is actually dinged, in addition to the paint being damaged.

I'm waiting for the insurance company to confirm they will cover this, and to proceed. I guess they're falling behind with the holidays and all! The evaluator came to see it and should have sent in his report.

Can't wait for my baby to be back to her beautiful self!

S14 n Tsx

that isn't so bad but hopefully you can get that fixed.

wkl_lau

Hey man sorry to hear that happen.

Just where did that happen? You said you took it to the shop in Point-claire? the one in St-Jean? Just wondering cause I live close. BTW Saturday was very windy, better watch out in the next few days.

And Curls, would you recommend Metropolitian over dealer's rustproofing? I heard Met use oil treatment, which they need to drill hole on your car....

And speaking of the stuff they will put inside once they hammer the dent out (they use a rubber mallet, so don't worry), I believe is somekinda thick paint (not sure what they call - sheet metal sealer?). My XRS was clipped on the rear bumper last year (hit and run on St-Patrick's day ) the shop said the 1/4 panel was slightly dented and need to be push a bit (I didn't see any dent, but goes with what they said just to be sure) when the job was done I pulled out the trunk trim and see 2 spot were cover with some very thick grey paint. The manager told me it's for precaution, any body work require any push or hammer will be cover with that.

Hope it helps.

curls

Regarding Metropolitan... yes, they use oil treatment. All of the best places do. And as for drilling holes in the car, it's safe, as they goop up the newly-exposed metal (the hole) with grease and put a plug in there. That's going to be the last place that ever rusts on the car because of it. Without drilling holes, how can the dealer get into the panels? Answer: He can't. Metropilitan / Krown will protect your car well... and much better than the dealer stuff (which they outsource at 200%-400% markup, btw).

klas

i say leave it... you'll have a lot more dings over the years and no reason to lose your hair over something like that. Car meant to be used and not to be preserved. I used to be paranoid with scratches and dings, but I no longer care.

VegaTSX

That doesn't look that bad, I got a small dent near my trunk i just left it since it wasn't noticeable from far away, I just left it as is. I was pissed at first because someone pushed a shopping cart and hit it.
Sooner or later you'll get more dings and dents might as well leave it for now why fix it everytime this happens you gonna file your insurance claim everytime?
Insurance will eventually jacked up what they charge you.

jwmack82

Glad you caught the person. After a few days of waiting for the repairwork, your car will look good as new! I wonder what kind of rental car you'll get?

ChrismanTSX

It was in the Galeries Kirkland Metro parking lot... my wife had parked the hell away from the store, but I guess there were enough people that someone decided to park close to me!

Yeah, it was windy... I'm staying away from malls and other parking lots these days!

ChrismanTSX

with my luck, it'll be some Pontiac G5 or a Kia Rio... or anything with an engine that makes more noise than power!

Klas, if the ding were on the rear quarter panel, I would probably leave it, or not care quite as much. Unfortunately, it's right in my door and I have to look at it every time i get in my car...

Overtaxed

Chrisman, just came across this thread.

Sorry about your dings. I'd be upset as heck as well.

Since it's their insurance, that's good. However, just so you know in case you didn't already, I saw an investigative news report when I lived in Quebec (something like "Facture"??), and if people make more than 3 claims, even if they're minor, insurance companies may blacklist them. ("three strikes" you're out.) The warning was not to claim for minor things. So it's good that you caught them, and you don't have to even call your insurance (apparently, I've heard rumors calling them gets you a "strike", even if you don't ask them to pay in the end.)

It'll be okay Chrisman. Our Camry had its front ripped off by a teenager going through a stop sign at 80 km/hour, and it looks as good as new. (Had it done by a Lexus autobody shop.) Previously, I had a minor collision repaired at an autobody shop that my local Toyota dealer referred me to (it was a GM body shop, owned by the same owner). The service and price were good, but the color turned out to be slightly different. (Fortunately, that same part was redone by the Lexus shop and it's perfect now.) It's hard to know if a place is good until you use them. If you haven't decided on a place yet, maybe when you go see them for an estimate, ask to see their operations, etc.

Good luck!

Overtaxed

Chrisman/Curls, just checked the latest updated Krown info. (www.krown.com)

New Car Warranty: 12 months from manufacturer's door date, or 6 months from date of purchase.

Used Car Warranty: Vehicles up to 36 months from manufacturer's door date.

Can't see a difference between what both warranties cover.

Since you bought your car new, think you'd need to have to done soon if you wanted the lifetime warranty.

Current cost: $109.95 (for car)

I'm going to Montreal in a couple of weeks. I may have mine done at Metropolitain (even if one exists near where I live), just because I've heard it's good.....

curls

Overtaxed -- where do you live?

Metropolitan (www.antirouille.ca / .com?) is only in Montreal, Trois-Rivieres, Gatineau, and Ottawa (Nepean).

ChrismanTSX

I'll be looking into that, thanks for the info Overtaxed! You mentioned Ottawa; I thought you were west of TO (for some reason, don't ask why I thought that...)!

I have to make a decision as to whether I will keep the car after my lease is over... if I keep it (which I think I will!), then I have to start the oil treatments, and I'd like to put the 3M clear protection on the front of the car... I just need to figure out how to time this with the replacement for my wife's car, which I think will be around for another 2 years max! I guess I'd better get a move on: I bought my car in August, so I would have until February 11th to get it done to get the lifetime warranty... then again, I can't find info about a warranty for Metropolitain...

TSX420J

Same incedent happened to my brother in law except there where police officers around and when he asked them to do something about it, they said they couldnt since the cars werent moving. That hurts.

ChrismanTSX

That sucks... did your brother see the incident or find the people who did it?

Overtaxed

Curls/Chrisman,

I do live west of Toronto, you're right. But my parents and mother-in-law live in Montreal, and we occasionally drive there to visit.

Hubby and I also grew up in Montreal (St-Laurent area), but it's been 16-17 years we haven't been back.

We're planning to go back for a few days in about 2 weeks. That's why I thought of having the first one done by Metropolitain.

TSX420J

He was in the car when the guy opened the door and the wind took it.

Overtaxed

My car is also leased. I also debated whether to do the Krown treatments for that reason.

Since the TSX holds its value pretty well (e.g. , I've heard about people ending up with positive equity after a 4-year lease, and even after 3 years into the lease), and these things are not very expensive, my current thinking is that it'd be worth it. Even if I don't keep it, they will help increase the value of the car.

Worst thing is that the car gets into a major accident (and thus, these added goodies don't help much maintain the value of the car). Then I will have technically "wasted" the money I invested into those things:
- Krown: $100 per year
- 3M clear bra: $250 (hood and fenders)

I also e-mailed Krown head office about drilled holes and a leased car (will they charge me for "damage" to the car because of the holes?) They told me to examine my lease contract. I seriously doubt it though, as this will increase the value of the car for them, if I return it.

ChrismanTSX

It all makes sense now! I think you posted you were in the Tri-City area... but you're from around here! Nice to see a fellow Montrealer! Are you planning to hit the Metropolitan on Sources Rd.?

Krown has the lifetime warranty, but I can't find anything on Metropolitain's site about a warranty... do you have info?

curls

[QUOTE=Krown has the lifetime warranty, but I can't find anything on Metropolitain's site about a warranty... do you have info?[/QUOTE]

I don't see it on their website either, but call one of the locations and you should get the info you're looking for.

As for Overtaxed -- I would go with something local to you (Krown). Why have to take tiem out of your annual trip to Montreal to get a car rustproofed? Also, if something were to happen that required re-spray or warranty work through the rustproofer, you'd probably want to have a place in your area rather than 7 hours away.

Overtaxed

Curls -- Yeah, I was thinking more about it, and you're right. Plus, it's better to build a relationship with my local Krown dealer.

Chrisman -- I would write them (Metropolitain) an e-mail. Then you'd the confirmation of the warranty in an e-mail. (although sometimes, companies are awful at answering e-mail) 2nd option would be ask for the name of the person you spoke to verbally. Note name and time.

ChrismanTSX

I'm definitely considering it. I was also looking at the 3M clear bra, because the paint is really fragile. Where did you have it done?

I'll call the Metropolitain Pointe-Claire manager and see what he says about a warranty. Otherwise, I'm going to look up Krown's in Nepean!

L1StarTSX

Hit and runs are covered in most of the 50 states by whats called uninsured motorist property damage, usually the lowest of deducts ($250) and doesnt count against you. No police report is needed, just that its reported within 24 hours.

Sorry about the hit by the way

ChrismanTSX

Thanks for the info... here, with the lovely "no fault" system, a hit and run means your insurance gets to pay, you have to pay your deductible (like an accident), and counts against you...

ebell

I recently was in a similar situation in mtl. However, it's settled. The guy who hit my car while it was parked did not have insurance nor registration. and he told me he doesn't have any money to pay me.

In short, my insurance sent me a cheque, and told me there's 0% liability on my part. Then, my insurance is going after the guy for the money.

Do I have to get my car fixed with the cheque? I mean, I can live with the damage on the bumper. Or is this some kind of a insurance fraud?

I can wait for more damage before fixing it and use the money I got for something else

ChrismanTSX

NO fraud there... However, I'm surprised by what you're saying... in terms of no liability on your part... i got a totally different story from my insurance!

Hey a fellow Montrealer! Where are you (PM me if you like!)...

ebell

Me, on parc la fontaine and sherbrooke area.

My car was parked and the guy got my rear bumper trying to parallel park behind my car. I was lucky getting him before he drove away. I didn't actually see him damaging my car, but there was fresh paint on his front bumper and the height matched. And police was involved at the scene later on, and the guy who "hit" my car never denied.

I guess he's settling a payment options with my insurance company. I have 0% liability b/c my car was parked tight in the space

What did ur insurance tell u?