Some A-Hole took my bumper paint off!!
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Racer
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 308
Likes: 4
Some A-Hole took my bumper paint off!!
Hey all, been awhile since I've been on here.. I too have become a victim of an inconsiderate a-hole on the road in NY (no surprise there). Here goes the long story..
On the way to picking up my friend, I was approaching an intersection and slowing down to stop at a red light. Some guy in a banged up 10+ year old champagne Corolla quickly turns on to the road from a driveway and didn't know the light was red so I felt a light juke and as I pull over, I see that there is a little paint taken off my rear passenger bumper (not as bad as jewvenile's damage).. I confront the guy (who had two passengers) and of course he denies hitting me and drives off but I have his plate number. There was a hardware truck that acknowledged that he hit me as well but once the light turned green, he was gone as well. I then proceed to go to my friends house and by coincidence, I see the car as the guy lives right by. I again question him bc I'm pissed. I tell him that I'm gonna call the cops but he again says that I'm a liar. He was an older guy of foreign descent so there was a bit of a language barrier. I then point to the black paint powder on his car (my mistake) and he wipes it off as I run back to my car to grab my phone to take a picture so there goes my evidence.
As we wait the hour for the cop to come, he is circling my car and laughing nervously then talking to his buddy in his language (I do have a cracked foglight in the front and a slightly damaged fender from hitting an animal back in May which I was gonna finally get fixed next week. His entire car is dinged up so I was wondering if he was going to turn the story around but once a local resident of the neighborhood came to see what was wrong, he said that I accused him of hitting me so if he did turn it around, that could be my witness just incase he did. The local resident did acknowledge his paint on my car btw.
Anyway when the officer finally showed up, they said that there is no way to prove that he hit me (it was dusk by the time the cops arrived so it was already hard to see) and the damage was so minor that it could be compounded, but there was definitely paint taken off. It's Nighthawk Black Pearl paint. The cops also said that if he hit me then there would be structural damage to my bumper but there wasn't. I explained in detail what happened and that the guy stopped short and lightly tapped me. When I said he wiped off the paint and to look at his hands, the cops still said there was nothing they could do. The guy's whole family decided to come out of the house and back him up to the cops as well so I was outnumbered. The cops finally let him go and I was stuck. They said writing an accident report or police report was futile so I did not do so since it might show up on Carfax. They also said they could write up a property damage report but it would have no benefit to me so I said no.
They just took each of our driver's licenses and wrote down the numbers on a simple note pad. They did not take down our insurance info nor did I exchange any info with the other driver. We both said we had GEICO though. As far as I'm concerned, he just knows my plate number and I know his (and where he lives).
-SO now the questions.. I don't think making an insurance claim would make sense since I have a $500 deductible on collision and it shouldn't be anywhere near that but correct me if I'm wrong. I can post pics of the paint scrape if someone can tell me how. Both me and my wife made recent insurance claims anyway so our rates might go up. A different douchebag hit my other car and totaled it (what luck I have huh).
-Can he turn around and say I hit him, even after our initial story to a neighbor and the cops was whether he hit me? The only info he could potentially have is my plate number.
-How come the cops didn't ask for more info? But since they didn't file a report, why did they have to take my driver's license number down?
-Should I fill out an police/accident or property damage report to cover myself incase he can (the incident happened this past Friday evening)?
-If so, will it show up on a carfax or autocheck report as an accident when it was indeed very minor? That could jeopardize the value of this essentially new car.. Or would it say the details of the incident on the carfax/autocheck report.
-Lastly, after I post pics (if someone can tell me how), how should I go about repairing the removed paint. Can it be touched up or does the whole bumper have to be repainted? I don't necessarily like the idea of compounding but if the damage is minor enough, I might do it. I want it like new though..
Thanks in advance for your help guys and I'm sorry I was rambling on here but I'm very frustrated that people in this world can screw you over then lie about it (to cops no less) with no repercussions watsoever..
On the way to picking up my friend, I was approaching an intersection and slowing down to stop at a red light. Some guy in a banged up 10+ year old champagne Corolla quickly turns on to the road from a driveway and didn't know the light was red so I felt a light juke and as I pull over, I see that there is a little paint taken off my rear passenger bumper (not as bad as jewvenile's damage).. I confront the guy (who had two passengers) and of course he denies hitting me and drives off but I have his plate number. There was a hardware truck that acknowledged that he hit me as well but once the light turned green, he was gone as well. I then proceed to go to my friends house and by coincidence, I see the car as the guy lives right by. I again question him bc I'm pissed. I tell him that I'm gonna call the cops but he again says that I'm a liar. He was an older guy of foreign descent so there was a bit of a language barrier. I then point to the black paint powder on his car (my mistake) and he wipes it off as I run back to my car to grab my phone to take a picture so there goes my evidence.
As we wait the hour for the cop to come, he is circling my car and laughing nervously then talking to his buddy in his language (I do have a cracked foglight in the front and a slightly damaged fender from hitting an animal back in May which I was gonna finally get fixed next week. His entire car is dinged up so I was wondering if he was going to turn the story around but once a local resident of the neighborhood came to see what was wrong, he said that I accused him of hitting me so if he did turn it around, that could be my witness just incase he did. The local resident did acknowledge his paint on my car btw.
Anyway when the officer finally showed up, they said that there is no way to prove that he hit me (it was dusk by the time the cops arrived so it was already hard to see) and the damage was so minor that it could be compounded, but there was definitely paint taken off. It's Nighthawk Black Pearl paint. The cops also said that if he hit me then there would be structural damage to my bumper but there wasn't. I explained in detail what happened and that the guy stopped short and lightly tapped me. When I said he wiped off the paint and to look at his hands, the cops still said there was nothing they could do. The guy's whole family decided to come out of the house and back him up to the cops as well so I was outnumbered. The cops finally let him go and I was stuck. They said writing an accident report or police report was futile so I did not do so since it might show up on Carfax. They also said they could write up a property damage report but it would have no benefit to me so I said no.
They just took each of our driver's licenses and wrote down the numbers on a simple note pad. They did not take down our insurance info nor did I exchange any info with the other driver. We both said we had GEICO though. As far as I'm concerned, he just knows my plate number and I know his (and where he lives).
-SO now the questions.. I don't think making an insurance claim would make sense since I have a $500 deductible on collision and it shouldn't be anywhere near that but correct me if I'm wrong. I can post pics of the paint scrape if someone can tell me how. Both me and my wife made recent insurance claims anyway so our rates might go up. A different douchebag hit my other car and totaled it (what luck I have huh).
-Can he turn around and say I hit him, even after our initial story to a neighbor and the cops was whether he hit me? The only info he could potentially have is my plate number.
-How come the cops didn't ask for more info? But since they didn't file a report, why did they have to take my driver's license number down?
-Should I fill out an police/accident or property damage report to cover myself incase he can (the incident happened this past Friday evening)?
-If so, will it show up on a carfax or autocheck report as an accident when it was indeed very minor? That could jeopardize the value of this essentially new car.. Or would it say the details of the incident on the carfax/autocheck report.
-Lastly, after I post pics (if someone can tell me how), how should I go about repairing the removed paint. Can it be touched up or does the whole bumper have to be repainted? I don't necessarily like the idea of compounding but if the damage is minor enough, I might do it. I want it like new though..
Thanks in advance for your help guys and I'm sorry I was rambling on here but I'm very frustrated that people in this world can screw you over then lie about it (to cops no less) with no repercussions watsoever..
Last edited by SSjTrunks112O; Aug 22, 2011 at 12:47 AM.
Senior Moderator
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 21,420
Likes: 2,188
From: Space Coast, FL
I think I need to post a sticky here on what do to in the event of an accident like I did in the TL section...
TO post an image you have to use a hosting website such as imageshack or photobucket. Then copy the link that has the [IMG] and [ /IMG] tags and paste it here!
I don't think he can say you hit him esp if you called the police. If he does your phone records/log will show that you called 911 and he didn't. As well how could you have hit him? Back up into him? It's not a big concern here since it's very implausible.
Some police officers can't really do anything about the situation because you left the scene of the incident. As well he can't do anything because it's minor damage (under 500 dollars in his opinion) and many police depts. don't waste time writing reports and such because it's never going to go through insurance. They do have to take some info down to have a log of where they were and what they were doing. That way if you ever take this to court they can identify which officers came and who did what.
You should file a report with the police even though it's informal just to have it on record in the event something happens in the future. However it may show up on a carfax/autochex if you or the officer put down the VIN number anywhere on the report.
The damage can be fixed in a number of ways depending on how you want it done. The cheapest method is the "advanced touchup" method. Basically you fill in the void where the paint was with touchup paint. Dip a toothpick i the bottle and let capillary action draw the paint in. Keep on adding paint till the touchup paint in the void is HIGHER than the surrounding original paint. Let it dry for a few days and then take some 3000 grit (like velvet) sandpaper and a sanding block and lightly sand the paint down until it's level with the orignal paint on the bumper. Then use some polish/compound to remove the haze and your done!
Then the other method is a spot repaint. Many dealers like to do this since it's cheap but the problem is that after some time it'll start to look bad. This should be around 100 dollars.
Then there's the proper method of repainting where they take off the bumper and refinish the whole bumper (any scratches, dents, etc) and then they prime and repaint it. That can cost around 500-700 dollars depending on the shop.
TO post an image you have to use a hosting website such as imageshack or photobucket. Then copy the link that has the [IMG] and [ /IMG] tags and paste it here!
I don't think he can say you hit him esp if you called the police. If he does your phone records/log will show that you called 911 and he didn't. As well how could you have hit him? Back up into him? It's not a big concern here since it's very implausible.
Some police officers can't really do anything about the situation because you left the scene of the incident. As well he can't do anything because it's minor damage (under 500 dollars in his opinion) and many police depts. don't waste time writing reports and such because it's never going to go through insurance. They do have to take some info down to have a log of where they were and what they were doing. That way if you ever take this to court they can identify which officers came and who did what.
You should file a report with the police even though it's informal just to have it on record in the event something happens in the future. However it may show up on a carfax/autochex if you or the officer put down the VIN number anywhere on the report.
The damage can be fixed in a number of ways depending on how you want it done. The cheapest method is the "advanced touchup" method. Basically you fill in the void where the paint was with touchup paint. Dip a toothpick i the bottle and let capillary action draw the paint in. Keep on adding paint till the touchup paint in the void is HIGHER than the surrounding original paint. Let it dry for a few days and then take some 3000 grit (like velvet) sandpaper and a sanding block and lightly sand the paint down until it's level with the orignal paint on the bumper. Then use some polish/compound to remove the haze and your done!
Then the other method is a spot repaint. Many dealers like to do this since it's cheap but the problem is that after some time it'll start to look bad. This should be around 100 dollars.
Then there's the proper method of repainting where they take off the bumper and refinish the whole bumper (any scratches, dents, etc) and then they prime and repaint it. That can cost around 500-700 dollars depending on the shop.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 308
Likes: 4
I think I need to post a sticky here on what do to in the event of an accident like I did in the TL section...
TO post an image you have to use a hosting website such as imageshack or photobucket. Then copy the link that has the [IMG] and [ /IMG] tags and paste it here!
I don't think he can say you hit him esp if you called the police. If he does your phone records/log will show that you called 911 and he didn't. As well how could you have hit him? Back up into him? It's not a big concern here since it's very implausible.
Some police officers can't really do anything about the situation because you left the scene of the incident. As well he can't do anything because it's minor damage (under 500 dollars in his opinion) and many police depts. don't waste time writing reports and such because it's never going to go through insurance. They do have to take some info down to have a log of where they were and what they were doing. That way if you ever take this to court they can identify which officers came and who did what.
You should file a report with the police even though it's informal just to have it on record in the event something happens in the future. However it may show up on a carfax/autochex if you or the officer put down the VIN number anywhere on the report.
The damage can be fixed in a number of ways depending on how you want it done. The cheapest method is the "advanced touchup" method. Basically you fill in the void where the paint was with touchup paint. Dip a toothpick i the bottle and let capillary action draw the paint in. Keep on adding paint till the touchup paint in the void is HIGHER than the surrounding original paint. Let it dry for a few days and then take some 3000 grit (like velvet) sandpaper and a sanding block and lightly sand the paint down until it's level with the orignal paint on the bumper. Then use some polish/compound to remove the haze and your done!
Then the other method is a spot repaint. Many dealers like to do this since it's cheap but the problem is that after some time it'll start to look bad. This should be around 100 dollars.
Then there's the proper method of repainting where they take off the bumper and refinish the whole bumper (any scratches, dents, etc) and then they prime and repaint it. That can cost around 500-700 dollars depending on the shop.
TO post an image you have to use a hosting website such as imageshack or photobucket. Then copy the link that has the [IMG] and [ /IMG] tags and paste it here!
I don't think he can say you hit him esp if you called the police. If he does your phone records/log will show that you called 911 and he didn't. As well how could you have hit him? Back up into him? It's not a big concern here since it's very implausible.
Some police officers can't really do anything about the situation because you left the scene of the incident. As well he can't do anything because it's minor damage (under 500 dollars in his opinion) and many police depts. don't waste time writing reports and such because it's never going to go through insurance. They do have to take some info down to have a log of where they were and what they were doing. That way if you ever take this to court they can identify which officers came and who did what.
You should file a report with the police even though it's informal just to have it on record in the event something happens in the future. However it may show up on a carfax/autochex if you or the officer put down the VIN number anywhere on the report.
The damage can be fixed in a number of ways depending on how you want it done. The cheapest method is the "advanced touchup" method. Basically you fill in the void where the paint was with touchup paint. Dip a toothpick i the bottle and let capillary action draw the paint in. Keep on adding paint till the touchup paint in the void is HIGHER than the surrounding original paint. Let it dry for a few days and then take some 3000 grit (like velvet) sandpaper and a sanding block and lightly sand the paint down until it's level with the orignal paint on the bumper. Then use some polish/compound to remove the haze and your done!
Then the other method is a spot repaint. Many dealers like to do this since it's cheap but the problem is that after some time it'll start to look bad. This should be around 100 dollars.
Then there's the proper method of repainting where they take off the bumper and refinish the whole bumper (any scratches, dents, etc) and then they prime and repaint it. That can cost around 500-700 dollars depending on the shop.
Thanks for the info, I actually just read about the required host to post pics..
Would doing a simple property damage report (without listing my VIN) be sufficient or should I do an MV104 or accident/police report (it's an NY State report).
As for him changing stories, his car is previously dinged up in the back & I have minor damage in the front from hitting an animal. So he could've potentially said that I hit him in the back since we did leave the scene of the incident.
As for backing up into someone, someone stupidly did back up into my previous car at an intersection and totaled it.. there are many idiots out there so anything is possible..
I will post a pic of tomorrow but if I choose to repaint it, do you suggest to do it at a dealer recommended bodyshop for the correct paint or is it not necessary since it's small.. Because my brother inlaw's brother runs a reputable car interior place & would probably be able to find me someone to do it cheaper..
Thanks again in advance for your help.
Senior Moderator
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 31,897
Likes: 7,251
From: Austin, TX
I think you can stop worrying about him turning the story around. If the police came out and said there was nothing to do with the real story, they will say the same thing for a made up story. I personally would forget the claims/reports. The damage is done, and the police wrote it off; just get it fixed and don't leave a history for the next buyer. 
As for a body shop, I would talk to people in your area who drive nice cars that have experience with shops. It can be hit or miss no matter which approach you take. I know of a shop here that does great work and has nothing to do with a dealer.
As for a body shop, I would talk to people in your area who drive nice cars that have experience with shops. It can be hit or miss no matter which approach you take. I know of a shop here that does great work and has nothing to do with a dealer.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 308
Likes: 4
I think you can stop worrying about him turning the story around. If the police came out and said there was nothing to do with the real story, they will say the same thing for a made up story. I personally would forget the claims/reports. The damage is done, and the police wrote it off; just get it fixed and don't leave a history for the next buyer. As for a body shop, I would talk to people in your area who drive nice cars that have experience with shops. It can be hit or miss no matter which approach you take. I know of a shop here that does great work and has nothing to do with a dealer.
As for a body shop, I would talk to people in your area who drive nice cars that have experience with shops. It can be hit or miss no matter which approach you take. I know of a shop here that does great work and has nothing to do with a dealer.Yeah that makes sense as far as turning the story around but I've had bad experiences with people being at fault then trying to lie about it so I just want to make sure I covered all the bases.
As for the Long Island Acuraziners.. where do you go to get your car painted? If you never did, can you recommend someone??
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