Hit and Run. Suspect still at large.
11-07-2005, 07:11 PM
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checkmate...
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Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Red Stick, LA Chocolate City, LA
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Hit and Run. Suspect still at large.
I'm not exactly sure when this happened, but I was rudely introduced last Sunday. It was a nice, sunny day, and as I'm walking up to my car (that I parked in an open lot far enough from the closest potential door-dinger), I begin to realize that the bumper isn't showing a smooth, pleasing-to-the-eye reflection. What I see is evidence of criminal intent, and a felon on the loose.
Maybe someone left an envelope with a dozen benjamins underneath my wiper with a note you say? Or you might surmise that a good samaritan witnessed and videotaped the entire debacle on his, or her, hi-def digital camcorder. And that this same vigilante had time to whip out a damaging, testimonial sidekick to snap 8.0 MP still photos of the guilty party's face behind the wheel along with the plate which probably got intimately close enough to mine.
Ahh, but that only happens in real life, my friend. In my case, no one's around, no witnesses, no note, no apology, no "I'm truly sorry for not knowing how to back-up AND even more remorseful that I don't know how to own up to my mistakes AND I'll be damned if I didn't pay (literally) for my actions!"
Well, I must not be fortunate enough. Now I know that one can never avoid this predicament in their life, and so it was just my time. Surprisingly, I wasn't too angry about it. What was done was done, even though I didn't do it. Now, what can I do about it?
Here's my options:
1) Revive Einstein and force him to send me back in time so I can avoid it all
2) Employ myself as Inspector Gadget, Colombo, CSI (no such thing as Baton Rouge... so either Vegas, Miami, NY, you decide) to recreate that fateful day and hunt down the perp
3) Dent the left side of my bumper so as to create symmetric harmony with the right
4) Get it fixed out of my own pocket
5) Or attempt to perform (4) on my own
Would everyone agree that 4 or 5 is the most logical thing to do? Same here. Bodyshop estimates would most likely put a pricetag on a new bumper at $250 (?) and a new coat of paint at somewhere near the same (?). My insurance deductable is $1000 (I have my reasons on setting it this high), so I would rather foot the bill. Or maybe I would rather not. If deja vu played out, and this happened again on a new bumper, I would be less than overjoyed. So number 5 it is! This way, I repair it satisfactory enough and when someone does rear-end me eventually, and I'm there to see it unfold, I'll graciously let them pay for a new one. Besides, I can only justify getting a new one (whether it be just the paint or both) only if the visible damage is greater than 50% of the entire bumper.
So this weekend, I went to work...
First major dent, what a bummer...
My insurance adjuster surveying the damage...
This shot shows the depth of the indentation...
... which is several inches deep...
So, off comes the bumper cover...
I decided to perform a free exhaust tip mod (shown in later photos)...
By stepping on it (and using my weight), the dent popped back out...
...sort of. It's not perfect, but looks alot better. The paint on the other hand...
...will have to be addressed soon. A chunk is even missing, possibly stuck on the offending hit-n-runner.
And now the bumper is back on...
Where the hell is my Type-S badge? Oh, it's just a mirror image...
I polished the deep scratches as much as possible. This is the OEM exhaust tip...
... extended about 2 inches out. Some easy modding had to be done, but heck, it's free!
Paint piece still missing, along with some bubbled, lifted paint...
I'd rather live with this instead of $500+ out of my pocket...
Dent on the bumper, where?
The protruding tips will draw attention away from the less noticable dent...
I guess it was better that my car received damage on a less costly to fix plastic bumper than on a metal panel, like the doors. The dent is much less noticable now, although some raised edges and small punctures still remain. I can live with that. As for the paint, I will most likely have a bodyshop refinish that small section on the bumper and request that it be blended as best as possible. At the same time, I'll get them to body-color my front grille trim.
Hold on a sec... I could make a claim because I do remember a lady leaving the area quite recently. She caused quite a storm and spun out as she left in a hurry. Maybe I could blame this on her. Yea, she was quite large, on a scale of 1 to 5, I'd say she was close to a 5. If I remember correctly, her name was Katrina.
Maybe someone left an envelope with a dozen benjamins underneath my wiper with a note you say? Or you might surmise that a good samaritan witnessed and videotaped the entire debacle on his, or her, hi-def digital camcorder. And that this same vigilante had time to whip out a damaging, testimonial sidekick to snap 8.0 MP still photos of the guilty party's face behind the wheel along with the plate which probably got intimately close enough to mine.
Ahh, but that only happens in real life, my friend. In my case, no one's around, no witnesses, no note, no apology, no "I'm truly sorry for not knowing how to back-up AND even more remorseful that I don't know how to own up to my mistakes AND I'll be damned if I didn't pay (literally) for my actions!"
Well, I must not be fortunate enough. Now I know that one can never avoid this predicament in their life, and so it was just my time. Surprisingly, I wasn't too angry about it. What was done was done, even though I didn't do it. Now, what can I do about it?
Here's my options:
1) Revive Einstein and force him to send me back in time so I can avoid it all
2) Employ myself as Inspector Gadget, Colombo, CSI (no such thing as Baton Rouge... so either Vegas, Miami, NY, you decide) to recreate that fateful day and hunt down the perp
3) Dent the left side of my bumper so as to create symmetric harmony with the right
4) Get it fixed out of my own pocket
5) Or attempt to perform (4) on my own
Would everyone agree that 4 or 5 is the most logical thing to do? Same here. Bodyshop estimates would most likely put a pricetag on a new bumper at $250 (?) and a new coat of paint at somewhere near the same (?). My insurance deductable is $1000 (I have my reasons on setting it this high), so I would rather foot the bill. Or maybe I would rather not. If deja vu played out, and this happened again on a new bumper, I would be less than overjoyed. So number 5 it is! This way, I repair it satisfactory enough and when someone does rear-end me eventually, and I'm there to see it unfold, I'll graciously let them pay for a new one. Besides, I can only justify getting a new one (whether it be just the paint or both) only if the visible damage is greater than 50% of the entire bumper.
So this weekend, I went to work...
First major dent, what a bummer...
My insurance adjuster surveying the damage...
This shot shows the depth of the indentation...
... which is several inches deep...
So, off comes the bumper cover...
I decided to perform a free exhaust tip mod (shown in later photos)...
By stepping on it (and using my weight), the dent popped back out...
...sort of. It's not perfect, but looks alot better. The paint on the other hand...
...will have to be addressed soon. A chunk is even missing, possibly stuck on the offending hit-n-runner.
And now the bumper is back on...
Where the hell is my Type-S badge? Oh, it's just a mirror image...
I polished the deep scratches as much as possible. This is the OEM exhaust tip...
... extended about 2 inches out. Some easy modding had to be done, but heck, it's free!
Paint piece still missing, along with some bubbled, lifted paint...
I'd rather live with this instead of $500+ out of my pocket...
Dent on the bumper, where?
The protruding tips will draw attention away from the less noticable dent...
I guess it was better that my car received damage on a less costly to fix plastic bumper than on a metal panel, like the doors. The dent is much less noticable now, although some raised edges and small punctures still remain. I can live with that. As for the paint, I will most likely have a bodyshop refinish that small section on the bumper and request that it be blended as best as possible. At the same time, I'll get them to body-color my front grille trim.
Hold on a sec... I could make a claim because I do remember a lady leaving the area quite recently. She caused quite a storm and spun out as she left in a hurry. Maybe I could blame this on her. Yea, she was quite large, on a scale of 1 to 5, I'd say she was close to a 5. If I remember correctly, her name was Katrina.
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