WOW, sorry to hear that! It kinda makes me glad that at least my jag will survive this mess!!

 

The girl that parks next to me says she didn't do it and that she didn't see anything but I noticed she has not been parking in her spot since it happened. I went and got some shots of where she parked on the street and am undecided if she is lying or not. Anyone have a thought as to whether the pics indicate it possibly being her car that did the damage? Please note that she and pretty much everyone else who parks in the lot is not much for taking care of their cars. I don't remember the plate being so askew though. Any opinions?

 

Hi,
My opinion is the damage caused to your car was probally done by a small truck reversing or something protruding from a pickup or similar.

The front of the volvo would not have created the sharpe damage to your car.

Also ive learnt in life, that the person or persons you suspect to be responsible ( probally for good and genuine reason) turn out not to be responsible.

Best wishes
Steveeasy

 

artstar,

Regarding the girl you suspect, have you taken measurements of the height of her front bumper to its damaged corner? From your photos, the pronounced sharp creases in your damaged rear panel appear to be higher than her bumper corner. Can you spot any of your paint remnants on her damaged bumper corner? Does that area of her bumper appear to have been washed and scrubbed recently while the rest of her car remains dirty? You still have a bit of detective work to do before you can rule her out....

 

sucks to see the damage. dont worry, who ever did this will die a slow and painful death...and then be eaten alive by rodents.

it definitely wasnt another car that did this. unfortunately because theres no evidence, no one is going to get blamed.

 

I don't think it's your neighbor, I think her bumper is too low and there's no blue paint or black rubber on your quarter panel. What ever she ran into, she left blue paint and a rubber scuff on. I think the same as other posters a work truck, possibly a straight truck. I had a large truck in my drive a few years ago and backed our mini van into it, left a similar dent to the tune of $1500.00

 

It is interesting how her car has what looks to be fresh damage. Sometimes people do more damage to disguise what they did. Looks like a case for CSI.

 

Thanks for the replies everyone. Well I guess I'll chalk this one up to experience and let karma have it's course. It does irk me that someone would commit this crime especially in a gated underground lot. Since it requires some sort of key or FOB to get into it could only be less than 10 people who did this. It's certainly a sting that people do this and I'm out 500 bucks.

It doesn't look like it's going to be easy to repair this because of the shape of the car and I can't even see how they will get to the inside of the dent to pound it out. I hope they are able to do the job to where I can't tell.

 

I agree with the others the Volvo did not do this and definitely a sharp edge was involved.... From a repair point of view I would want to replace the wing/fender, yes you could get behind it to bash it out but the metal has stretched and would have to be shrunk to get it close before copious amount of filler/bondo would be used, not what you really want but a new wing is $1800 plus fit and paint

 

Wow, well I expected a high cost. I'm pretty sure the insurance company is gonna want to go the cheapest way possible but at least it's guaranteed as long as I own it. Talked to the leasing company and they are giving me the run around as I thought they would. Well we'll see if anything comes of that but at least I tried there. Taking it in tomorrow morning to the body shop. I'll update this when I get more info.

 

I really don't want to add to the agony of this incident but get the body shop to look at the luggage compartment lid whilst they do their assessment.

On your latest set of pics, the edge of the panel is clearly reflecting the camera flash and it shouldn't be visible above the top of the wing line.

Graham

 

Oh thanks for pointing that out. I looked at it again and it does seem that it protrudes a bit more than it should but the mechanism works perfectly. Maybe it's just that the side panel pulled away from the trunk lid and not the lid itself. This seems a very difficult job to me because of the complex shape at that point of the car and the seeming lack of removable panels to replace. But thanks Graham, I'll bring it up tomorrow morning when I'm there.

 

Did you file a police report for vandalism or a hit and run? That may help you with insurance if you did. I got tons of help when my car was vandalized with no worry from an increased rate. I even managed to get the woman who did it and got my deductible back in restitution.

 

Yes I did take it down to the station and get a report. I told the officer I thought it was vandalism but when he looked at it he said he thought it was hit and run. I uploaded dated photos of it that night to Geico with a statement and the officers card. He said it takes a while to get the report number and that the insurance could get it from his card? I was assured by phone by Geico that it won't go on my record and wouldn't effect rates in the future. It's currently in the body shop now and should be done by early next week. I'll upload pics of it after I get it back.

PS, called the leasing company and they did the absolute minimum to help me. The guy was even rude on the phone. There was an employee on site that day and I've seen plumbers and other contractors vehicles in the lot since then so it is almost definitely either one of their vehicles or a disgruntled worker. Again there are only 7 people including myself that park in a very tight parking area that is controlled access.

 

Update: the estimate is 1600 and it should be done by monday next week. I'm assuming they are just repairing the damage rather than ordering a new rear quarter panel. I've seen the panel for sale new for 1000 online. I also convinced the Geico adjuster to include the tail lamp assembly since it was slightly cracked. Glad they did that as that assembly is around 200 bucks! So I pay 500 for that, sounds good if the work is done right. As I said before I'll upload pics when I get it back.

 

For what its worth, after having handling many accident reports in the past, it appears, from your attached pictures, that a utility truck/van, with an attached extended metal step up/bumper (ex. see attached rear bumper pic), backed up into your vehicle while attempting a u-turn, to exit the lot. Damage, more like paint marks of your Jags color, on the utility truck, would be on the left rear corner.
I would contact management to find out which company was working by your Jag that day.
From there, I would contact the owner/president of such company advice them of what happened and remind him/her that you DON'T want to file a hit and run report to the police, which would result in investigation against his company or driver(misdemeanor in CA), you just want your car repaired at no cost to you. At the very least, you may get your $500 deductible from it. Hope that helps.

 

Hi Artstar,
I know this post is well late, but I found yours after my girls grand cherokee was hit at Elmswood College car park in Cupar, Scotland and I am seeking to find this mysterious white bmw estate that was parked next to hers. The problem is she was told the bmw owner was a visitor and this raises questions in my mind as to what if there was a rape or murder on these premises? I am not aware of any cctv but these companies owe a sense of responsibilty to all people who enter these sites and having sound security knowledge my blood curdles when there is such an ignorant lapse of intelligence and forethought when it comes down to protection and deterrance.
Regarding your sad issue, I have experience with tubulars of all sorts big and small and I believe like many others it could have been a van (tail lift possible) a wheelbarrow or ladder. Also I am of a strong gut instinct to say someone has been carrying a bundle of copper/steel pipe and has stumbled/tripped and the splaying pipe has separated and struck/scraped and dented your precious. The only other (and this is wild!) guess I can fathom is that a vehicle has driven into/over a wheelbarrow or similar implement and that had done the damage or it is JUST PLAIN VANDALISM!! Hangman wanted! Regardless I hope you get sorted and the miscreant that did it gets sorted in another completely different fashion! Regards and stay Happy! Stu

 

Artstar
What was the outcome? Did the body shop repair it properly? Did you ever find out who hit it? Curious minds want to know.

 

If I remember correctly, artstar sold his XK8 several months ago for a more economical commuter car, so he's probably long-gone from the forum....