Scratches on New Car (Vandalism)

Davidos7 on 14/02/2019 - 19:32
Last edited 14/02/2019 - 20:39 by 1 other user

I have just found out that my car got scratched by someone. They went over the entire car and scratched it with a key (scratches are not deep). It's a new car so I would like to get this sorted.

(1) Is it worth notifying my insurance company? Excess fee is $700.00. Or maybe I can fix this by myself / go to a mechanic directly.

(2) Going forward what is the best way to handle this? Should I buy a dash camera with parking mode? If you can recommend one that can notify me over the phone in real time with motion sensor. My budget is < $250.

Thank you!

Automotive

Comments

  • bobbified on 14/02/2019 - 19:43
    +4

    (1) Does it worth notifying my insurance company? Excess fee is 700$. Or maybe I can fix this by myself / go to a mechanic directly.

    Firstly, go to a repairer and get a quote so that you know how much you're dealing with.

    (2) Going forward what is the best way to handle this?

    Secondly, where were you parked? Were you parked in a dick way that could've pissed someone off?

  • [Deactivated] on 14/02/2019 - 19:44

    notify me over the phone in real time with motion sensor.

    What are you going to do when the notification comes through ?

    Some surveilance system that is highly visible might be a good option, as a deterrent.

  • [Deactivated] on 14/02/2019 - 19:46
    +4

    Does it worth notifying my insurance company? Excess fee is 700$.

    Yes

    Or maybe I can fix this by myself / go to a mechanic directly.

    No. If anything, go to a panel shop.

    Going forward what is the best way to handle this? Should I buy a dash camera with parking mode?

    Yes. Standard ozbargain operating procedure for the last 3-4years.

    My budget is < 250.

    Doesn't matter what your budget is. You need a dashcam that can reliably record in park mode.

    Price should be last criteria; decide between available products at different price range. You don't start with a price and work backwards.

  • wordplay on 14/02/2019 - 19:48

    most likely going to cost more than $700 if scratched all over, but as bob said above get a quote from spray painter/bodyshop to check.
    what sort of car is it?

    • PinzVidz on 14/02/2019 - 23:07
      +1

      what sort of car is it?

      I think it might be a Lexus NX. Ouchie.

  • John Kimble on 14/02/2019 - 19:51
    +7

    On Valentine's Day? Did you break a girl's heart?

    • Kangal on 15/02/2019 - 02:13
      +1

      He went Dutch on the first date…

    • Laziofogna on 16/02/2019 - 00:05

      Or some girl’s boyfriend

  • HighAndDry on 14/02/2019 - 19:55
    +12

    Did you park in a really narrow street?

  • Findo on 14/02/2019 - 19:58
    +3

    How do you know it was a male that scratched your car?

  • whooah1979 on 14/02/2019 - 20:16
    +2

    He went over the entire car

    It sounds like you rubbed someone the wrong way.

    • [Deactivated] on 14/02/2019 - 23:39
      +3

      I wouldn't just key a car over a lousy hand j… Nvm.

  • tanksinatra on 14/02/2019 - 21:27
    +1

    Key scratches are extremely nasty because they cross over a lot of panels and tend to be deep.

    If the scratches have penetrated the clear-coat then the only way to restore the original finish would be to fully respray the scratched panels (in a spray-booth).

    If they are over the 'entire' car as you say then a full respray will cost your insurer $5k+

  • brendanm on 14/02/2019 - 21:33

    As above, full respray if "all" panels have been scratches, is big $$$.

  • nubzy on 14/02/2019 - 21:37
    +2

    Do yourself a favour and buy 2x Blueskysea B1W dash cams (under $120 for both on special). When you park, just plug them into your Xiaomi powerbank and they will give you many hours of recording. Sucks when people do malicious acts like this, but at least with these cameras you will have proof.

    • pegaxs on 14/02/2019 - 22:38
      +1

      at least with these cameras you will have proof.

      Not really. Predominantly, keying of cars is done down the sides. Cams tend to face forward and back. While you may end up getting some footage, it may ultimately end up being useless unless the person is known to you, your family, your friends or to police.

      Another issue is keying is usually done at night, so the camera needs to have very good low light capabilities. Most dash cams rely on the headlights being on for them to get enough light.

      The other thing is the limited recording times on dash cams. My dashcam at 2k/30fps (or 1080/60fps) resolution gets about 2 hours from a 32gb card. 8hrs would require 128gb. I guess 256gb cards are now cheap enough if the camera supports it. So, there is a chance that something that happened at 6pm would be overwritten by the time you find it at 8am the next morning.

      From what I have read, the B1W supports a max card size of 64GB. That’s about 8 hours of continuous recording at 1080p @ 30fps. Parking your car at 8pm would get you footage until 4am before it would start to overwrite old data. By 8am the next morning, up to 4 hours of your footage from that night would have been overwritten (ie: everything between 8pm and midnight)

      With a max card size of 64GB, my suggestion is, DONT buy this camera. Unless there is a newer version or a firmware update to work with bigger cards, this unit is pretty useless for using it as a continuous surveillance camera.

      • Cliche Guevara on 15/02/2019 - 15:25

        Yeah, but "parking" mode in many cams e.g. Viofo 119s, allows setting the fps to a lower number i.e. 1, 5, 15. You won't fill a 64Gb card overnight.

        • pegaxs on 15/02/2019 - 16:30

          Still doesn't fix the problem of only seeing down the front and back of the vehicle. Not to mention that the camera is taking an inside view looking out, so the evidence it collects may not be conclusive enough unless the keyer is damaging the bonut or boot lid and looking at the camera and there is enough light.

          I'm not saying it wouldn’t work, but that it needs some more thought than just "use this camera, it will work" when in fact, it may not.

  • Iamnotcheap on 14/02/2019 - 21:41

    Not going to be a cheap fix - had my rear and passenger door done, and as it cut to deep it meant they had to pull back most of the paint over the panels to get the blend right - so it wasn’t obvious down the side that there was a respray. Cost to insurer was 3.5k.

    Shop around though - don’t simply go with one that might do fill and top coat. Eventually the lines will make there way through again as the paint fades over time. It’s going to be costly, and something you would not want to do out of pocket - so might as well pay your excess and get a excellent job done.

  • ThatKiwiFella on 14/02/2019 - 21:56

    Besides going to a panel shop, contact a car detailer to see if they can sand, cut and polish the scratches out.

    Cheaper than a paint 10/10 times

  • JimmyF on 14/02/2019 - 21:58

    (1) Is it worth notifying my insurance company? Excess fee is $700.00. Or maybe I can fix this by myself / go to a mechanic directly.

    If $700 is cheaper than the quote you get to fix the car, then yes.

  • JIMB0 on 14/02/2019 - 22:06
    +2

    AMG?

  • holdenmg on 14/02/2019 - 22:10

    Take Photos.

    Make a Police Report.

  • [Deactivated] on 14/02/2019 - 23:33
    +1

    Some of the comments (and OP's own post) seem to be anticipating/expecting it to happen again, and again.

    I would have thought the chance of it happening again would be very slim. Especially if it is related to Valentines day. Maybe park car overnight in supermarket carpark. Like at my local coles your car gets locked in at 10pm, and stuck there overnight (free overnight secure parking). Park somewhere like that, or at friends house, next Valentines day.

    If you want to test whether it will happen again soon, I would go to supercheap and ask them how to clear it up. Since it's light scratching, maybe you can buff it out and/or use touch up pens. Some very cheap fix that gets it looking almost perfect, would be ideal. Get it where it would require looking really closely for it, to see the scratch isn't repaired perfectly.
    Chances are, whoever done it, especially if at night, they aren't going to noticed you haven't fixed it completely, so they will do it again (if they are going to). Would be annoying asf to keep on paying for full repair, and have it damaged repeatedly, so if you can touch it up almost perfect and see if it is going to be an ongoing thing.

  • singlemalt72 on 15/02/2019 - 08:10
    +5

    If the scratches are only in the clearcoat then it can simply be polished out, if it is as deep as topcoat/basecoat/primer then it needs expensive work.

    To test, get a spray bottle filled with water and spray on the scratch, if it disappears (while wet) then the scratch is only in the clearcoat if it is still visible when wet then it is deeper.

    • zerocritical on 15/02/2019 - 09:11

      ^^ This. Simple and easy test. If it's clear coat, go to a car detailer and get it fixed for a few hundred dollars. Alternatively, do it yourself.

  • OZBMate8911 on 15/02/2019 - 09:42

    You could get the whole car wrapped in clear vinyl/clear bra. That would prevent any recurrence but is expensive to do in the first place

  • GG57 on 15/02/2019 - 10:06

    To avoid in the future, you can't unless you lock up your car and never take it out.
    People will do what they do.

  • supercheapguy on 15/02/2019 - 13:43

    Goes through insurance bcoz I had been in the similar situation. I went through my own pocket and clear coat of the car came off within a year.(you will negotiate body shop and they will do cheap job. You don't want this) you can ask for warranty if you go through your insurance. Trust me

  • savage bargain on 15/02/2019 - 14:47

    What toolbags… Some people just scratch new cars for the sake of it because they have the social skills of a hangry toddler.

    Go to a panel beater for a non-insurance quote and see if it's over or under $700.

    Preventing it would probably be leaving your car looking like you don't own a hose so it's less attractive to the full tool sets out there.

    A dashcam with good park mode will be a bit more than $250, and unless you or the police can identify the spanners, it's still kinda pointless. Park mode on a dashcam does mean too it's wired to the battery (or you use some other power source that can deal with being in a hot car, and Lithium batteries are not one of them!). If you want to go the dashcam route, I'm happy with the quality from the Viofo A129 and a Power Magic Pro hardwire kit (bought during decent bargains on here), but you will need to know a little bit about your fuse box in a car to install it. Watch a couple of YouTube videos on how to DIY what you're interested in buying, and if you aren't sure, you'll need to get someone else to install it. And then if you get someone else to install it, they might be able to provide alternative cameras and hard wire kits for a better price depending on their suppliers. So you'll need to do a mix of install only/byo gear quotes and them supply and installing quotes to work out the cheapest for you.

    One plus about a dashcam though is it's also handy when dealing with the entire Master's tool range on the road - look at some of the recent forum posts for examples…

  • jm48 on 15/02/2019 - 16:55
    +3

    OP has started 6 posts, but only made 4 comment replies.
    A bit rude IMO.
    I am guessing he pissed off the scratcher somehow.

  • Brucet on 15/02/2019 - 18:24

    IF scratches are not deep. Suggest you go to supercheap ask for their opinion.

  • Laziofogna on 16/02/2019 - 00:04
    +1

    It’s often for a reason you find scratches on your car. Not always but often.

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