Someone hit and ran on me...

B

BTLew81

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One month old Jetta TDI, 1300 miles. Parked in my office parking lot today. Went out to leave, and someone completely pushed in the passenger corner of the rear bumper. I do not see any damage to the rear quarter, so I am hoping for either a bumper repair or replacement. Going in for an estimate next week. Person who hit me didnt leave a message, note, nada. Cannot believe it. The worst part is that I finally had time to completely polish and seal it.

Going to be very specific with the body shop NOT to touch the rest of the car while doing the work. Hopefully with just a bumper repair they should have no problem not touching the rest of the car.

Posted here because I knew you all would "get it." :(
 
That sucks. If it's just the rear bumper, i'm sure a reputable body shop can fix it and you won't even know it happened.
 
Hope so. The shop I am using IS good. Just want to make sure they dont make a mess of the rest of the car. I think I'm worrying too much, as this is probably a very "simple" repair for them.
 
Sucks to hear, hopefully the estimate isn't too bad or they can just take it off and repair it instead of replacing it.

I'd almost be tempted to recommed to cover the car in plastic sheeting except the bumper. Too many stories of careless overspray.
 
I thought about that. However I think either way the bumper will come off. They are gonna hate me but I'm going to be very specific with them.
 
Sorry to hear about this...


When I was still out in California I had a really cool, 1974 Datsun 260Z and after having it get hit twice I sold it and said no more to cars and went UP.


Because of "people" it's too hard to try to own and have anything nice that is at a level that can be hit.



BTLew81 said:
Going to be very specific with the body shop NOT to touch the rest of the car while doing the work. Hopefully with just a bumper repair they should have no problem not touching the rest of the car.
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Very good idea and way to be PROACTIVE.

All too often after a body shop does a repair to just a section of the car in their mind they think they will do you a favor and buff the entire car out to give it a uniform shine.

Then they swirl out the rest of the car to match the swirls they left in the repaired area.

Just happened to a young man here at work.


That's the industry....


:dunno:
 
Sorry to hear this. I would think the body shop would paint the bumper off the car, so your concern is with the fallout from other work being done in the shop while it's there?

Good luck on the repair.
 
BTLew81 said:
One month old Jetta TDI, 1300 miles. Parked in my office parking lot today. Went out to leave, and someone completely pushed in the passenger corner of the rear bumper. I do not see any damage to the rear quarter, so I am hoping for either a bumper repair or replacement. Going in for an estimate next week. Person who hit me didnt leave a message, note, nada. Cannot believe it. The worst part is that I finally had time to completely polish and seal it.

Going to be very specific with the body shop NOT to touch the rest of the car while doing the work. Hopefully with just a bumper repair they should have no problem not touching the rest of the car.

Posted here because I knew you all would "get it." :(
Click to expand...

Good luck with that. Not trying to sound negative, but I once dealt with a great body shop, told them to NOT wash the car, they agreed, even wrote a note on the window saying, "Do not wash, customer will do." They STILL washed the car, swirled out the brand new paint they had laid down and swirled the rest of the paint. Then they claimed they use nothing but soft "horse hair" brushes. Brushes, in my opinion, no matter how soft, should not be used on paint. Wheels, tires, trim, fine with me. Anyway, I couldn't have been anymore clear about them not washing my car and they still went against my request. What burns me up about it is that they agreed to not wash it, all in front of my own eyes in person.

Since you only have damage on the bumper, it shouldn't be necessary for the body shop to touch anything else or even wash it. Trust me, and whoever else tells you, they will screw the paint up. It only takes ONE wash filled with bad techniques and you'll find yourself polishing the paint once again.
 
Well, it appears this story ended well. Just picked up the car. Havent had a chance to REALLY get down and inspect it, but the repair looks good, they did not wash it, and seems like there is very little to no overspray.

The manager that handled my file was very cool about me being so anal and even commented how great my car looked when I brought it in. We talked shop, I mentioned this site, and he was impressed with my knowledge. He put "DO NOT WASH" signed on all of the windows, in the file, and I left one on the dash. It appears the car was not washed.

Paint work looks good. Going to wash it tonight, so we'll get a real feel. So far, a good ending.
 
And don't forget to have at least three languages on those signs.

And a pictogram for those that can't read ANYTHING
 
BTLew81 said:
seems like there is very little to no overspray.
Click to expand...

Glad it worked out!

Urethane bumpers are usually repaired and sprayed off the car. It takes less than 10 min to remove most of them and much easier to shoot on a work stand.
 
Man that sucks and really happens all to often. Neighbor across the street came by with his red 2006 Vette. He went to the store came back to his car and somebody hit his drivers door with their white bumper. White paint transferred to his door about a foot long, looked like they grazed it pulling into the spot next to his. Guess what, NO NOTE! I was able to get the paint off and the door, polished out ok but the door had some cracking in it.

Your car being a month old with no damage to the rear quarter will be perfect but ya still have the hassle.

Later,

PC
 
BTLew81 said:
Well, it appears this story ended well. Just picked up the car. Havent had a chance to REALLY get down and inspect it, but the repair looks good, they did not wash it, and seems like there is very little to no overspray.

The manager that handled my file was very cool about me being so anal and even commented how great my car looked when I brought it in. We talked shop, I mentioned this site, and he was impressed with my knowledge. He put "DO NOT WASH" signed on all of the windows, in the file, and I left one on the dash. It appears the car was not washed.

Paint work looks good. Going to wash it tonight, so we'll get a real feel. So far, a good ending.
Click to expand...

Just went through this myself. Our results were great. Had a certified Lexus repair shop do the work. The service manager said the detail guys really liked not having to wash my car!. I had signs posted DO NOT WASH OR MACHINE POLISH THIS CAR.

Glaad it worked out for you in the end.

Oh yea my other party was uninsured driving a rental car. Hello.....
 
About to head home and check it out. Yes, at least for now, I am happy. Thankfully I knew a really good body shop and had experience with them. they never rolled their eyes at me and were very good about the whole instructions thing. They do a ton of high end restorations as well, so they get it, I think.

Even a bit of overspray wouldn't make me scream, but having the car in the same condition as when I brought it in would really be out of the norm after reading horror stories here.
 
When you get to work you gotta park far back and away from EVERYONE.

I always have the opportunity to park within 50 ft of the front door where I work. Sometimes I'll park up to a 1/4 mile away in a deserted area on the end with a curb just to be away from everyone.

Now you have to find the guy who hit you. Its likely someone who works there or comes there. There probably a little paint transfer and you can measure the exact height.

I think the dent on HIS car needs a couple more to match. Then, finish down with a couple of key gouges just so it "pops".
 
The funny thing is...I DO park far away. I'm still looking for the jag tag hit me. Lucky I have some cop friends that work in the town my job is in. I find the person and I'm calling them. They can pay me back for the deductible and rental.
 
sorry, I hate when that happend, 5 years ago happened to me..
 
So, all looks good minus some minor holograms on the bumper. NBD. I am planning on polishing the bumper in about 30 days. No issues there, right? Won't seal for at least 60.
 
BTLew81 said:
So, all looks good minus some minor holograms on the bumper. NBD. I am planning on polishing the bumper in about 30 days. No issues there, right? Won't seal for at least 60.
Click to expand...

Correct if solvent based paint. If water based you're goods to go now. It's baked and cured before you pick it up is water based. In fact I bet it's already waxed/glazed.
 
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