I just need to vent..

[John Milmont]

So I recently bought a used 2007 Nissan 350z. It was a great deal and it only has 8500 miles on it. As you can imagine, the car is in mint condition. There's one problem, the color is a very rare one year run, Solar Orange. It looks like this: http://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_images/3/417/4301/26042150001_large.jpg

I know.. its a very flashy color. But i had no idea i would be drawing this much attention. 350'z are not rare cars, but i seem to get the same amount of attention as my buddies turbo Porsche, maybe even more so!

I just went out to lunch to a subway and i parked in the farthest spot, and not next to anyone. Well, all the spots filled up and a ragged Tahoe parked next to me by the time i got back. I checked for any damage at that time but didn't notice any.

When i got back to my office, i was showing one of co-workers the car and that's when i noticed them... a ding on the rear passenger quarter panel..I only checked for dings that the Tahoe driver door would leave. And I also noticed something i just cant believe, someone keyed my gas cap door! :sad:

and i know, its only because of the color...
God.. if you painted a trabant this color, I'm sure it would get keyed...

 

[Brian Hamilton]

I was out giving a '68 Mustang Fastback a shakedown run and took it to lunch. Parked it right up front so I could keep an eye on it. Red paint, ghost flames, side exhaust, beautiful car. I watched this old fart pull up next to it in his minivan. His wife slammed the door open into the car and then rolled her fatass out and looked at the car. They came into the same resturant we were eating at. I walked outside, looked at the car, saw the scratch and matching paint, matched it with the chip from their door and walked back inside.

Saw the guy and said, "Sir, is that your van outside?"
"Yes it is, why?"
"Well you door dinged my car."
"How do you know it was me?" In kind of an a$$hole tone of voice...
"Cuz I saw your wife here slam the door into my customer's car, I need you to come out here and give me your insurance information." I said sternly.
"That's impossible, I want to see this."
"Come outside and I'll show you."

He came outside, I showed him the ding, had him open the car door and show exactly where it matched up to the ding and door and how the color matched and all that. He said, "Well what do you want me to do about it?"

"Give me your insurance information and I'll give it to my customer and he'll contact you if he wants."

"You should park this sombitch out far in the parking lot if you don't want stuff like this to happen!"

"Sir, I figured if I parked it up front, and offset the car so that the tires are on the line furthest away from any other car, someone might get the hint that this is a prized car and may take the initiative to watch how they get out of their car. I also figured that if I gave you that much room, you'd park in your own damn space and have plenty of room to get out of your car. It's not my fault that you have no respect for other people's property."

He just went back inside. My customer didn't really care, he got the car repainted soon after anyway I believe.

Just goes to show you that people suck. They get jealous of other people's belongings and have to hate. I bet you wish you caught them doing it and could beat them with a bat don't you? LOL

Sorry man,

Brian

 

[John Milmont]

This dent i have is pretty minor, i thought about getting paintless dent repair done to it but I have never seen it done, nor know anyone who has had it. Does anyone here have any experience with this?

 

[Brian Hamilton]

There's a lot of guys in Austin who do it and have wonderful success. I have had friends who got it done with minor hail damage and you couldn't tell they ever had anything done at all, other than the dents were gone. LOL Check it out and see if you can get a look at their work.

 

[Ivan]

my daily drive (a MG ZT190) seems to get loads of ding's from people who just dont care, even if you park miles away, when you come back to your car there will be some one parked almost in your car.

i have spent close to £350 this year trying to keep my car looking good (i still have both drivers side doors to do(annother £100))

 

[David Morton]

For a start, there are three companies in the UK (maybe more) and I imagine there will be similar named companies in the USA as they seem to be franchise operations. We have Dentmaster, Dent Devils, and Dent Inc. so yellow pages might reveal something. I've heard some good reports about Dentmaster in this local area but I think it is really down to the individual operator as to how good they are.

 

[Pete McCluskey.]

Just carry a big gun and shoot the bastards when you see them doing it.

I once saw a women put her shopping basket on the back of a PPPPPorche as she opened the back of her 4wd. When I suggested that the owner would not be happy with his pristine paint being scratched I was told to mind my own F*cking business. When I asked which finishing school she attended, a blank look was followed by another tirade of abuse.
Some people just don't get it.
I left her registration number and and a note telling the PPPcar driver what had happened with my phone number but heard no more.

 

[Malcolm]

Not a similar story but one I am reminded of when I read these posts.

My neighbours have an in and an out drive way ie two exits onto the road. There was a nasty accident right between the two entrances that closed the road. No one really hurt but two cars totalled, a mess. However before the police etc arrived to sort it all out, a lady drove up my neighbours driveway, tooted her horn and insisted that they move their cars out of the way to let her through so she could by-pass the accident as she was in a hurry! Unbelieveable what some people do!

 

[Brian Hamilton]

I have the best story of people just not getting it.

I worked at Firestone in Austin and we had an accident. One of our technicians got pinned between a 3500 Dodge truck and a small Honda CRX. Crushed one of his arms and his left leg, shattered his femur. Well, it's about 104 degrees outside so the asphault is hot as hell. He falls to the ground and immediately everyone rushes to his aid. Well, there is a fire department across the parking lot, imagine the luck! They arrive extremely quickly and tell us that they aren't going to move him because the femur break can cut a main artery and make him bleed out before they can do anything.

So they wrap him in old uniforms and whatever they could to get him off the hot pavement. Ants are starting to bite the poor guy too. They call in an ambulance and it finally arrives. They say they aren't going to move him for the same reason. A minor bump in the road could sever that artery and kill him within moments. They call in the chopper.

During this time, work absolutely comes to a stop. Customers are looking out the windows to see what's going on. Police arrive and lock the place down and say, "We need to investigate this accident, tell your customers they need to get rides home. This is going to take a little time." We do. Most understand and comply with no issues, only condolences and hoping he gets well.

Notice I said most...

Well the police are outside taping the area off and this lady comes up to one of the salesmen and says, "What are they doing? They're taping the area off and my car is still in the shop? Didn't I tell you I was in a hurry and that's why you pulled it in there so fast? Why aren't they letting me go? I need my car and I'm late for my pillates class! You assholes need to let me outta here NOW! It's not my fault your dumbass technician got his leg crushed, get my car out now! Oh my GOD! That helicopter is blowing all that sh*t everywhere, if my car gets scratched from that sh*t I'm going to sue you!"

I kid you not. Now, I was not there that day. I heard about this the next day and got the same story about this bi*ch from everyone. They basically told her to f*** off and get a ride. If she couldn't get a ride, we'd call her a taxi, but the police weren't letting any vehicles move. She wanted the number for our corporate office.

The next day, she came in again. I was the salesman at the counter and got the nod from a couple of the guys that this was the complete waste of humanity they were talking about. Young, kinda cute, big boobs, lots of makeup, gold jewelry everywhere, you know the kind. I'm cute, I'm rich, do what I say because I'm spoiled.

I said, "Can I help you ma'am?"

"Yeah I'm here to pick up my car. Is the guy who got hit yesterday OK? I was such a total biotch yesterday about that whole situation. I feel so bad, is he OK? What hospital is he in?" She said all this while looking down fiddling with her fingers. I kinda felt bad for her, but not really.

"Yeah, he's going to be Ok. They say he's going to be able to walk again in a few months but will be in pain for years. Apparently they're going to have to install an irrigation system that will constantly clean out the wound. Poor guy is going to be in pain for a long time. I heard you had issues with him being stupid yesterday? I don't know who you think you are, but you have some damn nerve lady. What the hell is wrong with you? Is pillates more important than someone's life?"

"No, I was a complete bi*ch. Please tell him and everyone I am so sorry. I feel terrible."

"You should. That's absolutely horrible. I hope you figure your life out lady. Here's your keys, please don't come back here."

"Ok, I'm really sorry."

I handled it a LOT better than most of the guys would have. They all wanted to reach across the counter and strangle her. LOL People just don't get it man. This world has become just a bunch of selfish assholes with no compassion or care for any other human beings. Sometimes we have to g-check 'em. LOL

Laters,

Brian

 

[Keith]

I really thought the point of your story was that she got into the Civic and tried to drive off while he was still pinned!

But in the end, it was just words...mate and they didn't physically harm anyone and yes she DID get it Brian - eventually

Even 24 hours late is good.

Why would anyone want to strangle anyone who was apologising and meant it 24 hours after the event?

Hmmmm

Anger - not good.

 

[Brian Hamilton]

Well, they wouldn't have given her the chance to appologise. LOL They wanted to jump over the counter and strangle her the second she walked through the door.

 

[Bill Bayard]

Parking lot revenge doesn't always pay big dividends, as is clearly evident in this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBvysuewIOs

 

[Dutton]

John,

Only weeks after my first ever new car purchase, my car was dented while at the dealership for warranty work. Understandably I wasn't happy about it, but they assumed responsibility after the issue was pointed out. I was assured that the situation would be repaired to my satisfaction, which it was.

It worked like a charm for me. If the result on your car is anything like what I experienced, you'll be very pleased. I'd highly recomend the process.

This dent i have is pretty minor, i thought about getting paintless dent repair done to it but I have never seen it done, nor know anyone who has had it. Does anyone here have any experience with this?

 

[John Milmont]

John,

Only weeks after my first ever new car purchase, my car was dented while at the dealership for warranty work. Understandably I wasn't happy about it, but they assumed responsibility after the issue was pointed out. I was assured that the situation would be repaired to my satisfaction, which it was.

It worked like a charm for me. If the result on your car is anything like what I experienced, you'll be very pleased. I'd highly recomend the process.

Thats good to hear; I think the reason I'm so upset is because i have only had the car for a week...

 

[Cliff Beer]

John, sorry to heat of your frustrations. That really bites. For regular run-of-the-mill commuting it seems that it makes sense to have something really mundane to drive, so if it gets a few parking lot dings you don't really care. I have a 2002 Suburban for this very purpose - totes the wife and four kids around and it has huge bumpers and I don't care if it gets a parking lot door ding or two.

My older brother (now deceased) had a Lotus Esprit S4S and was in a restaurant with his wife with the car parked out front of the restaurant in view of their table. A guy walking down the street threw his still-lit cigarette butt through the open sunroof of the lotus. My brother, dressed in full military uniform (jet fighter instructor) with his sidearm on his hip went and got the guy and brought him back to the car, made him sit down in the drivers seat and retrieve the ciggy butt from on the floor. The guy says "yeah, you happy now?" My brother says "we're just getting started - now eat it" The guy objects so my brother unbuckles his side arm and puts it up against his chest. He ate that cigarette butt without saying another word and headed off down the street in an obviously disturbed manner.

I just don't understand people sometimes.

 

[Al Jones]

John - Most of us have been there. Like having my daughter center-punch a gas pump protector post just days after putting a new front end(fenders,hood,bumper,grille,etc) on my Explorer due to Bambi,Sr. jumping off an embankment and landing on the truck. Or coming out of the store just in time to see some lazy bitch push the shopping cart away and having it roll down the lot into your car. It's exasperating but that shit happens. Get it repaired and move on. BTW,Cliff - good choice on the tank....I survived a head on collision because I was driving a 'Burb. Now I don't bitch about gas mileage as much.

 

[John Milmont]

I took the car to a paintless dent repair place yesterday, and the guy said that that he could probably pull the dent so that it would be hard to notice, but there is a little crease in the center that he cant do much about. He said there is 2 ways he can repair the dent; he can glue to it and pull it from the front, or if the panels are removed from inside the car, he can push it from the back. The results of both are the same. I asked if he has ever pulled the paint off with the glue method, and he said yes, but its pretty rare. He said that he did a lot full of hail damaged nissans and out of all the dents, only a 2 or 3 had the paint come off.
With my luck, i worry.

 

[Jimmy P]

Real sorry to read some of these posts. All are tragic. In response to the original question I've had a great deal of luck with the paintless ding specialists and have been very impressed with their efforts. Just make sure you get a guy who has lots of experience. Its fascinating to watch them work too.

 

[John Milmont]

Real sorry to read some of these posts. All are tragic. In response to the original question I've had a great deal of luck with the paintless ding specialists and have been very impressed with their efforts. Just make sure you get a guy who has lots of experience. Its fascinating to watch them work too.

Did you have it glue method or the push-out-from-the-back method done? Is one way better than the other?

 

[Peter Delaney]

I can vouch for the push-out method - I had a ding right on the character line of my old BMW rear door, & the guy worked it for over an hour from the inside with a variety of pry-bars - totally invisible when he finished !

Kind Regards,

Peter D.