Opinion on door ding

[Wightmn]

I would like your opinion on what is the next best course of action. I am on my way out of the local grocery store where I parked out beyond everyone else. I see a kid pull up in a Camero SS and his door snaps open from the wind. He walks by but returned when I ask him about the dent in my front passenger fender. It's pretty small, but has three scratches down to metal. He said he didn’t realize, apologized and gives me his insurance info. He admitted fault. Ask me not to turn it into insurance, he and his folks would take care of the bill. After talking to him the first night now he isn’t returning calls. My insurance will cover anything beyond the $500 deductible. I can’t imagine the repair will cost that much. Do I file a police report, have the repairs done and let my insurance company settle it with his insurance company?

Thanks,

Ted

 

[T-Bolt]

Call him one last time and say if he does not call you back by a certain time, then you will be forced to call his insurance company.

 

[ALA G8R]

Doesn't look like the Cheby dude is gonna live up to his end of the bargain. Go after his insurance. See if they pay.


Chevy POS!

 

[NIELSTTCOBRA]

hate to be an a-hole, but call the insurance company... very uncool to cop-out like that.

hope that little bitch gets what he deserves. guess i'm a little sore because after having my car for only 3 months, i've got one very small ding, and 3 other scratch/marks from careless people. when you catch them like you did, call their insurance company. otherwise these people will later say how they never dented/scratched your car at all. just remember that this guy got caught and has probably done this kind of thing before.
good luck. hate to see a fellow car enthusiest deal with this kind of bs.

 

[99cobrablack]

I would call a few-more times. Or possibly stop by his house. If it is a kid his parents should be there and just have a nice discussion about it. Maybe there is something keeping him from returning the phone-calls. an emergency?? somthing out of his control and this might be the last thing on his mind. Don't give up hope just yet. Cool to see you are in Olathe, I am in KC a fair amount, nice to see another Kansas:beer:

 

[JoeNashville]

I've had this happen to me before. THe next time it happens and they try to pull this again, I'll just ask for the money up front, right then, while we're standing there. If they don't have it, then I'll follow them to the ATM. Call your mom & dad to bring it, whatever. If none of that works, fine. I'll call the cops for an accident report to be filed and it will go on your insurance record.

I've been nice to people for a long time and gotten screwed numerous times just like you are about to be. I'm tired of taking it up the ass.

 

[Nicky Pass]

leave a STERN but nice message. I'd say you wanted to take care of the bill without using your insurance...we agreed if I don't hear from you by (insert date here) I'm gonna call your insurance company to resovle the situation. I just wany my car back to normal!




.....then shoot him in the knee cap!

 

[RickSvt]

Also, if you dont get ahold of him by tuesday, go to a body shop and get an estimate so that way you have some numbers of what it will cost when you do get ahold of him, I would give him till tuesday, cause its a long weekend, but I am nice....but anytime after that, well its time to let him know you are serious.

Rick

 

[Cobra10thaniv]

Any time i get a dent in parking lot I call police to make a report. FOr one thing i park out way in the boon docks. Only once i had a problem with police doing a report. HE didnt want to. He said i had a ding in the font fender of my car already.

I said wait one sec for me I have to go to the front of your squad. HE said for what? CAUSE IM GONNA KICK IN YOUr FENDER! I politely told him well on what you told me it shouldnt matter because look at your rear quater looks like some hum dinger of a dent here! so the one I will put in shoulnt matter.

He said ya ok let me do your report! So I can get going.

You made the gesture by not turninginto his ins he doesnt return phone call call up his ins and turn it in! dont wait! IF he wants to pay he always can and his ins guy will not turn in the claim.

I bet he will call his ins guy back! Sorry I dont have toleration for that.

 

[Wightmn]

Well, sad to say, CarpetCityCobra was right on target. Turned a claim in on his insurance, Farm Bureau, and the claim was denied. Was told by their adjuster that the wind blew the door open and therefor the insured wasn't negligent. Had he opened the door into my car, now that would be a different story. But, because the wind blew the door out of the kid’s hands, there was no liability. I had hoped he would be a stand up guy, but that was not the case. I don’t expect the dent and paint to exceed my deductible, so looks like I’m out. Really pisses me off when people rationalize their way out of responsibility. It was an accident, so it’s not really my fault. Grrrrr.

 

[inteller]

that doesn't hold water. If the wind blew the door out of his hand then he didn't have control of his vehicle and he is at fault! If you are so wimpy that you can't firmly hold your door until it is fully extended then you dont need to be handling the car when it is under power with lots of torque!


Also, why is it every camaro I see is an SS? I thought they were supposed to be special like a Cobra, not a dime a dozen!

 

[Canoodler]

My parents were at a gas station many years ago, and they had those Sunoco flags waving in the air. The poles were about 15ft tall and 1" thick. Well, as they were pulling out of the gas station, the wind knocked one over, and straight into the top of the rear quarter-panel of the car. We got an estimate, and then we got a check from them right away. Should have happened to you as well. It was his car that did the damage, it was his fault that he was negligent and didn't hold the door. That's bullshit.:nonono:

 

[bunny_power]

Since you got the run around by the kid and his insurance, you've got his number, and from that you can get his address....

be creative

 

[96redvette]

you gotta file a police report man!!! a similar thing happened to my dad, but he got rear ended. nothing bad, but just enough to leave a gouge in the plastic bumper. the dude that hit him asked if he could just pay for the damages instead of getting the cops involved, so they traded info and eventually my dad took the car to a buddy's of the man who hit him (he owned a body shop). whell after he buffed at the paint and charged the guy who hit my dad, they decided that looked "good enough" and sent him on his way. long story short, the car is still messed up and its too late to do anything about it now.

 

[Wightmn]

Police report is filed. Was told by my insurance that the only recourse is through small claims court as the bill will likely be lower than my deductible.

 

[LogiWorld123]

Take him to small claims. If you had the time, take the damn insurance company to court as well.

'well i didnt throw the bullet at your face, the wind did"

 

[ZincDude]

That sucks bro. Hell I had a door ding on my GT and went and traded it in a Mach.:-D But you have a Cobra. I'm perplexed.

 

[SCOTT99COBRA]

Rather than taking it to a body shop and getting the fender fixed and re-painted, have you thought about getting the dent fixed by a shop that just pushes them out (paintless body shop)? Then you could just get the scratches air-brushed. It probably won't look quite as good as new, but I hate getting any body work done because the paint rarely matches.

 

[krillind8z]

Well here is one argument that you could have used when on the phone with them.

I parked my car at the back of the lot away from everyone, so why did he have to park next to me, almost makes me feel he did it on purpose, but whos to say. All I know is that his car left a dent and scratches on my car and I'm not going to accept you giving me a load of crap. They keep telling you no, ask for the manager, etc. If you are annoying enough and sound like you have a right to be, they will do anything to get you off the phone at that point.

They work in a call center, if you pressure them enough they give in cause they don't care.

 

[90_red_lx]

Take that SOB to court. I hate people that try to get away with stuff like that. That wind thing should get thrown out.