Car Park Hit & Run

Tesla

Tesla

Tesla

Soldato
Joined
19 Jan 2003
Posts
17,599
Location
Bristol, UK
Hi all,

Somebody has scuffed the front corner of my e39. Damage appears to be only paint-deep. No cracks or dents but will give it a clean up and polish and reassess and post up a picture or two.

Damage is to the corner of the front bumper, N/S wing, some scuffing to the headlight and bump/rub strip on the corner of the bumper (which I recently replaced at a cost of £35ish from BMW).

My car would benefit from a front end respray as it's coming up to 140k.

There is CCTV on the car park but I don't hold out much hope as my car is in shot but out of focus and I was there for 3 hours so am unsure of the time it occurred.

Should I get it fixed privately. I could likely polish out the headlight scuff and get the bumper and wing repainted. Would it ideally need the whole front end doing to get a decent colour match?

Should I consider going through my insurance if the CCTV doesn't yield anything. Or will it cost more in the long run?

Cheers.
 
Have you thought about getting a quote for getting it done privately, if it's a lot more than your excess (to warrant a likely increase in next years premium). If it's less, or largely the same then get it done privately.
 
I'd have thought a complete front end respray & blend would be £700-£1000. Depends if you want to take a hit on insurance.

I'd say the latter would be a bit excessive as the damage sounds rather minor.
 
I'd expect to fix it myself. However I'd defo see what info you can get off the CCTV. Just be really polite as I dont think they have to give you any footage, they will be doing you a favour
 
Thanks guys. The damage is minor and only paint-deep.

The car is overall very tidy though which is why it's a real annoyance!

2013-03-13%2015.02.33.jpg


All of the marks you can see have gone down to bare metal/plastic.
 
At the moment it's not a case of me not wanting to view CCTV it's that the leisure centre I was parked at do not have time to sit-through 3 hours worth of coverage as that's the narrowest time frame I can give them for it to of happened.

Is there a way I can obtain a copy of the footage? They said I cannot view it.

This would suggest I am entitled to a copy?
http://www.ico.gov.uk/for_the_public/topic_specific_guides/cctv.aspx
 
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Hmm, I know its really annoying when these things happen but is it really worth spending the money on a front end respray when the car has 140k on the clock?

If its "your pride and joy", take it to a body shop for a quote. Doesnt sound like they have to do much if anything in the way of filling so to rub it down, ontain the colour code of your paint then spray it up wouldnt be crazy money I wouldnt think. I have had bumper work done before for £150 ish and had a motorbike side panel repaired and sprayed for £200.
 
Goodluck with the CCTV, as mentioned above, it's a longshot, but surely if it turns up useful, then it's a no fault claim, providing you can work out who the offender is.
 
Phoned the leisure centre again and they said I have to speak to the police if I want CCTV footage. From reading my above link this doesn't seem correct so will put a request for footage in writing.

With regards to painting being worthwhile on a 140k car, why not? Paint work will very rarely add more value to a car than the cost of works.
 
Tesla said:
Phoned the leisure centre again and they said I have to speak to the police if I want CCTV footage. From reading my above link this doesn't seem correct so will put a request for footage in writing.

With regards to painting being worthwhile on a 140k car, why not? Paint work will very rarely add more value to a car than the cost of works.
Click to expand...

It's something I have heard before, maybe something to do with data protection or something like that? I know that CCTV in bars aren't allowed to be given out willy nilly if people want it to re-watch their bar fights or shenanigans, and only certain staff members are allowed to review the footage.
 
Just attacked the area with a bit of polish and it's made a large improvement, there are still some deep scratches but have decided it's not worth going near insurance now.

2013-03-13%2017.58.32.jpg


I'll ask a bodyshop I know for some prices and then go from there. The cost will ultimately dictate what I do next.
 
I know its not the same, but to have the whole of the bumper stripped down and resprayed and the bonnet resprayed and blended on the wife's Cooper S is going to cost me £500 next week.
Idiots in car parks and not the most careful previous owner in the world have left the front end a little tatty.
 
That's a big improvement, depends how much it bothers you and how much of a perfectionist you are. Perhaps a specialist could touch up the mark above the rub strip for you and leave it at that?
 
silly question but have you spoke to the police?

offence been commited here, leaving the scene of an accident.

i'd imagine once you explain about the cctv etc they will be most interested as its an easy collar for the statistics
 
skippy2421 said:
Can't those smart repair/chips away sort of people deal with those sort of scuffs at a fraction of the price a bodyshop will?
Click to expand...

This. I did very similar damage to the rear bumper of my old Focus. The local Chipsaway guy did a great job on it. You've already cleaned up the worst of it, but I'd give them a ring and get a quote.
 
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