A bizarre winter mystery for you
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5th Gear
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 915
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From: bay area
A bizarre winter mystery for you
so here's an intriguing mystery for you guys to ponder at my expense...
this morning when i went out to my car (r53), it was 14 degrees
i opened the door and there was a loud quack, like maybe the joint froze or something. i started the car fine and then went around to open my hatch. another loud quack and smack, and then something flew off 
i looked around and found a small piece of plastic on the ground. i looked on the hatch and the plastic trim above the back windshield was missing, and the piece that flew off was one of the brackets that held it in place. moreover, there was a small triangular jagged hole at the left bottom of the spoiler, and some paint had been scraped off next to where the spoiler mounts to the hatch, exposing the metal underneath. i was shocked 
i looked around and found the entire piece of trim on the ground next to the car, and i looked over the car more and there was a huge jagged hole on top of the spoiler! the hole was big enough to fit my hand thru. it looked almost like what the titanic looked like after it got poked by the iceberg 
it was SO bizarre and the first thing i thought of was vandalism. i drove to skool and parked and looked at it some more, only to notice that along the same angle as the top and bottom holes on the spoiler, there were two long dents on the roof and patches of paint had just been clear lifted off there was no scratch or anything in the metal, the paint just chipped and lifted off the body, clear! one dent was actually right along the base of the antenna, which had been turned about 90 degrees and the rear end of it had a slash over it...
for the life of me, i cannot put together the whole scenario that led to this. my thought is that this wasn't vandalism, 'cuz there were no scratches or clear marks that would be left by whatever tool that did this (ie hammer or anvil or some heavy object)...altho it's still not entirely impossible, but the vandal had to be extremely clever. so maybe there was a puddle of water that really really froze over the rear section of the roof and as i opened the hatch it poked thru the spoiler, popped off the trim, and lifted off the roof paint while denting it?
i'm really perplexed and a bit scared at the possibility that someone in my apartment complex did this to my car. as for the paint, i'm wondering if i should patch it up w/ touchups for the winter just so no rust develops, and in the spring i'll take it to a body shop and get the roof dents fixed (i assume it's not hard to do). alternatively, i also have pretty good vinyl that i checkered my roof with and can just cover up the metal w/ new vinyls. thoughts?
anyone has any ideas? fire away with your possible scenarios, please...
this morning when i went out to my car (r53), it was 14 degrees
i opened the door and there was a loud quack, like maybe the joint froze or something. i started the car fine and then went around to open my hatch. another loud quack and smack, and then something flew off i looked around and found a small piece of plastic on the ground. i looked on the hatch and the plastic trim above the back windshield was missing, and the piece that flew off was one of the brackets that held it in place. moreover, there was a small triangular jagged hole at the left bottom of the spoiler, and some paint had been scraped off next to where the spoiler mounts to the hatch, exposing the metal underneath. i was shocked i looked around and found the entire piece of trim on the ground next to the car, and i looked over the car more and there was a huge jagged hole on top of the spoiler! the hole was big enough to fit my hand thru. it looked almost like what the titanic looked like after it got poked by the iceberg it was SO bizarre and the first thing i thought of was vandalism. i drove to skool and parked and looked at it some more, only to notice that along the same angle as the top and bottom holes on the spoiler, there were two long dents on the roof and patches of paint had just been clear lifted off there was no scratch or anything in the metal, the paint just chipped and lifted off the body, clear! one dent was actually right along the base of the antenna, which had been turned about 90 degrees and the rear end of it had a slash over it...for the life of me, i cannot put together the whole scenario that led to this. my thought is that this wasn't vandalism, 'cuz there were no scratches or clear marks that would be left by whatever tool that did this (ie hammer or anvil or some heavy object)...altho it's still not entirely impossible, but the vandal had to be extremely clever. so maybe there was a puddle of water that really really froze over the rear section of the roof and as i opened the hatch it poked thru the spoiler, popped off the trim, and lifted off the roof paint while denting it?
i'm really perplexed and a bit scared at the possibility that someone in my apartment complex did this to my car. as for the paint, i'm wondering if i should patch it up w/ touchups for the winter just so no rust develops, and in the spring i'll take it to a body shop and get the roof dents fixed (i assume it's not hard to do). alternatively, i also have pretty good vinyl that i checkered my roof with and can just cover up the metal w/ new vinyls. thoughts?
anyone has any ideas? fire away with your possible scenarios, please...
6th Gear
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 3,433
Likes: 1
From: Gloucester, MA, USA
Had it been humid or raining before the super cold?
Water can freeze between the window glass and door rubber, leading to the crack you heard when the glass dips as you open the window.
At the hatch, perhaps a similar ice effect caused what broke.
Water can freeze between the window glass and door rubber, leading to the crack you heard when the glass dips as you open the window.
At the hatch, perhaps a similar ice effect caused what broke.
5th Gear
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 680
Likes: 0
From: Brighton, MI
Bizarre. Comprehensive insurance should cover a repair, though. Hard to say what repairs would cost, but it could get pricey if you're down to metal on the roof and need a new spoiler. $200 deductible covered Lewis when my messy garage landed on his bonnet.
3rd Gear
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 186
Likes: 4
I have seen a significant amount of damage done to a vehicle by two critters.
A wood pecker, literally "put the wood" to the hood of a car, Volvo, and the front end using it as a drum to drum for a mate, and a neighbor had the interior of his car destroyed by raccoons one night in his garage. What they were after, god only knows.
You're sig implies that you live in So Cal, and I don't think you have these critters in abundance there, so I'm really leaning towards vandalism. It sucks, that's for sure.
You should be taking some pics for your insurance company.
A wood pecker, literally "put the wood" to the hood of a car, Volvo, and the front end using it as a drum to drum for a mate, and a neighbor had the interior of his car destroyed by raccoons one night in his garage. What they were after, god only knows.
You're sig implies that you live in So Cal, and I don't think you have these critters in abundance there, so I'm really leaning towards vandalism. It sucks, that's for sure.
You should be taking some pics for your insurance company.
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How about this (and I'm only half joking) - you know those insurance commercials where someone is bragging about what a deal they got on their new car for insurance? And the person to whom they're speaking is watching a couple in the building next door throwing TVs, big boxes, etc. out their 10th story window onto person#1's brand new car...?
What if something HIT or was dropped on your car from above? Being so cold out, the damage would seem slightly more bizzarre than normal vandalism. Whatever it was, it must've been big and heavy. If this is the case, it's pretty crappy that the dropper wouldn't have owned up to it....
What if something HIT or was dropped on your car from above? Being so cold out, the damage would seem slightly more bizzarre than normal vandalism. Whatever it was, it must've been big and heavy. If this is the case, it's pretty crappy that the dropper wouldn't have owned up to it....
6th Gear
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 1,912
Likes: 0
How about this (and I'm only half joking) - you know those insurance commercials where someone is bragging about what a deal they got on their new car for insurance? And the person to whom they're speaking is watching a couple in the building next door throwing TVs, big boxes, etc. out their 10th story window onto person#1's brand new car...?
What if something HIT or was dropped on your car from above? Being so cold out, the damage would seem slightly more bizzarre than normal vandalism. Whatever it was, it must've been big and heavy. If this is the case, it's pretty crappy that the dropper wouldn't have owned up to it....
What if something HIT or was dropped on your car from above? Being so cold out, the damage would seem slightly more bizzarre than normal vandalism. Whatever it was, it must've been big and heavy. If this is the case, it's pretty crappy that the dropper wouldn't have owned up to it....
Sucks about the car though.
Sorry.
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5th Gear
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 915
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From: bay area
so here're a few photos i tried to take. it snowed against last nite and this morning so these photos are terrible
i'm originally from soCal but am going to school in michigan for the time being, so all of this happened in ann arbor, mi
whatever happened happened between thursday and friday morning. it was pretty warm on wednesday, very sunny, and probably got up to the mid to high 30's, if i remember correctly. i don't remember thursday's weather but friday morning, when i found out the aftermath, it was 14 degrees
the 1st photo shows the damage on the spoiler from directly above. this was on the driver's side of the spoiler. as you can see, it looks almost like something bit it. in the 2nd photo you can see whatever did the damage struck thru the spoiler and came out the bottom side, popped off the trim, and scrapped off the paint. photo 3 shows the spoiler damage from above again after i blew the snow out of it
i couldn't take any photos of the dents on the roof 'cuz of the snow, but the biggest one was about the size of my palm and scrapped off a patch of paint
this really is totally bizarre. i'm quite upset. i don't know if this was vandalism or not, but i'll say that if it was, whoever did it had a really strange way going about it. i have a europlate up front; why would a vandal not just rip that off, or scratch the car, or let the air out of the tire, etc.? on top of that, this was a big open parking lot right next to the buildings so the vandal would risk being seen doing this kind of damage. and also as far as i know we haven't pissed anyone off here or anything. in fact, majority of our encounters w/ people living here have been positive. another possibility would be that it's a foreign car, w/ a union jack sticker on the back, and this is kind of the detroit metro area... or that it's just completely senseless
like someone else mentioned, it might also just be an accident, that someone was moving furniture or maybe a bike or something and then just plain dropped it on my roof and ran away w/o leaving a note. i'd like to think that's what happened (instead of vandal), but that's still pretty rotten
, and to that i would just say what goes around comes around. if whoever did it can't afford to pay for the damage, at least leave a note w/ an apology. if this was my truck, then i won't cry, but it's my r53, and it really hurts
as for critters, that's also not impossible. in the fall my gf saw quite a few groundhogs so maybe it's some animal taking it out on my spoiler. in any case, i'm going to write a letter to the apartment management about this just in case it was vandalism. when the snow goes away i'm going to tape up the exposed metal w/ 3m vinyl and take it to a body shop in the spring. maybe i should've left the mini back home in cali
i'm originally from soCal but am going to school in michigan for the time being, so all of this happened in ann arbor, mi
whatever happened happened between thursday and friday morning. it was pretty warm on wednesday, very sunny, and probably got up to the mid to high 30's, if i remember correctly. i don't remember thursday's weather but friday morning, when i found out the aftermath, it was 14 degrees
the 1st photo shows the damage on the spoiler from directly above. this was on the driver's side of the spoiler. as you can see, it looks almost like something bit it. in the 2nd photo you can see whatever did the damage struck thru the spoiler and came out the bottom side, popped off the trim, and scrapped off the paint. photo 3 shows the spoiler damage from above again after i blew the snow out of it
i couldn't take any photos of the dents on the roof 'cuz of the snow, but the biggest one was about the size of my palm and scrapped off a patch of paint
this really is totally bizarre. i'm quite upset. i don't know if this was vandalism or not, but i'll say that if it was, whoever did it had a really strange way going about it. i have a europlate up front; why would a vandal not just rip that off, or scratch the car, or let the air out of the tire, etc.? on top of that, this was a big open parking lot right next to the buildings so the vandal would risk being seen doing this kind of damage. and also as far as i know we haven't pissed anyone off here or anything. in fact, majority of our encounters w/ people living here have been positive. another possibility would be that it's a foreign car, w/ a union jack sticker on the back, and this is kind of the detroit metro area... or that it's just completely senseless
like someone else mentioned, it might also just be an accident, that someone was moving furniture or maybe a bike or something and then just plain dropped it on my roof and ran away w/o leaving a note. i'd like to think that's what happened (instead of vandal), but that's still pretty rotten
, and to that i would just say what goes around comes around. if whoever did it can't afford to pay for the damage, at least leave a note w/ an apology. if this was my truck, then i won't cry, but it's my r53, and it really hurts as for critters, that's also not impossible. in the fall my gf saw quite a few groundhogs so maybe it's some animal taking it out on my spoiler. in any case, i'm going to write a letter to the apartment management about this just in case it was vandalism. when the snow goes away i'm going to tape up the exposed metal w/ 3m vinyl and take it to a body shop in the spring. maybe i should've left the mini back home in cali
so here're a few photos i tried to take. it snowed against last nite and this morning so these photos are terrible
i'm originally from soCal but am going to school in michigan for the time being, so all of this happened in ann arbor, mi
whatever happened happened between thursday and friday morning. it was pretty warm on wednesday, very sunny, and probably got up to the mid to high 30's, if i remember correctly. i don't remember thursday's weather but friday morning, when i found out the aftermath, it was 14 degrees
the 1st photo shows the damage on the spoiler from directly above. this was on the driver's side of the spoiler. as you can see, it looks almost like something bit it. in the 2nd photo you can see whatever did the damage struck thru the spoiler and came out the bottom side, popped off the trim, and scrapped off the paint. photo 3 shows the spoiler damage from above again after i blew the snow out of it
i couldn't take any photos of the dents on the roof 'cuz of the snow, but the biggest one was about the size of my palm and scrapped off a patch of paint
this really is totally bizarre. i'm quite upset. i don't know if this was vandalism or not, but i'll say that if it was, whoever did it had a really strange way going about it. i have a europlate up front; why would a vandal not just rip that off, or scratch the car, or let the air out of the tire, etc.? on top of that, this was a big open parking lot right next to the buildings so the vandal would risk being seen doing this kind of damage. and also as far as i know we haven't pissed anyone off here or anything. in fact, majority of our encounters w/ people living here have been positive. another possibility would be that it's a foreign car, w/ a union jack sticker on the back, and this is kind of the detroit metro area... or that it's just completely senseless
like someone else mentioned, it might also just be an accident, that someone was moving furniture or maybe a bike or something and then just plain dropped it on my roof and ran away w/o leaving a note. i'd like to think that's what happened (instead of vandal), but that's still pretty rotten, and to that i would just say what goes around comes around. if whoever did it can't afford to pay for the damage, at least leave a note w/ an apology. if this was my truck, then i won't cry, but it's my r53, and it really hurts
as for critters, that's also not impossible. in the fall my gf saw quite a few groundhogs so maybe it's some animal taking it out on my spoiler. in any case, i'm going to write a letter to the apartment management about this just in case it was vandalism. when the snow goes away i'm going to tape up the exposed metal w/ 3m vinyl and take it to a body shop in the spring. maybe i should've left the mini back home in cali
i'm originally from soCal but am going to school in michigan for the time being, so all of this happened in ann arbor, mi
whatever happened happened between thursday and friday morning. it was pretty warm on wednesday, very sunny, and probably got up to the mid to high 30's, if i remember correctly. i don't remember thursday's weather but friday morning, when i found out the aftermath, it was 14 degrees
the 1st photo shows the damage on the spoiler from directly above. this was on the driver's side of the spoiler. as you can see, it looks almost like something bit it. in the 2nd photo you can see whatever did the damage struck thru the spoiler and came out the bottom side, popped off the trim, and scrapped off the paint. photo 3 shows the spoiler damage from above again after i blew the snow out of it
i couldn't take any photos of the dents on the roof 'cuz of the snow, but the biggest one was about the size of my palm and scrapped off a patch of paint
this really is totally bizarre. i'm quite upset. i don't know if this was vandalism or not, but i'll say that if it was, whoever did it had a really strange way going about it. i have a europlate up front; why would a vandal not just rip that off, or scratch the car, or let the air out of the tire, etc.? on top of that, this was a big open parking lot right next to the buildings so the vandal would risk being seen doing this kind of damage. and also as far as i know we haven't pissed anyone off here or anything. in fact, majority of our encounters w/ people living here have been positive. another possibility would be that it's a foreign car, w/ a union jack sticker on the back, and this is kind of the detroit metro area... or that it's just completely senseless
like someone else mentioned, it might also just be an accident, that someone was moving furniture or maybe a bike or something and then just plain dropped it on my roof and ran away w/o leaving a note. i'd like to think that's what happened (instead of vandal), but that's still pretty rotten
, and to that i would just say what goes around comes around. if whoever did it can't afford to pay for the damage, at least leave a note w/ an apology. if this was my truck, then i won't cry, but it's my r53, and it really hurts as for critters, that's also not impossible. in the fall my gf saw quite a few groundhogs so maybe it's some animal taking it out on my spoiler. in any case, i'm going to write a letter to the apartment management about this just in case it was vandalism. when the snow goes away i'm going to tape up the exposed metal w/ 3m vinyl and take it to a body shop in the spring. maybe i should've left the mini back home in cali
5th Gear
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 680
Likes: 0
From: Brighton, MI
Wow...
Yeah, it did get hella cold Thursday night/Friday morning. I forgot you were right down the street from me.
Anyway... Chad and gang at Detroit Tuned can fix that for you and deal with your insurance. I had a great experience with Autometric Collision, also. But seriously, if you have comprehensive insurance, this is what it's for. That looks like a pricey fix, sorry to say. Just getting my bonnet resprayed and the vinyl re-applied was about $650 and only that cheap because Lewis was practically brand new so the paint matched easily.
Yeah, it did get hella cold Thursday night/Friday morning. I forgot you were right down the street from me.
Anyway... Chad and gang at Detroit Tuned can fix that for you and deal with your insurance. I had a great experience with Autometric Collision, also. But seriously, if you have comprehensive insurance, this is what it's for. That looks like a pricey fix, sorry to say. Just getting my bonnet resprayed and the vinyl re-applied was about $650 and only that cheap because Lewis was practically brand new so the paint matched easily.
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5th Gear
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 915
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From: bay area
my car got shot!
so after all this, i got a letter a few days ago from the apartment management informing us that there was gunfire last week in the parking lot. so i thought omg maybe it was a bullet that did this?! so i thought when i remove the spoiler i'm gonna shake it and see what comes out. this morning when i shut the hatch something fell out. i picked it up and it looked strangely like the remains of a bullet. it was a dark gray malleable metal with some kind of copper/brass outer metal shell. i showed it to a friend and we both thought gun shot right now seems like the likeliest explanation. so after work/skool today me and my gf drove to the police station to file a report and also have them look at the car. turns out, they already knew about! so the gunshot was indeed in my parking lot and they already looked over my car. they even found a shell or casing or whatever on my windshiled so i gave him what i found and got the report #. i'm a bit afraid that if i report it to the insurance they might increase my premium, 'cuz i guess i don't really live in the safest part of town now? another thing. i was left baffled and angry about this for about a week trying to figure out what happened, and now it turns out they knew since it happened. i wish the police or apartment management would've left a note on my windshield and told me what happened. my car got shot but on the other hand, i suppose it could've been a lot worse. it narrowly missed the back windshield. anyway, i'm pretty freaked out and pretty pissed maybe i should move
so the gunshot was indeed in my parking lot and they already looked over my car. they even found a shell or casing or whatever on my windshiled so i gave him what i found and got the report #. i'm a bit afraid that if i report it to the insurance they might increase my premium, 'cuz i guess i don't really live in the safest part of town now? another thing. i was left baffled and angry about this for about a week trying to figure out what happened, and now it turns out they knew since it happened. i wish the police or apartment management would've left a note on my windshield and told me what happened. my car got shot but on the other hand, i suppose it could've been a lot worse. it narrowly missed the back windshield. anyway, i'm pretty freaked out and pretty pissed maybe i should move
6th Gear
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 1,912
Likes: 0
so after all this, i got a letter a few days ago from the apartment management informing us that there was gunfire last week in the parking lot. so i thought omg maybe it was a bullet that did this?! so i thought when i remove the spoiler i'm gonna shake it and see what comes out. this morning when i shut the hatch something fell out. i picked it up and it looked strangely like the remains of a bullet. it was a dark gray malleable metal with some kind of copper/brass outer metal shell. i showed it to a friend and we both thought gun shot right now seems like the likeliest explanation. so after work/skool today me and my gf drove to the police station to file a report and also have them look at the car. turns out, they already knew about! so the gunshot was indeed in my parking lot and they already looked over my car. they even found a shell or casing or whatever on my windshiled so i gave him what i found and got the report #. i'm a bit afraid that if i report it to the insurance they might increase my premium, 'cuz i guess i don't really live in the safest part of town now? another thing. i was left baffled and angry about this for about a week trying to figure out what happened, and now it turns out they knew since it happened. i wish the police or apartment management would've left a note on my windshield and told me what happened. my car got shot but on the other hand, i suppose it could've been a lot worse. it narrowly missed the back windshield. anyway, i'm pretty freaked out and pretty pissed maybe i should move
so the gunshot was indeed in my parking lot and they already looked over my car. they even found a shell or casing or whatever on my windshiled so i gave him what i found and got the report #. i'm a bit afraid that if i report it to the insurance they might increase my premium, 'cuz i guess i don't really live in the safest part of town now? another thing. i was left baffled and angry about this for about a week trying to figure out what happened, and now it turns out they knew since it happened. i wish the police or apartment management would've left a note on my windshield and told me what happened. my car got shot but on the other hand, i suppose it could've been a lot worse. it narrowly missed the back windshield. anyway, i'm pretty freaked out and pretty pissed maybe i should moveGlad you finally got this thing figured out... I'm sure it's been driving you crazy. And as for the insurance... they probably already know that you might not live in the "safest" neighborhood. IMHO I believe that the insurance company bases your rate on zip codes and claims filed within certain areas. I don't know how long you've lived in the area but...
Maybe if you DID move your insurance would go down.
Sounds like a great plan!
Sorry your car got shot.
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5th Gear
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 915
Likes: 0
From: bay area
i have no idea why they didn't tell me. the letter was clipped on everybody's doors so the apartment might not necessarily knew that the car belonged to me. but the police took down my license plate # on their report so they could've contacted the cali dmv and found my name, and then told the apartment. i think they just didn't want to be responsible for the damages. i went in to talk to the manager after the police station but she was already gone. i'm gonna go talk to her on monday just to voice my concern. if they knew that the car was mine, i'll definitely ask why they didn't tell me 'cuz that would seem awfully irresponsible to me. for those of you in the detroit/ann arbor area, i'm right on the outskirts of aa, right by ypsilanti, so this is KINDA the not-so-great area of aa. it seems quite nice and safe here tho, so hopefully it was just an isolated incident...
5th Gear
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 680
Likes: 0
From: Brighton, MI
Ypsi isn't SO bad - it's just the cold you're afraid of. 
But on a serious note, that really sucks! Your insurance can't go up based on a comp claim, it's only when you switch that they look at comp claims. They will question you less if you report it sooner, though.
But on a serious note, that really sucks! Your insurance can't go up based on a comp claim, it's only when you switch that they look at comp claims. They will question you less if you report it sooner, though.
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5th Gear
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 915
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From: bay area
i've been so busy recently, still have a final on monday and then have to give a talk on tuesday. after that i'll file a claim w/ my insurance company and take it to detroit tuned to get the work started. i guess i won't wait 'till spring
i'm not that big of an optimist; i'm actually usually more suspicious and paranoid than average
i just hated (and also scared of) thinking that someone in our apartment would intentionally vandalize my car either out of hate, jealousy, or pettiness. what can i do? it's pure bad luck...
i'm not that big of an optimist; i'm actually usually more suspicious and paranoid than average
i just hated (and also scared of) thinking that someone in our apartment would intentionally vandalize my car either out of hate, jealousy, or pettiness. what can i do? it's pure bad luck...
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