So my beloved MINI apparently is not loved by everyone. Someone decided that my MINI would look better with a couple dozen scratches on it. This happened about 2 weeks ago. Then yesterday as I was leaving work i found another dozen more. Of these 3 dozen probably 10-13 are bad enough to need repair of some sort. The scratches are thin as if from a knife or some such. But they are into the primer in many places and your fingernail definitely gets "caught".

So my question is this. How do I clean this up on my own..... I have Insurance but I am not sure I want to have them take care of it. Especially if someone in my neighborhood doesn't like me/my MINI and will just do it again.

I live in a rural area and I park off street in a driveway. I am new to the area and have only lived here a few months. I already went to my neighbors to let them know so they can keep an eye out.

Thanks

 

Sorry nyctos -- that really sucks!

Do you think it's occurring at work or in your driveway?

 

im sorry man, i still find it unbelievable that people would do something like that, especially to a mini! I would suggest putting some motion sensing lights in your driveway, and maybe even a fake (or real!) video surveillance camera. you can obtain a camera i think at www.thinkgeek.com. This hopefully will deter them enough to not touch your car!

Best of luck, and sorry again about the damages

 

For DIY repair I have been very pleased with the Autovisuals' AutoSharp pens. Following the instructions they have filled chips and scratches and now I can't even ascertain where the chips and scratches use to be.

 

 

Mean people suck! That is just beyond me... I had the same thing happen to my Cabrio. And it was DEEP - $3K to fix by the insurance company. I would at least have your insurance look at it and give an estimate. I'm sorry.....I feel for you.

Donna

 

Sorry about your rotten luck. People suck !! Well... some of them, anyway.

Why the reservation to turn in the claim to your insurance company ??

 

After filling in the scratch, try Langka to smooth out the paint: http://www.langka.com/

I used it to repair a couple of stone chips and it works very well.

 

I think I read somewhere on here that Langka works better on chips than on scratches. I have some at home but have yet to try it out.

 

Well there are 2 reasons I am reluctant to turn it in. One is they can't verify that my rates will or will not change.

And two ... and perhaps even worse, this has happened twice now what's to stop it from happening again after I shell out this cash and get the Ins. Co involved pay my deductible and possibly raise my rates.

 

Unless you have a LOT of comp claims over the past few years, there would be either no, or very minimal (maybe even pennies, not dollars), change to your rates.

And even if it does happen again, maybe THAT is the time you don't go through insurance.

It would be a lot easier to decide knowing the cost to repair and the amount of your deductible though. If your deductible is only a couple hundred bucks less than the cost of repair, I'd agree with you.

 

Well the only quote of the repair i have managed to get so far was 5K. he wanted to repaint the entire car. There are literally marks on every panel except the small panel directly behind the passenger front wheel well. And in order to "repair" the spoiler he wants to replace it. The marks are deep since it is plastic. I haven't been able to make it to a second Auto Body shop yet.

My deductible is 500$ i believe.

 

$5,000 !

If the body shop you end up taking it to is anywhere NEAR that amount, I would recommend to you to turn in the claim. Me... I'd report the claim even if the damages were only about $800.

The affect on your premiums will be negligable compared to your out-of-pocket repair costs.

 

Sorry to hear about it. That really sucks The worst part is that most of the times it is someone you know. Hope you can solve this and catch that filthy animal. I am sure some scratches could be removed with a machine polish like the ones Griots Garage sells. The ones that got to the primer I am affraid you will need to paint. I will suggest doing it as quick as possible.

 

I am terribly sorry to hear about your incidents. I have a similar problem with people that like to crash into my light bar, multiple times, for no reason.
I havn't gotten keyed yet and I hope I never will.

 

Since its a repeat event, it seems its not an attack on your MINI but an attack on you. Doing all of those panels mean spending some time around the car. I'd review recent conflicts however minor seeming. Did you "flip" anyone?; yell at any kids?; scorn any mates(ex)?

 

You are probably correct.

This is a problem some people have, mad but don't have the guts to tell you to your face so they try to hurt you some other way. These people are nothing but COWARDS.

 

I know how you feel. My dad's car had a nice key job on the rear quarter panel. However, I was able to get almost all of it out by polishing the area with a Porter Cable 7424 dual action orbital polisher and Menzerna polishes. It will cost you about $250 and several hours of work on your own. Let me know if you want to explore this idea as I can give you more detailed advice.

Before:


After two rounds of the first polishing step. No final polish or wax applied in this photo hence the haziness: