Car keeps getting scratched

[cougie uk]

My son parks his car at the side of our house - as the drive is full. It is outside our house but the people at the back of us have a reputation for being tricky. It's parked entirely on the road. Not encroaching the pavement or making it tricky to get past - we really hate that.
Over the course of the last month the side next to the pavement has been scratched repeatedly.
It's an old car but it has sentimental connections.

Hard to do anything from the house as there's a big hedge between the garden and the pavement so thinking about getting an in car camera to possibly see who is doing this.

Anyone had any similar experiences or in car cameras to recommend?

 

[Psamathe]

No experience so I cannot recommend anything but an in car camera might be seen and give vandals a reason to break in ...

Something else to consider is a "no glow" trail-cam. How practical this idea is depends on detailed layout of where car is, house, etc. and of course the trail-cam will be vulnerable to being stolen as well (but maybe a cheap trail-cam is less of a loss than a broken car window/lost in-car camera?). When looking do make sure you only consider the "no glow" types as the others (including "low-glow") do have visible LEDs that will be seen in the dark. I use mine for wildlife and have a "low-glow" as the wildlife is not bothered by the visible LEDs so I have no expereince of "no-glow" ones. There are some good specialist trail-cam mail order places who can advice (i.e. NOT the likes of high street or Amazon/eBay). I can PM you specialist vendors if you think this might be a consideration.

Ian

 

[numbnuts]

https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/some-little-sweary-swear-has-keyed-our-car.210433/#post-4565756

 

[cougie uk]

No experience so I cannot recommend anything but an in car camera might be seen and give vandals a reason to break in ...

Something else to consider is a "no glow" trail-cam. How practical this idea is depends on detailed layout of where car is, house, etc. and of course the trail-cam will be vulnerable to being stolen as well (but maybe a cheap trail-cam is less of a loss than a broken car window/lost in-car camera?). When looking do make sure you only consider the "no glow" types as the others (including "low-glow") do have visible LEDs that will be seen in the dark. I use mine for wildlife and have a "low-glow" as the wildlife is not bothered by the visible LEDs so I have no expereince of "no-glow" ones. There are some good specialist trail-cam mail order places who can advice (i.e. NOT the likes of high street or Amazon/eBay). I can PM you specialist vendors if you think this might be a consideration.

Ian

Thanks for that - I suspect this is happening in broad daylight - its a very quiet road and its mainly OAPs living round here so after dark there is absolutely nobody around. A trail cam could be interesting - but are they pricey ?
Cheers.

 

[I like Skol]

Trouble is, even if/when you identify the person/s doing this, what do you do then? The police are unlikely to do anything useful and good luck trying to claim against someone for repair of the damage (even if your son's insurance could be bothered trying they would doubtless hike up his future premiums because of the claims history!).
I'm not saying it's right but maybe the best you can do is ignore it and hope they get bored when they realise they are not achieving anything.

 

[I like Skol]

Alternatively, rather than doing nothing, can you mount a dummy camera somewhere out of reach but easily visible and in a position to see the car if it were a working camera. That might be enough to stop it happening again?

 

[Kingfisher101]

Personally I'd just move the car somewhere else. If its totally on the road then is it blocking that? We have people on my street who park on the road and its a nightmare for ambulances, bin wagons, access buses etc.

 

[Psamathe]

... A trail cam could be interesting - but are they pricey ?

Wide range of prices depending on quality, resolution, amount of night illumination, etc.

They mostly come without any storage so on top of the cost of the camera you'd also need an SD card (size could be advised by the company you but from). Some specialist vendors sell "bundles" or throw in a free small SD card but remember to check as a manufactured camera does not include built-in storage.

But remember that the trail-cam would be outside and at risk of being stolen/vandalised to it does have a risk.

I raised it as an alternative to consider depending on the details of your situation. May or may not be appropriate.

Ian

 

[Psamathe]

Another consideration is where to position any camera to record proof an individual is scratching car. Inside the car and you might just end-up with a waist to neck image proving no more that an unidentified body pausing as they pass the car. Camera in hedge and you might just record somebody pausing beside car. Can you actually position a camera with a view of the side of the car being scratched, including a person doing the scratching? (e.g from in front of the car). Might be difficult to find such a position.

Ian

 

[cougie uk]

Personally I'd just move the car somewhere else. If its totally on the road then is it blocking that? We have people on my street who park on the road and its a nightmare for ambulances, bin wagons, access buses etc.

Not blocking anything.
Currently it's outside my garden. If we moved it it would be outside someone else's property.


It is a very quiet road.

 

[cougie uk]

Trouble is, even if/when you identify the person/s doing this, what do you do then? The police are unlikely to do anything useful and good luck trying to claim against someone for repair of the damage (even if your son's insurance could be bothered trying they would doubtless hike up his future premiums because of the claims history!).
I'm not saying it's right but maybe the best you can do is ignore it and hope they get bored when they realise they are not achieving anything.

Yes my suspicions are that it's the neighbour nearest where it's parked. My simple plan is to get video of her damaging it and take it from there.

That's too easy a plan I guess ?

 

[cougie uk]

Another consideration is where to position any camera to record proof an individual is scratching car. Inside the car and you might just end-up with a waist to neck image proving no more that an unidentified body pausing as they pass the car. Camera in hedge and you might just record somebody pausing beside car. Can you actually position a camera with a view of the side of the car being scratched, including a person doing the scratching? (e.g from in front of the car). Might be difficult to find such a position.

Ian

I'm hoping I can get an angle inside the car that would get the evil doer walking away or to the car and catching the noise of the scratch.

It'd be easier if it was a Tesla. They have great security cameras.

 

[Kingfisher101]

Not blocking anything.
Currently it's outside my garden. If we moved it it would be outside someone else's property.


It is a very quiet road.

I see, It could be someone who has a grudge against you or your son, Its not forced to be those at the back. Just get a camera up pointing at it. At the very least that person will see the camera and back off. Its doubtfull you will catch them at it.

 

[cougie uk]

I see, It could be someone who has a grudge against you or your son, Its not forced to be those at the back. Just get a camera up pointing at it. At the very least that person will see the camera and back off. Its doubtfull you will catch them at it.

My suspicion is based purely on the fact that the neighbours have complained about the high hedges around the garden. We didn't put them in and if were to chop them down they'd not be happy because we could then see into her kitchen.

Who knows though. Could be a random bypasser who has a 6 foot wide backpack.

More as it develops.

 

[Cerdic]

…or you could just wire the car up to the mains…