What happened to decency?

[screenman]

I can only speak as I find screenman... you must have a poor 'chimps away' franchise where you are, the one in Newcastle is brilliant and does 'PDR" repairs with skill and care on the spot, cos I watch him do them and for a lot less money than the back street body repair con man round the corner.

Not just in my area, how much skill can you pick up in a 10 day training course, which will involve lots of things not just painting, their franchise failure rate is massive. He must be one of the only Chips who do PDR I will give him a call and have a chat with him next week, I have most of their numbers.

Very few PDR guys do paintwork, it is just so messy and time consuming compared with what we do, along with the fact the margins are a lot less.

Also if he is working good and cheap then more fool him, the quality smart repair guys can get up very close to bodyshop prices, as they are far more convenient.

Anyway back on topic, I meet many decent people everyday of the week, even on here.

 

[screenman]

You sure it wasn't a story she made up re someone hitting her whilst parked? Haha

I repaired a friends car who his wife said somebody had driven into whilst she was parked, funny things is the other car must have been made of one of the yellow concrete posts that you see in the car parks, you could see large traces of it in the damage.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

I'm sorry the OP's wife had a piece of property that means a lot to her, and him, damaged. To extrapolate this into the death of decency and honesty, though, seems a little ott to me.

Car park dinks are a fact of life. Have been since the first two cars were parked next to one another in the first car park. Let it go. move on. It's just a machine, an object, it doesn't actually matter.

 

[gavroche]

I'm sorry the OP's wife had a piece of property that means a lot to her, and him, damaged. To extrapolate this into the death of decency and honesty, though, seems a little ott to me.

Car park dinks are a fact of life. Have been since the first two cars were parked next to one another in the first car park. Let it go. move on. It's just a machine, an object, it doesn't actually matter.

yes it does when you have to pay for something you are not responsible for.

 

[swee'pea99]

It does. But other than that, Greg's message seems to me to be right on the money.

 

[Globalti]

It's entirely possible that the perpetrator didn't even realise they were doing it. Some drivers won't admit they need glasses.

If the paint is just scuffed, don't despair; it will probably polish out. There's a thick layer of lacquer on most cars, which powders and goes alarmingly white when you scratch it.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

yes it does when you have to pay for something you are not responsible for.

I understand your pain. But you don't have to pay for anything. You could choose to leave it as it is, no?

 

[ASC1951]

I understand your pain. But you don't have to pay for anything. You could choose to leave it as it is, no?

That is the view I take. My ten year old Astra has several dents and scrapes, mostly from car park hit-and-runners, but including one where my gatepost leapt out in front of me. It still does everything I need a car to do.

 

[Arjimlad]

Supermarket car parks seem to be the problem. My wife parked our car & went off to do some shoe shopping with the kids. When she came back, another car had rolled out of its space into our boot !

When the lady came back her husband was very ungallant about her driving skills moaning that she had left the handbrake off again and this time she'd pay for it without his help .

 

[GrumpyGregry]

[QUOTE 2817651, member: 259"]But you do. A big scratch knocks money off your car when you sell it, so you have to pay for repairs, and it will whack your insurance if you claim off that. It's cost him money and the person who did it should have owned up.[/quote]
But you don't have to sell it. That's a choice too. You could drive it into the ground if you choose. And don't most insurance policies have some sort of protected no claims these days? And wouldn't the cost of having dinks dealt with be less than most people's excess anyway?

And be that all as it may, depreciation, caused by simply owning and using a car over time, will right off more of the value/worth than any single car park ding. Should we suggest the OP's wife doesn't use the car as it 'knocks money off your car' in doing so? It's a depreciating asset not an old master.

EDIT: what is the half-life of a TMN @User13710 ?

 

[JoeyB]

I'd expect this sort of behaviour in Asda or Lidls but not Morrisons...

 

[Rapples]

I'd expect this sort of behaviour in Asda or Lidls but not Morrisons...

Best shop at Waitrose to be sure

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Best shop at Waitrose to be sure

Car park in da 'sham is tiny and really really tight. Notoriously so. TLH smeared her SAAB 93 down a column the first day she owned it. Which was funny given it was exactly the same size as the 900 she was driving for months before!

 

[GrumpyGregry]

[QUOTE 2817676, member: 259"] Do you think the person who scratched the car should have admitted that they had done something wrong or not?[/quote]
Certainly. In the same way as someone jostling another on a bust street should apologise.

But should they compensate, that's the question. I don't think you or the OP are looking for just an admission, because how would the dinkers mere admission of the act restore the value of the OP's damaged asset? It therefore appears that what the OP and other 'car-as-asset' pride'n'joy types want is

Admission of fault
Apology
Compensation/Restoration.

My view? Car park dinks are part of normal wear and tear and a risk you face if you leave your asset unattended in close proximity to the clumsily operated assets of others.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

[QUOTE 2817675, member: 259"]It's not their choice. The person who scratched the OP's car has done something which has cost him money. He should have owned up, There is no way round it. I don't like cars but if I dinged someone's car I would admit to it as I'm honest. I wouldn't expext people to start making up excuses for me.[/quote]
What authority compels the OP to restore the car at all let alone at his own expense? None. Therefore it is his free choice to do it or not. To argue otherwise is irrational.