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I had my entire car resprayed a few months ago so the paintwork was pristine. A couple of kids were running around dragging branches behind them and one of these branches scratched the length of the car as they ran past. Not a deep scratch but enough to show.
I know the kids and I know their parents. It was an accident caused by kids not paying attention. Do I just accept that my shiny new Mercedes is now has that 'lived in' look or do I raise the matter?
Kill them. It's a car, afterall. 😉
whatever you'd have done if you didn't see the kids with twigs
unless they were beating crap out of your car with them in a Basil Fawlty style
Suck it up big boy, it's only a car..........
If it's not too deep, won't it buff out? Or get a quote from a shop, have a word with the parents and see if they want to contribute towards the cost.
I'd have a quiet word with the kids parents but not ask for any renumeration.
Happened to my last car when it was only two weeks old. After crying a little bit, I sucked it up & accepted it was an accident and kids will be kids. I was parking on a public road at the time & you kind of expect that to happen at some point.
Walter, as always has the only viable and proportionate answer
😀
T-cut is the obvious answer.
What flyingmonkeycorps said. It's worth the kids maybe taking a bit of a lesson to be more careful in future from it, and it's worth getting it off your chest, but it's not a massively big deal. They're only kids, it's only a car. If it'd just been resprayed the paint was probably quite soft anyway.
Oh yeah, and what paddy said too.
Did you catch them in the act and draw the kids attention to what they had done? Its easier to talk tothe parents if little jonny a. remembers doing it and b. was caught in the act.
Im sick of worrying about car paint now and lockon grips accidentally swinging and catching on my interior plastic etc- just buy a robust car and be done with it (sadly) 🙁
Get the parent to pay for the cost of repolishing or scratch their car as they did to yours.
🙂
They will just come back and do it again 👿
They probably just don`t like bling motors, happens to Scoobies around here.
Sounds like it would be easily sorted by the suggestions above of a quick tcut/polish. If so then i would let it go. Doesnt sound like the kids meant it and wouldnt achieve anything by getting them into trouble. Also the fact that time has passed makes it even harder to make the parents accept 'little uns' actions.
I got home in a brand new black VW Jetta last year and my son was excited to see it. He rode his bike too close to the parked car and scratched it the entire length. The car had about 10mls on the clock and needed the full side resprayed. Luckily my father-in-law is a bodyshop manager for a maindealer and sorted it for me 🙂
speak to the parents and dont go near it with T-Cut or a buff if its just been resprayed (unless you really know what you are doing) Paint might still be soft (2 pack paint can take months to settle properly) and you could end up making a real mess of it. Go and see the place you got it painted and see what they can do it. A proper polish and buff with the like of 3M should take it out if it aint deep. Run your finger nail over it and see if it catches in the scratch. If it does more than likely a re paint job and chance are teh full side of the car will need to be painted to blend the colour if. If it doesn't catch polish should do the trick.
Is the car a metalic, Pearl or solid colour?
TBH I know people say its only a car but to put right it'll cost you money. After all you couldnt sell it scratched. Speak to the parents. Its not a great situation but its not your problem, its theirs.
I once closed my eyes to see how far I could ride my racer along the road and ran straight over the bonnet of a parked Polo. I was only 10ish but even then I was really worried about his bonnet/damage but the owner seemed more amused than anything and let me go on after asking I was ok. I was really worried that my Mum would go mental!
I know the feeling, had the next door 6 year old boy etch a pretty star into the bonnet of my 911 with a stone a while back, I nearly passed out when I saw his artwork 😯
Ever since I snarl and give the kid [i]the[/i] evils, I think I'm finally starting to get to him now after 15 years of pressure 😆
Clad your car in denim. It looks better a bit distressed so kids with branches will be doing you a favour.
In the last year 4 people have driven along/ into my car, if I got all upset about the dents and scratches I'd not have any time to get on with the things I want to do instead. Although I am waiting for someone to do it properly so's I can get it all repaired in one go.
If its a problem get it done on insurance that's what its for isn't it?
If its a problem get it done on insurance that's what its for isn't it?
Excess?
Go and scratch the kids bikes. Then you'll be even.
Get a repair quote. Have a word with the parents and mention the price. Suggest the kids make it up by cleaning your car (if you want to chance it) or better still your bikes, every week for 6 weeks. 6 weeks is like a life sentence for kids, they'll learn a lesson from lost play time over the summer. They will also see the scratch on your car every time they come round to reinforce it.
Either that or they will put a brick through your windscreen when you grass them up to their parents.
If it was a good respray then the lacquer should be all that's been affected by a run-by tree branching. Rule of thumb so to speak; take your thumb nail over the scratch if it's deep enough that you can feel it catch then a bit of work may be required (wet and dry or indeed a paint) however if it is a very light scratch that your nail can't catch then you should get away with a buff and G3 or Finesse.
Ah, that'll teach me to start typing then go and get some lunch.
What I should have said was: See what Xan posted 😀
Anyhoo, back to lunch 😀
well get it respray and have the parent insurance pay for it simple...
shitting hell. Last time this sort of thing was mentioned I made a lone stand on here suggesting that it's just kids, accidents happen and the parents are under no obligation to pay. For this I got abused and slandered.
This time loads of people are saying that. Either I'm a better influencer than I would have thought possible or everyone was just flowing with the popular trend last time.
Anyway, I'll repeat myself. If it doesn't come out with a bit of T-cut, approach the parents and enter into a discussion about compensation but don't forget that they are not financially responsible for their childrens actions. Actually I'd mention it to the parents no matter what.
Get a repair quote. Have a word with the parents and mention the price. Suggest the kids make it up by cleaning your car (if you want to chance it)
Yes, just ensure they don't drop the sponge on the road then rub it over the car covered in grit ... (seen that but fortunately not my car or kids! 😆 )
[i]dragging branches behind them and one of these branches scratched the length of the car as they ran past. Not a deep scratch but enough to show.[/i]
This thread is useless without knowing what the scratches are like. We get branch scratches on vans all the time. You can get good polishes with very fine rubbing compound in them which will take these out very easily without any paintwork needed. If the vehicle is a metallic it may be that its just marked the lacquer and again just needs a little polish.
If its deeper then you need to decide if its worth the grief to approach the parents. Difficult considering time has passed.
I don't think you can use T-Cut on metallic paint.
Samuri, i dont think anyone had mentioned 'Obligation' till you did though. As you say accidents happen. But to say the parents have no obligation for this type of thing.....well it was discussed previously wasnt it.
Chips away? they might be able to sort it.
We get too attached to items etc but lack of respect...maybe the didn't realise it but unless you were naked I would have caught them up and said something to their parents if they were truly the cause.
Bloody annoying when someone wrecks your pride and joy.
T-Cut for metallic paint is available.
From what I remember of being a 'mischevious kid' any attempt at having it out, either directly or via the parents, would result in a long sustained campaign of retribution, and that was in the days before the option of 'mummy mummy, that funny red faced man with the big axe tried to touch me!!!'
your pride and joy
Is that how some people view cars?
How odd.
Its only a car at the end of the day. Its best to have something that isnt nice and shiney then you wont be gutted when it gets scratched (which is bound to happen)
It seems a bit harsh asking the parents for compensation to fix it if it was an accident. Its not there fault you decided to get an expensive paint job on your vehicle
It's a car, it still goes along the same, that's what a car does.
What's the problem? I just don't get it.
Infact cars/drivers like this are the ones that annoy me the most because they never want to pull into the side to let you past if you meet them on a country lane, for fear of scratching there car.
The opposite of what Hora suggests is always the right thing to do. He's a moral compass of a sort.
Consider it battle scars and wear them with pride, like you would on your bike?...
Why did you have it resprayed a few months ago if its a new car? Surely easier to buy it new in colour of your preference (unless a bargain of course?).
Have a word with parents and see how it goes. If they're arsey and wont admit it was kids show them a few quotes to show them how arsey and tw*tty you can be too if you want to be. If they are full of apologies and offer to pay show some compassion and enjoy your 'lived in' merc. They go for years anyway - there will be plenty more scratches in it in a few years.
Different story if its a Mclaren one!
with david taylforth on country lane drivers, probabbly why most of my cars have been shiny on the drivers side and matt on the passenger side from where I can't/won't stop for fussy drivers in the lanes
I will have a quiet word with the kids I guess and a discreet word with the parents. I won't push for compensation, it is only a car but a shame as Mercedes had just paid for the full respray as a good will gesture after I spotted a slight rust bubble.
Find another rust bubble...
Anyway, you've got a drive you could park it on.
So basically, it's your own fault. In fact, I want compensation from you.
Helps to think about it from the parents perspective
I guess if someone contacted me nice and discreetly about my daughter accidentally scratching a car in the same circumstances, I'd take the stance - "she's a kid, it was an accident, these things happen - sorry. Duly noted your car is scratched, sorry about that, suppose the only way you'll guarantee it not to be scratched is if you leave it somewhere where people, animals etc might not accidentally brush against it". Then I'd close the front door put my wetsuit back on and go back to sacrificing goats to the devil whilst watching highlights from britain's got talent. You'd never convince me I should pay up for a re-spray.
If the complainant were unpleasant or aggressive, philosophically I might think the same facts applied, but the harder they pushed, the more likely I would be to include them and their car in the sacrifice process.
Your approach seems a good one to me....
In a similar vein, I had a kid knock a Froggy 518 over in my shop, I told his mother that Id like to sort something out with her as i now have a new bike with a dented top tube, any advice on what to do, I was thinking of claiming in the small claims court.