Someone Dented my P&J and Drove Off
Discussion
Saturday morning and the sun is shining so I decide to use my E30 M3 Sport Evo to take the kids to the Park Run. Parked in the road adjacent to the park and off we went for the run. Upon returning my son who is getting in the passenger (RH side) door complains that the door is stiff. I tell him to man up and get in. Upon arriving back at home, I discover that the RH front wing an door has been pushed in and causing the door to jam up against the wing. Obviously, when parked up someone backed in to my car and drove away leaving a dented wing and door behind. W***ers.
After a quick shower I return to the scene of the bump and try to establish how this may have happened. There are some properties adjacent to the parking space, but no cars present. During subsequent drive pasts I have identified a likely culprit. Opposite the place where I was parked there is a Silver Ford Focus fitted with tow bar (matching the 42cm height of the point of impact on my car), parked front first in a driveway.
At this point there are no witnesses, although the wife has posted up on the local park run social media site and on FB.
What is the PH collective advice? I don’t believe I have anything to take to the Police, who are busy enough.
Do I go around and give them the opportunity to cough up?
After a quick shower I return to the scene of the bump and try to establish how this may have happened. There are some properties adjacent to the parking space, but no cars present. During subsequent drive pasts I have identified a likely culprit. Opposite the place where I was parked there is a Silver Ford Focus fitted with tow bar (matching the 42cm height of the point of impact on my car), parked front first in a driveway.
At this point there are no witnesses, although the wife has posted up on the local park run social media site and on FB.
What is the PH collective advice? I don’t believe I have anything to take to the Police, who are busy enough.
Do I go around and give them the opportunity to cough up?
In the past month I've had the C word scratched into my bonnet, a nice dent on a crease line and some utter nonce use a key to scrape up and down above the passenger door handle. All happened in different places and I haven't even been trying to upset anybody.
I can either get insanely pissed off to the point of overheating or shrug my shoulders, put it down to bad luck and hope these things only do come in 3s.
Good luck OP.
I can either get insanely pissed off to the point of overheating or shrug my shoulders, put it down to bad luck and hope these things only do come in 3s.
Good luck OP.
Similar thing happened to my dad years ago with a weird old woman over the road. She reversed into his door, and drove off. When she got back my dad confronted her and she said "Oh yeah, I forgot about that" ?!? She did admit fault in the end. They may be hoping to get away with it, but a knock on the door may change things...
stevesingo said:
Saturday morning and the sun is shining so I decide to use my E30 M3 Sport Evo to take the kids to the Park Run. Parked in the road adjacent to the park and off we went for the run. Upon returning my son who is getting in the passenger (RH side) door complains that the door is stiff. I tell him to man up and get in. Upon arriving back at home, I discover that the RH front wing an door has been pushed in and causing the door to jam up against the wing. Obviously, when parked up someone backed in to my car and drove away leaving a dented wing and door behind. W***ers.
After a quick shower I return to the scene of the bump and try to establish how this may have happened. There are some properties adjacent to the parking space, but no cars present. During subsequent drive pasts I have identified a likely culprit. Opposite the place where I was parked there is a Silver Ford Focus fitted with tow bar (matching the 42cm height of the point of impact on my car), parked front first in a driveway.
At this point there are no witnesses, although the wife has posted up on the local park run social media site and on FB.
What is the PH collective advice? I don’t believe I have anything to take to the Police, who are busy enough.
Do I go around and give them the opportunity to cough up?
Unless there is a witness or some sort of CCTV coverage, you are pretty much screwed.After a quick shower I return to the scene of the bump and try to establish how this may have happened. There are some properties adjacent to the parking space, but no cars present. During subsequent drive pasts I have identified a likely culprit. Opposite the place where I was parked there is a Silver Ford Focus fitted with tow bar (matching the 42cm height of the point of impact on my car), parked front first in a driveway.
At this point there are no witnesses, although the wife has posted up on the local park run social media site and on FB.
What is the PH collective advice? I don’t believe I have anything to take to the Police, who are busy enough.
Do I go around and give them the opportunity to cough up?
My dad's X5 was hit in a hotel car park last summer. He spoke to the hotel manager as there were 'covered by CCTV for your protection' signs everywhere. They basically said go to the police as they won't do anything with the CCTV until they are approached by the BIB.
As it was down in Cornwall and the damage wasn't that great (scuffs and a minor dent), he just left it. It's the fact that someone did it and drove off that is so annoying.
I have had multiple cars hit in the past too whilst parked on streets and in car parks.
I even heard of one spiteful person faking writing a note to the owner of a vehicle she hit. Apparently, there was a witness, so she told them she was writing a note and the witness seemed happy and left. What she actually wrote on the note was 'I've hit your car, but I'm not telling you who I am.' Very odd behaviour indeed.
You could give them a knock and see what they say. They might admit to it,they might not but having said that you are not 100% sure it was them.
I've often wondered how this stands in the eyes of the law though. Isn't this classed as leaving the scene of an accident which in my understanding is a serious offence? Just because the car was parked and no one was injured shouldn't change the matter.
I do feel your pain though,I have had a few nice cars myself and the only sure way to avoid this kind of thing is to be very,very careful where you leave them as most people just don't give a s
t.
Hope you get it sorted one way or another.
I've often wondered how this stands in the eyes of the law though. Isn't this classed as leaving the scene of an accident which in my understanding is a serious offence? Just because the car was parked and no one was injured shouldn't change the matter.
I do feel your pain though,I have had a few nice cars myself and the only sure way to avoid this kind of thing is to be very,very careful where you leave them as most people just don't give a s
t.Hope you get it sorted one way or another.
stevesingo said:
Do I go around and give them the opportunity to cough up?
You can always ask. But bear in mind this is somebody who hit it, KNEW they hit it, and chose to park elsewhere rather than leave a note.Also bear in mind that, if you think it's the towbar, most towbars are designed to sit at an almost identical height.
Leins said:
You could always try bluffing, and tell them you have a witness who took down their reg?
That's what I'd do - say someone stopped you as you got back to your car and mentioned that is was that car that bumped your car on that date.Oh, and "leaving the scene of an accident"?!?!
not a chance they'll give a fk!!Just say your in car cctv caught them doing it. That's your best chance of getting them to admit liability. Unless they ask to see footage of course. Just hope they're as stupid as their driving suggests.
Of course if it wasn't them, you'll get told to fk off and probably look like a total .
Of course if it wasn't them, you'll get told to f
k off and probably look like a total . 
Go round, be friendly.. Suggest that you got their details because one of their 'neighbours' reported to you that they had seen the Focus back into your car.. It might provoke them to admit they backed into it if they did indeed realise they had done so.
If they refute it, you can't really do a huge amount as you don't really have a witness
If they refute it, you can't really do a huge amount as you don't really have a witness
vtecyo said:
Just say your in car cctv caught them doing it. That's your best chance of getting them to admit liability. Unless they ask to see footage of course. Just hope they're as stupid as their driving suggests.
Of course if it wasn't them, you'll get told to fk off and probably look like a total .
You can also say that a passer by left a note on your car which said it was them.Of course if it wasn't them, you'll get told to f
k off and probably look like a total . (fabricate said note).
xjay1337 said:
You can also say that a passer by left a note on your car which said it was them.
(fabricate said note).
And what if it wasn't them? Then he'd look like a right (fabricate said note).
wouldn't he?It's a s
tty thing to happen but if you don't know who did it OP I'm afraid you're going to have to sort it out yourself or claim it off your own insurance. It's what you pay the premiums for after all.rohrl said:
xjay1337 said:
You can also say that a passer by left a note on your car which said it was them.
(fabricate said note).
And what if it wasn't them? Then he'd look like a right (fabricate said note).
wouldn't he?It's a s
tty thing to happen but if you don't know who did it OP I'm afraid you're going to have to sort it out yourself or claim it off your own insurance. It's what you pay the premiums for after all.I know how annoying it is
that was only my mk5 gti not my otherwise mint e30 m3 evo.
people should have more respect for other things.
if the focus was parked adjacent and the towbar is the correct higher and usually reverses out the it's highly likely in all honesty that it was the car involved in the incident.
we pay our insurance premiums because we have to and to cover us in the event of damage to our own cars or others.
not really to pay out for when other people crash into us, and run off and leave without an apology.
so i would absolutely knock on their door. say that you had a note to say that it appeared your (their) car bumped into mine and if you wouldn't mind talking about it
you'll find out fairly quickly.
at worst you'll have wasted 10 mins of your time, at best the repair is not coming out of your pocket.
xjay1337 said:
vtecyo said:
Just say your in car cctv caught them doing it. That's your best chance of getting them to admit liability. Unless they ask to see footage of course. Just hope they're as stupid as their driving suggests.
Of course if it wasn't them, you'll get told to fk off and probably look like a total .
You can also say that a passer by left a note on your car which said it was them.Of course if it wasn't them, you'll get told to f
k off and probably look like a total . (fabricate said note).
At the moment you may suspect it was them but you've no proof. I'm not sure but claiming you've proof could be construed as fraud or obtaining pecunary advantage by deception. Neither of which is good.
Best of luck getting it sorted.
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