Do your kids wreck your cars ?

[J4CKO]

Ours despite repeated beatings (D still insist on treating the cars like crap, gradually getting better but the youngest has had his gritty shoes on the glovebox and ground in dirt, general debris, slamming doors, clambering around etc but generally no damage to speak of, just accelerated wear and tear.

One thing I am really grumpy about is bikes and scooters going past, mine has some suspicios dents onthe rear quarter, got most of it out but the other day "Freaky Freddie" was round, my youngests freind, a fairly unusual creature who has zero social skills, swears for England, lurks, eavesdrops, drops litter inside and out and has, as far as I can tell the mental capacity of a brain injured Spaniel. Anyway he has been told to leave his bike off our drive as he cannot be trusted but as he has no capacity to learn but did anyway, I was charging around looking for my Switch card and went to look in my car, saw him pick his bike up and then drop it against my wife's car, the handlebar met with the door skin leaving a pretty impressive dent. Now bear in mind this kid had been told twice on Saturday and numerous times before to leave his bike off the drive and watch the cars it was a bit galling to see him do this and then prepare to scarper, I was apoplectic, the door will need filling and painting, probably what, £250 so he got bawled out by me and sent home.

I felt a bit bad for shouting at a 12 year old kid but very, very pissed off that yet another dent not caused by myself or the wife had appeared ont he car we spent 20 grand on, it isnt a company car, nobody else will pay so it becomes my issue, either put up with it or get it fixed, as Freaky pedalled off he went to my youngest "That was Random"m reffering to my reaction like it was nothing.

Would I be wrong to reverse over his bike

[FastRich]

You'll only be wrong if he's not riding it at the time.

Hope you feel better for the rant

[Marlin45]

Legally yes, but from a personal sense of self retributional justice - no

[johnpeat]

The correct course of action is fairly simple - you take the bill for the repair around to his parents...

You highlight that you asked him nicely to leave his bike outside and he ignored you - you WATCHED him ignore you and you watched him inflict the damage to your car.

Clearly, given his behaviour, you'll get a Staffie set on you and threats of violence - but it's the correct action to take.

THEN reverse over his bike - when he's not watching ofc.

[Treacle81]

I have come out in the past to find a kids small scooter leaning against my car, i launched it into some long grass. Don't usually mind if it's a snotter, but when it's one you care about, and you make a point of telling your own kids to keep away from other people's cars, you kind of get pretty pissed off that other parents aren't so thoughtful!

[davidjpowell]

Yes.

Daughter just makes a mess. Step-son is 15 and old enough to know better.

Went out in other halfs Merc the other day. Came back and parked next to my Volvo.

He opens the back door which bounces open off the Volvo. Not happy with the space, he fking repeats it.

Now matching dents on each side. grrrr.

[Pints]

Children need to learn respect for belongings, whether it be their own or somebody else's.

The two HalfPints need regular reminding and discipling (where necessary) to help drill this in. The eldest is only 3, but the sooner they learn these basics of living in a civilised society where respect for fellow human beings is a norm, the better.

[K87]

Don't have kids but the little st's down the road certainly couldn't care less. Lost count of the footballs that end up on, under or bouncing off the doors. Phoning the police nearly on a daily basis now it' getting ridiculous.

[J4CKO]

This kid though, something not quite right, my thoughts on first meeting him, to the missus "That boy will be famous, not for something good"....

[lenandsons]

My 3 year old is learning slowly, my daughter is only 9 months old so she is out of the equation, my 16 year old son on the other hand !!!!!!!!!!! House, car, MTB he just trashes everything without a care in the world, zero respect for anyone elses property etc etc. Sadly HE WAS NOT RAISED THIS WAY!! it seems to be a general teenager thing

[Zod]

My children have been trained since birth and so far the worst I have had to deal with has been footprints on seat backs.

[J4CKO]

I didnt trash stuff as a kid, my bike was always lavished lots of care, perhaps the year of saving up and anticipation helped, or the liking things to work right, stuff is more attainable and disposable now, always amazes me how people with not that much money treat stuff like crap though, girl at work bougth a basic Mini, loaned to the hilt and still treated it like rubbish, along with not remebering/understanding the balloon payment at the end, durr, she really thought £150 or so a month was enough over three years to buy it.

I did have my moments though, I gnawed the back of my dads Capris vinyl seats, and to the day I sold it when I was 18 it still had my 3 year old selfs tooth marks, and some from a girl called Lorraine. I did a jump on my Raleigh Strika wrong and lost control down the side of the same car, not so long after it had been repainted, I at least had the decency to injure myself in the process

[theturbs]

OP - when I read your post I had the impression that "Freaky Freddie" was c.3 years old and not 12! He definitely should know better.

I think that reversing over his bike will do him a world of good. He's had ample warning, but no doubt he'll repeat his misdemeanour and leave his bike on your drive or against your car. When he does so next time, you can seize the opportunity.

When he complains you can walk off muttering "That was random", just for "closure".

[Y282]

i've had this. blokes kid playing football near car. asked kid not to (very politely) a couple of times, once while dad was outside checking his lawn with a micrometer. in the end went over to dad and stated pretty much word for word that if ANY marks appeared on my car i'd open his front door, pull him out of his house and shake him upside down until the money to fix it fell out.

now, call me over reacting, cite legal bks, etc, but it hasn't happened since and this was over a year ago.

Edited by Y282 on Wednesday 17th August 16:48

[theturbs]

J4CKO said:

Raleigh Strika

Had you folded back the rear mudguard to turn it into a motorbike?

[J4CKO]

theturbs said:

J4CKO said:

Raleigh Strika

Had you folded back the rear mudguard to turn it into a motorbike?

I know what you mean but that would have been a Grifter, the Strika was the next one down in the range (story of my life) and it had painted mudguards, only on the Grifter did you get the rubber mud flap type extensions.

[Baryonyx]

No, but when you have them they have the ability to wreck your taste in cars...why else would people drive those dire MPV's?

[monthefish]

J4CKO said:

Would I be wrong to reverse over his bike

[Hudson]

Threw up in my dads Granada as a kid. Used to call it the "floaty car" and it made me perpetually sick whenever i got in it.

Oh and some chavs left their bikes up against my old mondeo when i was visiting the gf, so i just drove off. oops

[theturbs]

J4CKO said:

I know what you mean but that would have been a GrifterIMG]

Haha I had it the other way around - I didn't know that this was possible on the Grifter. It was definitely possible on the Strika - my cousin had one from new, but that's another story.