I’m pretty sure this happened away from home and I’m just now noticing. The scratch is really deep hitting the metal in the deepest part. I have full coverage but I’m worried a claim will raise my insurance too much to be worth it. I’ve wrenched on cars before but never painted anything because it scares me.
Is it time to start watching chrisfix videos or should i just deal with insurance?
Vandalism would normally be covered by comprehensive coverage, and won’t affect your premiums; you’ll just have to pay a deductible. If you tried to do it yourself, you’d never get the paint to match quite right, so you’re better off taking it to an auto body shop to have it professionally repaired.
If you’re in the the US, file a police report. If for anything documentation (and local crime statistics). I’m sure there won’t be any real investigation, but it does help identify patterns.
Also, when/if you choose to file an insurance claim, you’ll have a police report number. Which may or may not help grease the wheels of the claim.
In the European countries that I am familiar with, a police report is mandatory for an insurance claim, and a formality.
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My local pd lets you submit police reports yourself online. I’ve done maybe 10 or so in the past for work. No cops required lol.
Chrisfix has a couple videos on fixing deep scratches and scuffs. This one seems most relevant to your predicament
How deep is the scratch?
Deep. To the primer mostly but i see metal at the end of it for about an inch. It’s long too, maybe around 24 inches long
Did you park like an ass? Sorry to hear that happened, a body shop is your best bet
It doesn’t matter. Leave a note, don’t destroy someone else’s property.
I’m not advocating for vandalism, but people don’t usually key cars for no reason
You are conflating the average person with all people. Yes, the average person doesn’t key cars at all, but that does not mean there are not people who absolutely might key a car for no reason.
It’s summer. Children are out of school. Bored children do shit for no reason.
That’s absolutely true but I’d really hesitate to blame the youth for this. I don’t live where theres much or any foot traffic because I live in a circle. I do park in the street but so does everyone.
Truth be told i probably deserve it on some sort of cosmic scale of karma.
But also I didn’t do anything that would make my car a target to my knowledge.
You know what? Good on you for recognizing that we’re not perfect. You’re cool in my book OP. Sorry this happened, wish I had constructive advice to give.
Thanks man, appreciate it. I’m just a dude. Far from perfect but not a blight on society either. I’m ok with being an average person
No I always park away from people at work and at the grocery store, And always in the lines.I haven’t gone anywhere else these past few days. That’s why I’m not sure why this happened.
Dang that really sucks. People are the worst sometimes.
I wouldnt bother with ChrisFix when it is about paintwork, after i saw his videos on bodywork i lost all trust in his skills concerning that. AmmoNYC (irrc) has an old video featuring a Mercedes g-class where he shows different ways to do it, from “i just dont want it to rust” to “only the best is good enough”.
I’ll be honest, i wouldn’t know better. I was just watching his deep scratch video and it seems like something i could do and I’d be happy with results similar to his.
If you’re just worried about rust I’d say do it yourself it’s not that hard
If when you run a fingernail over it, if your nail catches in the scratch, the scratch is very likely too deep to fix with paint correction(like buffing/polishing).
A proper fix will require prep, painting and blending, which you shouldn’t try to do yourself. You could buy a touch up stick that matches your paint to cover the scratch. It won’t look perfect and won’t last forever without clear coat on top, but it will prevent rust.
Before you decide how you’ll deal with this, you can bring it to a body shop for an estimate, most shops will do that for free. Most shops can give you an estimate from photos emailed or submitted to their websites.
