Someone hit my car! And then sped off... Help on detailing!?
 

Hey everyone,

It's 4am and I'm driving home. There are 4 lanes that MUST turn left. I turn left, and the guy to my left decides to go straight. I see him in my side mirror and I turn sharp right, but it was too late.

NOW HERES THE MESSED UP PART. He pulls over to the right, and I pull over behind him. When I'm about to get out my car, he puts it in gear and flores it! :eek: I put my car in sport, and caught up to his stupid **** suburu in a second. Made me chuckle of how this guy thought he can out run a Mercedes.

Anyways, I grab his license plate and let him leave. I get out the car and see only scuff marks, not one dent or paint crack. If I filed a police report, would the police even take on something like this without any major damage?

In the morning, I check out the damage. I clean the area with soap and all the scuffs came out. Again, not one dent or paint crack! BUT there are some scratches that were under the scuff, some deep (catches my finger nail) and some not too deep (barely catches my finer nail).

I don't think it's worth repainting because it's just scratches and repainting will deminish the car's value and I don't want to risk a terrible paint job. So any ideas on what I can do? OH MAN how I would have loved to see that guys face when the police summons him with a hit and run, but I don't think the damage is enough to file a claim and go to my insurance.

Anyone know what/who I can do to get these scratches removed, or less visible? I was thinking about going to the dealership and having them compound, wetsand or whatever it takes ..but something told me to hold off, and ask MBWorld first.

What do you guys think? I heard of DETAILER DOMAIN in NJ. Anyone know of anything in the NY city area?

If they're too deep there isn't much you can do. If your finger nail catches it I'd say that the damage is extensive and needs repainting which can cost a lot.

At an angle, you can see the 3-4 thin scratches that catches my finger nail. The scratches are probably like an .5 to inch long if that and thin. But then there's a bunch of other scratches surrounding it, which you don't see at an angle. I think those can be fixed, but the 3-4 deep ones can probably just be made less noticeable.

If I go to a detailer, should I allow them to wet sand or make just stay with compound? And do you know of a good detailer, or should I try the dealer?

IF you report it, it will likely not even meet your deductible so you'll be paying out of pocket anyway AND have accident on your carfax report. You lose x2.

If it were me, I'd get a
Good detailed to take a look at it and let you know if he thinks it'll buff out which is way better that painting panel.

First things first... report the person to the police! I don't care if there was only $10-worth of damage. Conscious decision to wait for you to get out of your car means you should throw the book at them.
Sounds like you can buff out a majority of the scratches, but yes, take it to a pro detailer for their opinion. Get reimbursed by the other party...

[QUOTE=Doanster;5937601]First things first... report the person to the police! I don't care if there was only $10-worth of damage. Conscious decision to wait for you to get out of your car means you should throw the book at them.






Good Advice. Always get a police report.

I would report it to the police. Even if you do not want insurance involved Id still put the police on him and try to collect some cash on your part. Im thinking you can do that for the time and money you had to spend on taking care of the issues yourself. If It was me in your position, It would not be so much the damage on my car it would be the principle of him actually thinking he could get away with that more than anything.

wow what a di$k!! report his ass so he doesn't do it to someone else

If it's just the clear and not through the paint, you can put some touch up clear on it, let it harden, then wet sand it with 3000 grit, polish, and it will be like it was never there.

Thanks, that's what I was thinking. If I saw any dents or paint cracks, then as much as I'd hate to do it.. I would have gotten it reprinted. But since it was just scratches, I'm hoping a good detailer can work with it.

Wow, didn't think that was possible. Would a detailer be able to do that or body shop? Maybe the dealer can give me ideas on what to do, I just haven't went to them yet because I read bad stories with people taking their cars to the dealer for detailing.

Phil at Detailers Domain is considered one of the absolute best. I wish I lived closer to DD.

I agree, if he would have stopped. I would have looked at the damage and say, just give me a 100 bucks and let's not get the cops/insurance involved. He probably noticed I had a Mercedes, and thought of how much it'd cost his insurance and left.

It happened Saturday night into Sunday. Probably too late to file a police report by now anyways. Do you think?

Man if I see that GLX 1636 license plate parked somewhere on the street.... LOL

Nice! I will give him a call in the morning and explain to him the story. I think I'll try this before going to the dealer.

The right detailer can probably make it look like it never happened or make it very very unnoticeable

It happened Saturday night into Sunday. The police would ask me why I didn't file a report sooner. If I could go back I would. I wrote down his license plate, every suburu I see I'm going to check the license plate. LOL I'll go to a detailer and get there opinion. I'll try to post pics here too.

Sounds promising.

Karma!

PICTURES
 

After washing the car, this is what was behind the scuff marks.

I don't think it's worth repainting the car, because that would be too risky if they don't do a good job. Plus I'd have to tell the next owner that the driver door was repainted, and that's never a good thing.

With my fingernail, it catches on like 3-4 of the scratches. The others I feel, but not too bad.

What you guys think?

Doesn't look bad at all. Should easily polish out.

BTW, it is not too late to report it. Don't think they'd even ask, but you don't need to justify why you didn't immediately call it in. There were no injuries or major damage rendering your car inoperable. Here in Oregon, 72hrs is the official rule...

Yeah, you can't really tell from the picture the dept of the scratch. But you get the hint as to why at night, I didn't think it was bad or worth going to the insurance.

I agree, I'm going to look up NY State law and find out what I can do about this guy....

NY State Law
 

For a hit-and-run crash, within 24 hours or as soon as reasonably practicable.

For a hit-and-run reported after 24 hours, you may have to provide a reason or affidavit to MVAIC that explains why you were unable to report the accident within 24 hours.

In any hit-and-run crash, the NYPD should create a “Criminal Complaint” to start the process of trying to identify the motorist who left the crash scene. You may want to follow up with the investigators to see what progress they are making (and remind them that someone cares about the results of the investigation).

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Sounds like a hassle. I'll take it to a detailer and get their thoughts on it, and post a status later on. If I see that license plate in the streets, i'll post up before and after pics of his car. ;) LOL

Another theory is he may not even have insurance that's why he fled. So you would loose since your insurance would have to pay, thus making those insurance bills higher in price every year. Insurance is expensive now adays.

Should have called 911 immediately, and reported that "he hit your car, stopped, then sped away, erratically, probably DUI since it was 4am, and they should try to find him immediately before he kills someone. Oh, and btw, officer, arrest him for hit skip while you're at it."

Now the next day, still do the police report for hit skip, but he'll not be DUI anymore if they pay him a visit. You still want him arrested for hit skip, however.

Then deal with your car as you see fit, assuming they won't actually catch the guy and if they do that he won't have insurance.

(The cheaper way) Clay bar it with some dish washing soap then wax the panel if it doesn't look good send it to the body shop . As for GLX 1636 he'll get his one day.