It seems inevitable that regardless of how careful you are some jerk just wants to make your day!!! Although, I took precautions today where I parked my car at my friends apartment complex, someone in a 4 door Chevrolet Cavalier felt it necessary to pull close enough to my CL600 and open their back door so that I now have my first dent and damage to the clear coat on my right back panel. I took pictures of the dent as well as how the car was parked next to my car so that it could be proven that the damage was done by the Cavalier. Now to the real question… this car was spotless and I want it to be spotless again. I have contacted the insurance company and they will cover it and get in touch with the jerk that hit me but I have been through this before with a different car and know that it needs to be done right! I live in the Northern Virginia area and wanted to know who I should take it to and get any feedback from anyone else that this may have happened to. Color is black.

Thanks, Jim

 

I would ask around MB dealers... I am sure they know someone if they don't have a good shop themselves.

Man I hate people like that. Can't they be more careful? I am sooo **** about where I park... if I can't have a good space, I just go elsewhere... no joke. I think about where I am going to park before I even turn my key on. I go to parking garages and ask for two spaces... I pay double the rate... and park in the middle. They think I am nuts. If I park on the street, it needs to be the first or last space... and I leave at least 10 feet between me and the next car so some moron doesn't bump me when pulling in or out. If I am with a friend, I make him park next to me to "cover me". I give Valets HUGE tips and inspect my car in detail before I take it back. If it goes in for service, even at the MB dealer, I make sure that everyone knows should a ding or scratch appear, they will pay big. If I am in a public lot, I am waaaaay out there parked right between two spaces. Not sideways, because that pisses people off, just straight over the line like someone that just parks bad.

All this seems like a big hassle, but now its just normal. I don't even think twice about it. If someone rides with me I clear the air right up front. "I will not park in a bad space, so I don't want to hear any whining"...

If you get a dent on this car and it has to be repainted, its going to cost a lot of money. If you don't report it to insurance, you have to pay it all out of pocket... if you do report it, then carfax gets a copy and all of a sudden your car has been in an "accident".... so kiss your resale value goodbye. I figure one small dent will cost several thousand dollars on this car.

Oh one last thing... I have a notepad in my car. When I park, I make a note of the liscence plate, make, model, year and color of every car I am next to... just in case.

I let a drunk guy "sleep off" his drunkenness when he was in my assigned space once. I parked next to him. I came back later to find the entire side of my car smashed... and all of a sudden not a single neighbor knew him.... they all had amnesia.

I know how you feel....

 

I don't know about that because some people would just park right next to you and dent your car when they open the door. Either that or some idiot would key your car.

 

Unbelievable yet true.... I can park a mile out, and still some moron decides to park next to me instead of the 500 other avialable spaces.... its amazing.

 

Just wanted to say thank you for your replies and give you a quick update to what I had done. The dealer I bought my car from took it in and had their dent masters work out the dent. You could never tell that it was ever dented. They then had one of their touch up people paint the area that was chipped. If you look for it you can tell that it was touched up but overall it seems to be a very reasonable repair since they did not charge me. I am thinking about revisiting the paint aspect to see if it could be improved. Not sure yet.

 

Did they do the Ding Doctor method when they fixed it? (Heat and massage, suction) instead of the usual dent repair? Reason I ask is I'm wondering if that method works with the alloy metal of the CL body panels. I think it's magnesium and aluminum and I heard that Ding Doctor refuses to do CLs...

 

No. The guy that performed the repair didn’t use heat or suction. I should have taken pictures; the individual was very skilled and used a variety of long metal levers by lowering the back window and placing a protective cover over the glass. He then applied pressure against the panel around the dented area (very carefully) with the various tools. Clearly this individual had many years of experience which is likely why HBL uses him.