I was washing my car and discovered my rear tire carrier was keyed. Although pissed, I was excited as I have Blackvue camera that is aimed in perfect position to catch the bandit. Rush to the computer, insert the memory card, and see that it has 818 video files on it. 🤦🏼‍♂️

I sent an email to my detail shop, as I had the car “ceramic boosted” and cleaned up about 6 weeks ago and wanted to see if he noticed the scratches…

Spent a full day reviewing videos. I have an accessory battery pack, so it films 24/7. By the end of the day, I had gone through the videos (many of which consisted of my car parked in the garage) and after spending hours reviewing footage, I admitted defeat.

I then received an email from the detailer that the scratches were present when he cleaned it up. (I am surprised he didn’t mention it to me, but that isn’t his fault). Since the scratches were already there 6 weeks prior, I had no video that far back and no chance of catching the perp, as the 128gb card is good for about 2 weeks and then records over itself (unless an impact is detected).

Anyway, as you see in the pics, in some areas it is down to bare metal. I will get an estimate from a body shop, but I am thinking it might be cheaper to just buy a new cover? Anyone have any insight or recommendations on sourcing the cover? G is selenite grey.

I learned myself a lesson, to walk around my car every so often to check on it. I back in against a brick wall at work and back into a stall at the gym, other than that it is in the garage and I don’t spend much time looking at the rear of it…

Here is the damages…





Vandals are scum.

 

I could write a manifesto here about societal attitudes, class envy, thugs who commit vandalism and radicals who believe these acts comprise social justice, but I'll save it for another day.

Body shops have unfortunately become quite expert fixing keyed paint, and selenite gray, being a standard paint, shouldn't be difficult to repair. Since there's no deformation to the metal, I'd get a paint repair estimate first. I think the entire wheel cover (ring + disk) is about $2K, but I don't recall the breakdown. I have the MB p/n tucked away somewhere, and will post it later so you can check price and availability.

Vandals are stupid -- security cameras are everywhere, yet they key a vehicle right where a rear dashcam is mounted. Sorry it was over-recorded. The event probably did get captured somewhere on camera, but it would take forever to find it.

I'm gonna tape a sign onto my windshield sunscreen "Already Keyed" to deter vandals.

 

Even if you were to buy a new cover from the dealer, I think you will still have to get it primed and painted.

https://www.buymercedespartsnow.com/...r-463890210064

 

Think you're right about the p/n being unpainted. List price is about $1K, but many parts sources discount it to about $700.

Buy some of these so the next vandal will think he's late to the party -

 

Ouch sorry to hear about it. I’m really surprised the detailer didn’t mention it.

I would see what local body shops can do and for what cost. Not sure you need an mb authorized body shop for this, but ask around.

I would pay out of pocket and absolutely make sure whoever does the work does not report this to carfax.

If there’s concern they will then I would buy a new piece and get it painted or just bring it in the piece by itself and don’t give them a vin. Not ideal for matching of course but better than a carfax report for this.

 

Had this issue before, should be less than $400 to repaint and you can just leave the cover at the body shop without the car. The dealer will try to charge you for replacing the mercedes logo on the cover and that logo is almost $500!!!. Tell them to just mask around it.

 

I had mine repainted Desert Silver to match the body color - easy and cheap for a paint shop! And I replaced the logo with a custom painted to match logo with one I got cheap on eBay - the OEM one is just on with 3M tape.

 

After you have it repainted, you can get the cover PPF'ed. I had mine done

 

Thanks all, body shop said 300+ tax and that was ok with me.

I just can’t get over the type of people that do this.

I hate thieves too, but at least thieves gain something for their theft. In this scenario, they are pouting around that their life sucks, so they see if they can make others lives suck too. So stupid.

Thanks again for all of the responses!

 

From what I can find from a variety of online references, paint & dent shops do not routinely report repairs to Carfax. If there's an associated police report or insurance claim, however, this becomes a game changer, as the report originates from the police and/or insurer.

Probably $300 is below the insurance deductible anyway, so there's no choice but to pay for it yourself.

But this Carfax reporting is interesting -- I'd like to hear from as many forum members who wish to chime in on what does and doesn't get reported in their experiences.

 

Could use this opportunity to add the spare tire delete plate. that is what I did when someone knicked up my cover

 

Just wondering.. I love the look of the spare tire without a cover. To me it looks a little more rugged. If I include the spare tire in rotations, do I really need a cover? Just wondering what your personal thoughts are and if there is a benefit to having a cover, since the other 4 wheels aren't covered lol.. Not really sure why I'm asking this question, just noticing some people have a sort of personalized cover on their spares.

 

On my old G I had the tire exposed, I suppose one could argue that if you are in a hot climate the exposed tire will degrade more from the sun, but with proper rotation (likely even without) it wouldn’t make a difference.

 

The OEM spare tire that comes with the vehicle is slightly smaller than the regular tires and the rim will not match, unless you have a G550 with the 20" 10 spoke rims, so you cannot use it in rotations. Also it is mounted rim in, so without the cover you are looking at the spare tire and the inside face of the rim against the rear door--hardly cosmetically pleasing.

However, what you can do if motivated enough is to buy a fifth matching OEM rim and tire and use that in rotations; however, this tire will not fit under the spare tire cover, so what you can do is buy an aftermarket adapter to replace the tire mount so that the spare tire can be mounted "backwards'' with the rim out.