looking_to_buy

MYSTERY SOLVED :rock: :rock: I know I shouldn't be so happy now but its good to find out what it was! On the off chance it was malicious or localised industrial damage, I contacted the police at Fort William to see if there had been any other reported incidents that I could tie it down to Spoke to a top fella there (who drives a white Octavia vRS :clap: ) and explained I'd had damage done to which he said there had been no reported malicious incidents... I mentioned the car next to me had had the window smashed and maybe they just hadn't reported it, so he checked under weather incidents and said there were 21 reported incidents over the few days I was there, including windscreens being smashed, windows smashed etc etc - nothing taken and unlikely to be malicious as the scale was too large. They had put it down to wind, as the car park I was on is so exposed under high winds, that objects from all over the place, including the the Loch, (such as stones etc) get blown around the car park: https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=fort+william+map&ll=56.815324,-5.11724&spn=0.006835,0.013733&hnear=Fort+William,+Highland,+United+Kingdom&gl=uk&t=m&z=16&layer=c&cbll=56.815324,-5.11724&panoid=tfSXmKIw8cZFwzsMgi3MdQ&cbp=12,224.47,,0,-1.28 (I parked roughly where the Civic is currently driving on the google map image above - so am fortunate I was protected by all the other cars parked by me as the wind was initially coming from the far end of the car park) Quite amazing stuff that the wind can cause so much damage!... don't **** with nature! PS - the guy I spoke to even remembered my car being parked there, and the wheels I had on

is that the same for windows? took it a few places tonight - general consensus was the same from all of them in that it is unnatural and to a degree where it impacts value due to how obvious it is - also, as it's clearly noticable on the windows all around, it rules out any paint defects... a few suggestions were given to the causes that are equally as viable as some of those above, but I still can't put a time and date to where it specifically would have occurred had fully comp car insurance for 15 years and never made a claim... looks like tomorrow i may have to put a dent in that (protected) record :( oh well - will keep the thread updated

conversely, where do I start? at what point is the damage enough to warranty a repair? Ordinarily an odd dent or scratch I wouldn't bother with (drove my last 'from new' car around for 3 years with a dent in the front bumper that occurred on a station car park 2 weeks after I bought it), but whatever this is will seriously impact resale... I know what you mean that "it could just happen again" though but the pics shown are all around the car and over all the windows... it's hard to enjoy the drive when you know you're driving something that's been battered :( that's an interesting thought, and something I will definitely keep an eye on!

Cheers guys - although i've not really seen a gritter this winter, the grit suggestions does really make the most sense for the type of damage we're talking (being flicked up from other cars etc) I genuinely expected there to be a much heavier impact on the front of the car for that though.... not the sides and the rear I've been out and checked the wing mirrors this morning and they're the only bit of the car that seem untouched Going to try and nip to a bodyshop later today to see if they can make sense of it! Baffled

That was my immediate thought. Like some nearby grinding or something causing chips to hit the car. I thought maybe this would be possible as a one off (down one side of the car) but the sheer fact it is everywhere seems to rule out an accidental one off, and I can think of nothing regular that would occur either. I've worked in the building for a good 5 years or so and had a mk2 before this (pre-facelift) from new and never seen anything like it in my 16 years of claim free motoring. Even at my house, the side of the car with the main damage is protected by human intervention of accidental shrapnel The business park is very much a suit and tie environment so can't be anything there :( (and I can see my car from the window)

Thanks for the sympathy guys. I park on a modern business park at work, and I live in the sticks a bit (car is parked by side of house under car porch) so tend to work from home if the gritters are out. Think I've seen one on the motorways all winter! The only doubt I have is around what could have happened on the way or actually at Fort William. We were gonna climb Ben Nevis but 80mph gusts put us off!! Do you think insurance is an option? What would I say :-/

Especially as there are chunks missing from every window and panel around the car. Doesn't make sense :(

The only place that doesn't look too bad is the roof (apart from natural ones) Thinking of taking if the garage tomorrow but don't know why or what I expect them to say. Wish u could see them in real life as photos are difficult to bring out the damage on this sort of thing I just can't understand how it happens. I really look after the car, hand wash and polish wherever possible (weather permitting basically) and splashed out on the life shine too :(

Definite chips :( you can feel them dipping in with your finger nails. Just been and double checked to make sure I'm not going mad! Back left and rear are noticibly worse than elsewhere but it's around all sides of the car. I've never seen anything like it :(

Today was the day I decided to clean off all the salt that had accumulated on the on my car, and I'm distraught - I have this all over my car - front windows, back windows, side windows, and pretty much every single painted panel on the car (and the one black alloy wheel I could be arsed to wash before I realised that I genuinely did have a big problem) :( I'm completely gutted - these bits are the worst of it, but what could have caused it? Could the wind have caused this? I went up to Fort William for the weekend on the Friday of the big snow blizzards a few weekends ago, and there were a few bits (Rannock Moor etc) where high sided vehicles had been blown off the road - if the wind was that strong would it have caused this damage? There was even these chips above and underneath the rear spoiler!?! :( :( :( :( (Incidently, I don't park anywhere industrial....) What are my chances of insurance being willing to fix / repair all of this? - especially as I have no specifics on where or when it happened and I'm guessing it could be expensive :(

Awesome - thanks for the update - can't wait to hear how you get on 'on the road' Incidently, on a different note, I was re-reading the thread for inspiration it appears that one of the picture hosting sites of an ebay seller that was used by one of the first posters in this thread has been hacked - made me chuckle anyways...

just wondered if you'd had chance to look at this, and had any feedback?

a key fob????

did you have to pay import duties, or do they mark the price down?

that'd be great which one did you go for by the way?

ah - i'll take a closer look at the review... I assumed when it said , that it was saying it was a different version

sorry, I worded my original post quite badly - if you look at the comments associated with that video review, it's "the predecessor" - ie. there's a "new A8" and an "old A8" - the new A8 supposedly fixes a lot of issues mentioned in that review, and is around the same price as the old one - I think it's just updated firmware and a better sensor

what about this one supposedly better than its predecssor (which got poor reviews) http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/110991073612 I'm trying to avoid something with a built in screen / monitor... there's doesn't seem that many budget options around for that though :(

I'm tempted by this one as it ticks most of the boxes for me (I wouldn't necessarily mount on visor, however the ease of unplugging it is a big plus) http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=350724385200 It's a vCam - anyone else looked at these?

ah, yes, budget - i didn't mention that (though I did mention the Blackvue which on closer analysis, is a few quid more than I wanted to spend), I was thinking budget / ebay range ---> max £50

I'm aware i've missed the BlackVue group buy ( :( ), but wondered if anyone else had opinions on what's out there on the market... which is increasingly more than was out since the last post on this thread like other people, i'm after something that can be removed if necessary (or discreet... i.e. no built in monitor or 'bulkyness'), and isn't too much faff to fit if it is removable

Facelift Mk2 vRS here, so presumably I would need the spacers too? What's the deal with that - is it something thats included and I dont need to worry about, or is it an extra cost thing I have to source. I'm guessing its just a metal place that goes between the wheel and the car (so still straight forward to fit) Apologies for naivity!

just had my renewal quote in from you guys... £560 AXA are quoting me £340 :o

the option was to pay £250 to use a different bodyshop... i'll start leaving a spare £250 lying around in my bank account in future to avoid any further 'told you so' comments :( edit: apologies, my response perhaps seems a little ratty, however I'm disappointed that the saga still isn't over for us on this one and to be honest, I have enough stress in my life at the moment without added complications --- made worse by the fact that all this has come about through something where we were at no fault, yet have been inconvenienced massively for. I genuinely thought one of the selling points of insurance was supposed to be the 'peace of mind' it offered, where this has just been a PITA :(

Well... I can see an update to this thread over the next few days, but will provide a mini-update for now We went through the route recommended by the insurer (mainly due to us not having cash around to do otherwise) and to be honest, the car finally came back a couple of days ago (yes, we were without it for a month), and i'm absolutely fuming!!! There are a couple of things you should know before reading on. 1) the car has covered less than 3000 miles 2) it gets cleaned on a weekly basis without fail, and we utilise the autoglym stuff that came with my cars lifeshine cover 3) the car was bought brand new in April First of all, the state the car was in was disgusting: - filthy inside and out (so much so that my wife found it difficult to inspect the repair, or any other aspect of the car) - car had been covered in stickers, mainly on drivers door and around rear door frame (inside) - had to use boiling water and took around 10 minutes of rubbing to remove from door - not doing the door trim as well (as there's loads more there) - inside rear door feels 'rough' - wheel arch trim has tiny paint bubbles on it - wheel arch trim doesnt seem properly stuck on - wheel arch trim seems to have unpainted part - where bodywork meets wheel arch trim, colour matching seems strange / noticiable - dirty water marks inside the car, around the gear stick, dashboard, door trims (drivers AND passengers!) - dust in the car, so much so we moved the rear seatbelt and you can see the original colour of the cloth! - white spots covering the inside of the boot plastic boot trim - SCRATCHES on drivers window trim (between edge of door and window) - wax (or other white substance) on areas of the bodywork in crevasses - rear boot carpet has white patches on it All in all, absolutely fuming and if this isn't resolved, i'll be naming and shaming the (forum sponsoring) insurer as I genuinely think its been an awful experience throughout! :( :( :( :( (and don't even get me started on the attitude of some of the people the wife has had to deal with on this one, as well as the incompetence of the people that were collecting / dropping off the car!) The complaints department should be ringing me back in the morning and no-way is someone having this car for 4 weeks again and returning it in the same condition! *argh* - *angry*!