Parking + Fabia = Dents

[leighboyuk]

I know it doesnt help that my car is black, but has anyone else had a problem with parking their fabias only to find another dent, seems like the smallest touch results in a dent down the side of the car. Over the last three years I've owned a Saxo, Civic and two fiestas and never a problem. I've now resulted to double parking, due to the lack of respect people show and quality/toughness of the metal used on the fabia...

Today after returning from a meal out I find this:

The photo looks quite tame compared to in person, looking at the car from an angle you can clearly see a crease through the door, including the cars line. You might also notice a dent near the door handle, this was from a RS4(!!) who opened his door onto mine within a week of having the car, anyway...

Watched one of the children in the back of his car open his door on mine, from inside while eating. The driver who i confronted was generally nice, i asked for his insurance details, I even have photos with his rear door opened onto mine and the dent matching up to his door, not only this but grey paintwork on my door from his car. Unsure if I should make a claim against him, only because my excess is £1,150, even though the fault lays 100% with him in my mind, I just can't afford £1,150 if anything goes wrong.

I just had enough.

[Guest westallc]

ask the guy for cash so you dont have to go through insurance

[chrisw880]

ask the guy for cash so you dont have to go through insurance

This what I did in January when someone reversed into the side of my car.

[leighboyuk]

This what I did in January when someone reversed into the side of my car.

I wish I had of now looking back, however I dont have a phone number, just his policy number, insurnace company and his reg plate.

[Dougie S]

It has nothing to do with your excess if he is liable. Just get on to your insurance company and if you have proof of the incident then I'm sure it will be no big deal.

[R1chard]

only because my excess is £1,150

Thats some hefty excess so I don't blame you for not claiming

I have a small scuff from someone opening there door onto mine which luckily didnt dent it.

It boils my **** that some people just don't give a **** !

I tend to park my car on its own to avoid things like this but I've noticed by doing this its almost guaranteed every time someone will park next to me even if there is loads of spaces WHY ???

A prime example was a few months back at the metro center in gateshead, I parked on the roof deck of the multistory and there was about 20 cars parked and I'd say about 70 spaces, I parked my car on its own no where near any others and central in the actual parking space and when I came back someone had parked so close to the passengers side I had to actually reverse out of the space so my mate could get in, there was no damage to my car because of it but I don't know how the driver got out of there car !!!

I just don't get why some people are just so crap at parking and irritating !

[ste372]

i went to water world in stoke not long ago and came out to find a deep crease in my rear quarter thought it was game over but 20mins and a smart repair guy had it gone altogether aslong as it hasnt broke the paint give a smart repairer a call they work miracles.

regarding the metal used on fabias it does seem to be quite soft compared to other marques, but as i see it my furby is the only decent car ive ever owed so i tend to care bout it a hell of a lot paid a lot of hard earned money for it. i regularly look around it and if i spot any dents take it to smart repair man and he sorts it out. does help that my dad works for smith knight and faye bodyshop though so tend to get my car looked after quite well

and i thought my excess was bad at 400 how old are you, how much are you paying to insure it if you dont mind me asking?

[Rob.]

Yeah, mine has 3 or 4 door dents scattered around it.. They're not as bad as yours though and I think most of the m were done before I bought it as I defiantly noticed 2 when viewing it.. but what can you do, really? No point in getting worked up about it.

However, when you have evidence like you do and actually see it happen then, yeah.... I'd get peeved.

Truth is though? Kids will always do this...

I'm sure most dent companys could get them out.. think they're normally about £70 per dent.

Maybe if you contact your insurance company with his details they can contact his, and them him.. and give your details to him with an offer of a cash settlement.. I'm sure he'd rather not claim as well.

[anewman]

Truth is though? Kids will always do this...

Car manufacturers have a solution for this, the child lock. Having said that many a time I have witnessed drivers slam their door into the car next to them, get out shut their door lock up and walk off. Whenever I have my mum with me I make sure I park somewhere she can swing the door all the way out as she'd do this if there was a car there or not. This has to be a pet hate of mine too, when washing the car I can see so many door dings. I wonder if it is ever possibly to buy a used dingless car?

Edited 20 December, 2010 by anewman

[Chris182]

I was at a shopping centre indoor car park, I was sitting in my black vrs all tinted - the woman parked next to me came back with her trolly didn't see us sitting in the car. First off she hit her own car trying to get the trolly to the back off her crappy old punto then bang off my car, I shouted ffs my wife said leave it she's old! Yeah so that makes it ok she was only about 50. Anyway i left it but lucky couldn't see any damage but angers me how careless people are.

Someone drove into my Clio 182 once while trying to park while I sat in it, lucky most panels are plastic it didn't damage, got out looked at my car the young girl said sorry is ok while sitting in her astra only fit for the scrap yard.

I've came to the conclusion that if someones in a car pretty much worthless then they don't give a crap about other peoples cars due them not being concerned about their heaps of....

[leighboyuk]

i went to water world in stoke not long ago and came out to find a deep crease in my rear quarter thought it was game over but 20mins and a smart repair guy had it gone altogether aslong as it hasnt broke the paint give a smart repairer a call they work miracles.

regarding the metal used on fabias it does seem to be quite soft compared to other marques, but as i see it my furby is the only decent car ive ever owed so i tend to care bout it a hell of a lot paid a lot of hard earned money for it. i regularly look around it and if i spot any dents take it to smart repair man and he sorts it out. does help that my dad works for smith knight and faye bodyshop though so tend to get my car looked after quite well

and i thought my excess was bad at 400 how old are you, how much are you paying to insure it if you dont mind me asking?

Im 21 with 0 no claims bonus, on a 10 month fast track policy, paying £700, which isnt tooo bad really.

[Vagophile]

It pains me to say this, but nobody these days has any respect for other people's cars, especially in supermarket car parks. Buy used and concentrate on good mechanicals, as long as the bodywork is not rusy. Condition will be reflected in the price. You don't have to be super proud of your car, accept it for what it is, a means of getting from a to b, then - another ding, so what? There are some parts of the world where you can be about all day and not see a car without a dent or scrape. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

[ste372]

easy to say that if you got money coming out of your ears but as soon as i worked extremely hard to be able to afford my car why would i join them then my car would be damaged even more?

[bnjyn]

easy to say that if you got money coming out of your ears but as soon as i worked extremely hard to be able to afford my car why would i join them then my car would be damaged even more?

As I've got older I've had more and more to deal with - wife, kids, job, house. So long as there's the proverbial bread on the table and a roof over our heads then I won't lose any sleep over the state of my car. It's not that I don't care about it, it's just lower down on my list of priorities.

I support what vagophile said: a car is for getting from a to b. It would be a different matter if I was going to cruise around town all night, trying to pull :p

[bnjyn]

... I might even hoover it!

[Brian69]

Unfortunately, you're probably as well paying for it yourself. If you go through his insurance company you'll have to declare it to your own insurer - even though it's a non-fault claim it's almost certain that your insurance company will put your premium up (not just at renewal, but possibly for several years) - this is because insurance companies claim that it's statistically proven that if you have a non-fault claim, you're more likely to have another claim (even though you haven't been negligent in any way - don't you just love 'em!).

A neighbour pranged my previous car (whilst parked) and I just paid for the repair myself (admittedly it was fairly minor) - not right, but it was better that than my insurer holding it against me at renewal and raising my premium (I had protected NCD at the time but NCD is just a con that gullible motorists bizarrely like - doesn't prevent them increasing your premium).

[anewman]

I guess either you put up with them or pay to repair them. One solution could be a crap car for the supermarkets from the under £1000 section of adverts, and then have a nice car for other uses.

Oh and regards double parking, in private car parks you can ignore signs that say park in marked bays or get a charge of £60 etc. Basically those charges are not legally enforceable and you just get some free toilet paper through the letterbox from the company and the debt collectors at the desk the other side of the office, that you just ignore and do not reply to (you only need to reply to actual court papers but so few of these companies do court that you need not worry about that). Charges in council car parks ARE probably enforceable though so would not recommend double parking in those.

Edited 20 December, 2010 by anewman

[Vagophile]

easy to say that if you got money coming out of your ears but as soon as i worked extremely hard to be able to afford my car why would i join them then my car would be damaged even more?

I've got to the Victor Meldrew stage of my life and new to the forum, but some of the members seem to spend rather more for and on their cars than I would be prepared to... Xenons at £500 as O.E. ...I've had many a good car for less than that. (and not 50 years ago!) It's a lateral thinking thing.

[Vagophile]

...the main reason I bought a Skoda...