When I came out to my car this morning, I noticed a brand new ding in my passenger side door. Upon further inspection, it was obvious that the ding was from the Chrysler Concorde parked next to me. The molding/trim on the door lined up perfectly with the dent. My dilemma is that I can not prove that the ding was from the Concorde and the owner happens to be the only police officer living in my apartment building. Do I leave a note on the car to see if he will take responsibility or do I just cut my losses and have the ding fixed. Like I said, I can not prove he did it and do I want the troubles confronting him might cause? Any input would be appreciated.

Just curious, how much does it cost to have a dent pulled? It isn't very big, but it is definitely noticable.

 

Hi...


I suggest personally contacting the owner... show him/her what you found... in a friendly manner... and see what the reaction is...
If not agreeable... drop it... if agreeable... go from there...

I feel this is not worth reporting to the police or insurance company...


Dave...

 

if the crossfire's paint was not damaged consider taking it to a paintless dent removal expert. they have a variety of tools they use to massage out small dents and dings. in many cases all they need to do is remove the interior door panel to access the sheet metal. a guy in my neighborhood charges around $60 per ding.

 

sorry,

that is never fun...

I personally park way out with all the porches and BMW's at work. At home it is in the garage. When Shopping I park way out too... If I was in an aparment I would pay for a garge and park their. I have paid for covered parking and still had problems...

I never had the problem with my SUV becuase most doors that swung open woud hit the runners and either put a smal scuff on it or ruin their door...

As long as the paint is fine then they should be able to pop or roll out the dent. Some of the detail shops here offer this service.

-marc

 

Same thing happened to me although I didn't realise the dent until I got home. I took it to a Chrysler dealer near me and then had it reparied in less than an hour for $75.00

 

My Personal Rules for Ding Free Parking:

1) Park in an end spot (only one spot next to you) as far toward the back as possible. Position your Crossfire as far to the one side as possible to allow your door to open all the way.

2) If you cannot park on the end, try to park between two other German cars, or cars that are more expensive than yours (They care about dings more than you!)

3) The next best thing is to park next to a car that appears to be occupied by one driver and no passengers, and park on their right side, because they won't be opening their passenger side door. Position your Crossfire closer to the left side of the space to prevent getting dinged by the car on your right.

4) NEVER park next to a minivan (kids don't know any better), SUV, or pickup. Also, never park next to a beat-up crappy car. They obviously don't care about dings, so why should they care about dinging yours?

5) NEVER park your car at Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Costco, or the grocery store! (Flying shopping carts, crazy drivers, and other flotsam and jetsam)If you don't have a second car, get one!

 

[quote="Creator"]My Personal Rules for Ding Free Parking:

2) If you cannot park on the end, try to park between two other German cars, or cars that are more expensive than yours (They care about dings more than you!)

I would amend rule 2 to exclude full size Caddies and Lincolns (well any full size American car). About half of them around here are driven by little blue or orange hairs that can barely see over the dash. The doors to these cars tend to weigh more than the occupants and as a consequence can and often do get away from them. Most times when they are exiting they are just happy if the door didn't yank them out of their cars and deposit them face down on the street.

 

First off, I'd get some digital photos quick.
Then I'd leave a nicely worded note along the lines of 'I found a new dent in my new car that looks like it matches up to your car. Could we discuss it?'

Be cool about it. MOST people can be reasonable. If there's no paint damage, as mentioned already it shouldn't cost more than $100 to have the dent removed. Below either's insurance deductible for sure. If you discuss it rationally (i.e. don't start with 'look what you did to my car!'), chances are this person will pay for the repair.

 

Thank you all for your replies. I actually think I am going to just have the dent fixed myself. With this guy being a police officer and living in my apartment complex, I don't want to take the chance of getting on his wrong side. I can't prove he did it (even though I know he did), so I am just going to cut my losses and pay for it myself. I'm such a wimp!

 

If you must park next to a car follow the previous suggestions also park next to four doors only. The doors do not swing open as far on four doors.

 

You sound like a gentleman. I know fanatics that would key anyone they even suspected of dinging them. Now, I don't advocate that (heh, heh,)just commenting that it's not uncommon...