SonsOfLeda

Here's the back story:

Last week Wednesday after work I came out to my car, got in and noticed that it looked like an enormous bird had dropped one right in the middle of my windshield (it was at night - very dark). I get out to take a look at it and realize that either this bird had a serious problem, or someone had vandalized my car. I had what looked like blue paint/ink splattered all over the grille, hood, cowl, windshield and roof, with little spots of it speckled pretty much everywhere on the front/top of the car.

I took it to a DIY car wash in the middle of the night (by this time it was ~1am), and did what I could. It came off the glass well enough, but other than the build-up of excess blue stuff, it wasn't coming off the paint/plastic parts with the high-pressure hose or any amount of scrubbing I did to try and remove it.

So, I went out and got estimates of the damage and everywhere I brought it gave me a rough estimate of in the $1200-$1500 range, so I decided to start an insurance claim on it. Well, I brought it into the Progressive service centers (one-stop-shop, rental, estimates, repairs, claim, everything) yesterday and was given a black '07 Charger as a rental and they said they'd call me with an estimate and other updates as soon/often as they could. (side note on the Charger - not nearly as fun to drive as my car - I was actually pretty disappointed with the Hemi).

Today, I went to lunch with one of my friends and when we got there, they couldn't get out of the front seat. The inside front door handle was broken and if I wanted to keep the car, I would have to be a gentleman let everyone out from the outside. Annoying, but I figured I'd deal with it for a few days until my car was done. Unfortunately, while eating lunch, I got more bad news...

Progressive called and let me know that the body shop guys have never seen anything like the blue substance that was on my car. They all evidently asked if I had clear coated over the vandalism - obviously I hadn't. Unfortunately, what they were able to determine was that whatever chemical (it's definately not paint/ink) that the vandal had put on the car was eating through everything that it had touched. All of the plastic/rubber was being degraded fairly quickly, the clear/paint was being eaten away and once they got that stripped down, they were going to have to look at the bare panels themselves and see if it had gotten down that far and started to eat away at them as well. All of the plastic/rubber parts that it touched (moldings, grille, cowl, wipers, some hoses under the hood) needed to be replaced. In addition, the glass and maybe even the body panels themselves may need to be replaced once they determine the extent of the damage when they remove the paint. They gave me a rough estimate of ~$4k and a completion date of the middle of September, but said that all of that may change when they know more.

So, since I'm going to have the rental car for quite a bit longer than anticipated, I decided to trade in the Charger and its bum door. More bad news - the car they gave me as a replacement was an '08 Kia Optima. Granted, it'll get better gas milage (and I'm headed to Vegas for the weekend for a friend's wedding, so I'll be putting on quite a few miles), but I never thought I'd be driving a Kia around for anything...

I'll let you guys know of the updates and everything on here. Until then, I'll be crusing in my ruby red Kia Optima wishing it were my Ralliart, or at the very least a Charger with a bum door. I guess the good thing is that insurance is going to cover it and I'm only responsible for my deductible. Here's to hoping my rates don't climb because of some punk who put cr*p on my car...

migs647

iTrader: (19)

Rates usually don't go up because of vandalism, it's usually infractions / collisions that make it go up.

I'd really like to know what was put on your car that can eat metal, rubber, and plastic. Sounds like some sort of acid. That sucks man.

It could have been random but there is also a possibility you pissed someone off. I'd set up a security camera to see if it happens again.

High_PSI

iTrader: (50)

It would be worth it if I caught them, just to break their arms and watch them dry. To me it would be worth it.

MITVRX

To sum up your story - You don't like the rental car.

SonsOfLeda

That's not quite it, but it just added to the "luck" I've been having ending up with a bum Charger and then a Kia... I could at least be driving around in style while dealing with the rest of this cr*p, right?

KreepaEvoX

Im just back to the scene after more than a month of downtime...so, I feel your pain

migs647

iTrader: (19)

Dude, I haven't seen the car you're in... but at least be happy it doesn't have "Care of xxx dealership / insurance" plastered on the side. While my cousin was getting his car fixed he had to roll around with HUGE LETTERS on the side of the rental Accord

"Jim Dorn Subaru / Chevrolet Back-up Car"

Talk about embarrassing

jeffers

i've had the random keying done to my old car. that's what i get for 15-hour parking in front of the condo. the insurance company guaranteed my rates would go up if i claimed it. so i drove it for a year with some nice artwork on the sides. i feel your pain dude.

Lancer7

iTrader: (2)

I'm also curious about the substance.

migs647

iTrader: (19)

Yah i'm still wondering about the substance... any updates on that?

"the insurance company guaranteed my rates would go up if i claimed it."

Really? Have you had other claims?

jeffers

nope. i called up and basically said "my, uh, neighbour had his car keyed the other day and it made me wonder what would happen if i ever had to claim something like this". the response was "your rates would go up, probably after a year". i'm 25 with a clean record, no tix, nada. thanks insurance company!

migs647

iTrader: (19)

Heh I'd be switching if you have a perfect record... I'm the same figure 25 (26 the 19th), and perfect record. I pay VERY good rates with AAA, might want to check them out. I have bounced between them all, but I'm pretty happy with my service now.

Realistic

iTrader: (3)

MAN! that sucks, you should find out what the substance is... and smear it on their face!!

jeffers

CAA here. and yeah, i might actually start shopping around. i think i pay something like $1320/year right now. not too bad. $2 million liability coverage too.

guerejo

I hate it when that happens.