Bad news. Some good news. Car was vandalized!

[87blackroxi]

Well saturday night I went to the opener of my college's footbal season. We played FAMU and won. But I left early due to the racial tension that was present at the game. I was threatened a couple times as well as a few friends. It was a pretty scary scene as the night went on. So we left and went out to a bar. Since I was drinking I caught a ride with some friends and left my car at the game. BIG mistake!
Well, come next day I wake up at about noon and go get my car. I don't know what hurt worse, my hangover or the site of the condition of my car. You could see that someone was standing on the hood of my car hitting it with something. There were footprints all over the hood and huge indentations and chips, probably about 6-7. And it didn't end there. There were a couple on each door, the fuel door was smashed in and destroyed and there was about a 2in by 6 in hole in the rear right quarter panel, As well as scratches all over the car. My girlfriend said I looked like I was about to cry! And I almost did.
But I thought for a second, that could have been me had I stuck around after the game. After all, it is a car and can be repaired which is a whole other story. I am talking to my insurance now and am bringing it in on Friday for repair. It should be interesting.
Just craziness! People are nuts!

 

[74bigblock]

Good thing you are OK. My Trans Am got Keyed at a White Sox game last year... I was very upset at forst, but ended up gettting a nice new paint job for $250 thanks to Allstate! Think how nice your ride will look all painted up!

Well saturday night I went to the opener of my college's footbal season. We played FAMU and won. But I left early due to the racial tension that was present at the game. I was threatened a couple times as well as a few friends. It was a pretty scary scene as the night went on. So we left and went out to a bar. Since I was drinking I caught a ride with some friends and left my car at the game. BIG mistake!
Well, come next day I wake up at about noon and go get my car. I don't know what hurt worse, my hangover or the site of the condition of my car. You could see that someone was standing on the hood of my car hitting it with something. There were footprints all over the hood and huge indentations and chips, probably about 6-7. And it didn't end there. There were a couple on each door, the fuel door was smashed in and destroyed and there was about a 2in by 6 in hole in the rear right quarter panel, As well as scratches all over the car. My girlfriend said I looked like I was about to cry! And I almost did.
But I thought for a second, that could have been me had I stuck around after the game. After all, it is a car and can be repaired which is a whole other story. I am talking to my insurance now and am bringing it in on Friday for repair. It should be interesting.
Just craziness! People are nuts!

 

[Legion21]

That's terrible, I hate to see that happen to anyone let alone a Vette. I never understood why people feel it's OK to vandalize things, It just doesn't make sense to me. I'm glad to hear that you're alright, and hey, maybe you get a real nice new paint job out of the incident.


Greg

 

[87blackroxi]

Good thing you are OK. My Trans Am got Keyed at a White Sox game last year... I was very upset at forst, but ended up gettting a nice new paint job for $250 thanks to Allstate! Think how nice your ride will look all painted up!

The bad news was the car was vandalized. The good news is I am ok. And some slightly good news is I won't have to wait until next year for a new paint job. However, I don't think they will cover it all. I have my $100 deductible and they said there was some existing damage so I will have to pay for that. I just hope my portion on the existing damage isn't too steep!

 

[74bigblock]

The bad news was the car was vandalized. The good news is I am ok. And some slightly good news is I won't have to wait until next year for a new paint job. However, I don't think they will cover it all. I have my $100 deductible and they said there was some existing damage so I will have to pay for that. I just hope my portion on the existing damage isn't too steep!

Do you have pix to validate/invalidate the "existing" damage?

 

[6 Shooter]

"existing damage"

I would not let them take that very far, it's pretty hard to fix around "existing damage" !!!

 

[87blackroxi]

Do you have pix to validate/invalidate the "existing" damage?

Sure don't. They were only little chips maybe 1/4 inch wide by 3/4 of an inch or a little scratch in the paint. The other spots were small bubbles in the paint caused by the hot florida sun. I Have an appointment on Friday to bring her in. So we'll see.

 

[74bigblock]

Sure don't. They were only little chips maybe 1/4 inch wide by 3/4 of an inch or a little scratch in the paint. The other spots were small bubbles in the paint caused by the hot florida sun. I Have an appointment on Friday to bring her in. So we'll see.

Yeah that's BS.... 6 Shooter is right... unless they have specific evidence that there was damage beyond normal wear and tear on a pannel, they have to pay for it. Any pannel on your car that was damaged in this incident should be restored to factory specs and painted. Who is your Insurance??

 

[JEFNLSA]

Sorry to hear about the car man, I hope it all works out for you.

I can kinda relate cuz, I'm playing in a band and we rent a warehouse on...THE WRONG SIDE OF TOWN and although it's a killer place to practice, I'm in constant fear of my car being @#$!ed with! About every 20 min. I'll set my guitar down and run out front to take a look. So far so good BUT it's probably only a matter of time. I'm taking every precaution I can...alarm set, club on the wheel, face removed from stereo, wheel locks etc.. BUT Phx is the car theft capitol of the US. Pls God, I don't want to be a statistic!!

Anyway, I hope that you get a paint job out of it & I guess the moral of the story is...don't leave the vette overnight anyplace that you aren't. Every time I make a regrettable decision such as that, there was drinking involved. :ugh

Cya,
Jeff

 

[Papa]

Take Lots of Pictures

If you havent already done so ...take as many pictures as you can...specifically of all the damaged areas that may have also had an existing ship or ding. Be sure to use a camera that includes a date code/time stamp on the print. As stated above...if there is damage to a panel/section of the car from vandalism they have to fix it to specs...your best insurance is a many pictures as you can take from every angle with details of the vandalism...then find a lawyer thats does PI/property damage work if they give you grief. If you start with a legitimate claim (no quesiton here) more often than not a demand letter from an attorney gets it all taken care of with little additional hassle. Don't rely on the adjusters pictures, make sure you have your own.
Good luck on the settlement and repairs.

 

[AdvancedAutoCC]

Shane,

Sorry to hear about that, dude... in my opinion that's one of the lowest things somebody can do to you. (plus it's really chickens**t). Some advice from the trenches:

DON'T let the adjuster screw around with you! Take it to the best body shop you can find, preferably one that specializes in Corvettes and SMC/fiberglass body repair/refinishing. You are NOT compelled to take it to the "preferred shop" of the insurance company, you can take it wherever you like. The reason they have a "preferred" shop is that the shop does work "to a price" (read that: substandard), and the finished product reflects that fact. If there's a hole in the quarter panel as you indicate, then panel REPLACEMENT is in order, not patch-paneling the hole (it WILL show back up, trust me). Plus, black is a hard color to match once it's aged in the sun, so keep that in mind when the adjuster says "we'll just spot it in here...etc, etc." (and he will). Most likely it'll take two or three "go 'rounds" with the adjuster to get things ironed out. I know you'll be wanting your ride back ASAP, but don't let that fact cloud your judgement.

Good luck!

 

[Edmond]

Shane,

Glad you're okay. Here is my opinion: the world has changed these past few years into a much more violent place. I have no doubt in my mind what would've happened to you if you were by your car. Do yourself a favor, cut down on the drinking and get yourself a concealed weapon permit. That could save your life if the need arises.

 

[wishuwerehere82]

If the fuel door was smashed open, make sure they didn't pi$$ in your gas tank. Those macho guys likely spent a lot of time around your Vette and there's no telling what they did.
Sorry to hear of your misfortune.

 

[mfi]

Well that truly sucks. I'm afraid to leave my car anywhere for this reason. If you can pull it off, you might get the car in better shape than it was before. Take it to a good shop, not the one the insurance company wants to. Be carefull out there.

 

[Moonunit 451]

That's just horrible, hope you get it fixed up nicely. Sad to say, even with my beat up dream car, I limit myself from things I might otherwise enjoy doing at times and places where I feel the likelyhood of this kind of thing is unacceptable

 

[87blackroxi]

hey everyone,
Thanks for the advice. I am still unsure what to do at this point. I have an appointment with one of their (progressive) shops on friday morning to drop my car off. but now y'all have me second guessing that. I might check with the local corvette shop tomorrow to see if he'll have a look at it. The trouble is I'm going out of town this weekend so I am hoping to drop it off before I leave and pick it up when I get back later next week.
It is just a crappy situation. More un-needed stress in my life. But I'll update y'all once I figure out what I'm gonna do.

 

[Moonunit 451]

It's gonna take time. Don't rush it. Get it done right. Wait till hyou get back. NO ONE is gonna repair that kinda damage in a week.

 

[B17Crew]

Sorry to hear about your ’87. Unfortunately, that kind of thing can happen to anyone, anywhere. When it’s all said and done, I hope your Vette looks as good as new.

B17Crew

 

[87blackroxi]

Thanks again everyone for the advice. I contacted the local corvette shop and spoke with one of the owners and I asked her if they worked with insurance claims. She said absolutely and that the repairman do repairs one way, His way, the right way. So I feel alot more comfortable with these people. They have done some work on my car before and it has always been done right. So my claims adjuster is faxing over the estimate and the corvette shop said they would look it over and then the car, and tell the insurance company what it really costs to repair the car correctly. So I feel a little better now.
Thank again everyone for the concern, and I hope the same as y'all, That I come out of this with my car looking better than it did before!

 

[Chris Kennedy]

Lots of very interesting responses on this thread. Like some of you have said, I, too, find myself staying away from certain groups, situations and areas of town a lot more than I have in the past, because there seem to be a lot more screwed-up people around. Do you remember the movie "Risky Business"? I think many of us have a little bit of the "Joel" character in us and feel we can walk a bit on the wild side. While that was always a dicey thing to do, it's REALLY gotten risky today. /s/ Chris Kennedy