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Friend damaged car


Scarlett
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8 minutes ago, Scarlett said:

Not trying to make myself 'look better.'  I don't agree with those who think a $400 repair is 'nothing'.   What is everyone else's price for determining if they ask a friend to pay for something they damaged?  Not to mention his insurance will most likely pay for it.

I don't think anyone is saying a $400 repair is nothing; rather everyone is saying they wouldn't pay (or ask someone else to pay) $400 for a small, cosmetic repair.  Most would either diy or chalk it up to normal wear and tear on a car.  I think the consensus here shows that your ds' concerns about asking the friend to pay are valid and he should be prepared for the the relationship to be strained.

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27 minutes ago, Scarlett said:

He cares about scratches whether he is keeping it a week or 10 years.  He wants to keep it looking good.  

How old is your ds?  I'd present my thoughts to him and let him handle it if he is over 18.  Let him know that he has every right to present the man a bill.  He absolutely does.  However, the response can vary depending on the person and considering the man's first response, there is a good chance he won't respond well.  I suspect you both know this considering that you asked the question in the first place.  

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I'm sorry this happened to your son's car.  I would upset too and I would want to fix it.

We tend to be DIYers so we would handle that ourselves. In fact we have, on my dh's Rav4.  First when my son dinged it (Ding meaning we actually had to replace the bumper. We ordered a new one and did it ourselves) and when a stanger scratched it up.  Said stranger left a note on the car and offered to pay but my dh did it himself.  He buffed the scratches out the best he could and then got matching paint for the areas that were down to metal, then covered it up with clearcoat (??? or whatever that stuff was from the Auto store).

$400 is a lot of money. If you think the gentleman could afford that, then you could run the cost by him. That being said, that amount of money could be more than he could afford.  Accidents happen, and yes we should be responsible about them.  But there is also grace and mercy.

I totally understand wanting to keep the car looking good.  I think that is a reasonable thing.  I also think your son could learn how to do that type of small repair.  It's a good lesson and a good skill to have. 

I would try and do it myself. If it wasn't doable then I might approach the guy about it. Especially with an older guy who already said he could just do it himself. If he sees that your son made a real effort to fix it and it didn't work out, he may be less grugging in paying out money to repair it professionally. 

I hope the car gets fixed to a level that your son is satisfied with. 

 

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1 hour ago, Scarlett said:

He rents out an apartment to ds's friend.  So he is there a lot.  He was inside his friend's apartment when the older friend/landlord began mowing the grass.  He did not ask ds to move his car. 

In my mind, this could make the entire situation more tricky.  It sounds as if the car was parked on the landlord's property, but was not invited by or visiting the landlord.  Was he parked in a designated parking place?  

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36 minutes ago, Scarlett said:

The thing is you can't fix it yourself.  If you mean patch it up, ok, but you certainly can't fix it yourself and neither can this man.  

For $20 and a little elbow grease you could fix it enough that no one would notice unless for some reason they had their face 3' from the wheel well and were looking for damage. Trying to force a 70 year old man, who is probably on a fixed income, to pay $400 because a teenage boy can't handle the difference between "barely perceptible" and "totally invisible" is just not something you're going to find a lot of support for. Suggesting that other people just don't care if their cars look like "junk," and that nothing less than perfection is good enough for your family, is not going to convince people that you're right on this one.

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Ugh. I'm sorry that happened. I'm sure it's frustrating for your ds, especially if he bought the car himself.

Since he works at an auto body shop, would someone there be willing to help him repair the damage himself if he buys the materials? It could be a good learning experience for him.

I agree with others that the gentleman should have offered to help with repairs but he didn't and perhaps can't. It's definitely within ds' rights to ask. Whether he gets the answer he wants is a different story. The friend's suggestion to use nail polish indicates that he doesn't see it as a big deal. I'd have a backup plan, just in case. I seriously doubt my backup plan would involve spending $400 though. I'd aim for somewhere in between there and nail polish.

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33 minutes ago, jdahlquist said:

In my mind, this could make the entire situation more tricky.  It sounds as if the car was parked on the landlord's property, but was not invited by or visiting the landlord.  Was he parked in a designated parking place?  

It was parked fine. On the grass where the tenant and visitors park. 

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 Count me among those who would let this go.

Similar damage could easily happen while being parked on the street and someone's lawnmower kicks up a stone/stick/piece of garbage, etc...or while driving down the road. In our family, DH would DIY to prevent rust. That's as much time/money/effort as we'd put into it. I certainly wouldn't have it professionally repaired.

But, our minivan has definitely seen better days and I wouldn't even notice that damage if more was added to it. (It's over 20 years old.)

Hopefully the responses here have showed you that asking for the money might strain/end the relationship.

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I'd let it go.  I'd also be worried that causing bad feelings by pushing it might cause issues for the friend who is a tenant there.

If someone wanted me to pay $400 for that damage, I'd want multiple estimates in writing before I'd pay anything.  That seems awfully high.  I do live in an area where this kind of minor damage is extremely common between crowded parking lots, potholes, bumps from ice, damage from salt, etc.   Fender benders are super common.

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So everyone here who would OFFER to pay for damage...once your friend who has the damaged vehicle takes you up on it, then what? The friendship is over?

Or is it...you damage the car, you offer to pay for it and your friend says "no" so you can still be friends? Bc now by saying no your friend has proven she values you (a person) more than a thing?

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21 minutes ago, Scarlett said:

It was parked fine. On the grass where the tenant and visitors park. 

This could become an issue if there is any attempt to file an insurance claim, as some have suggested might be done.  Is parking on the glass allowed in the municipality?  Is there anything in the lease about parking on the grass?  Does the landlord have insurance which covers damage arising from renting the apartment or simply private homeowners insurance?  

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Last year, DS bumped a truck as he was pulling out of a parking space.  He was driving my vehicle (which is longer than his), the truck he hit was long and protruded from the parking space more than an average auto, and it was a dark, foggy, drizzly night.  He could not see that it had really done any damage, but could not tell for sure in the darkness.  He left a note on the truck.  It ended up the truck belonged to someone he knew in the dorm.  When the friend got the note, she contacted DS and said that the damage was minor, she had scratches in other places, it was just a truck, and she wasn't go to fix the damage.  

I happen to work with the friend's mother.  I mentioned it to the mother because it was an odd situation that DS did not know it was friend's truck, friend did not realize it was my car, friend's mom did not realize it was my car and my DS...  The mother was really mad about the situation.  She was pressuring daughter to fix the car; she told me that DS should have the car fixed.  She acted as if the car would soon be undriveable because of the damage.  DS and the truck owner are still friends and the friend has since sold her truck, but people at work are now very careful not to get anywhere near the mother's vehicle.  

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20 minutes ago, jdahlquist said:

This could become an issue if there is any attempt to file an insurance claim, as some have suggested might be done.  Is parking on the glass allowed in the municipality?  Is there anything in the lease about parking on the grass?  Does the landlord have insurance which covers damage arising from renting the apartment or simply private homeowners insurance?  

Obviously all of those things would have to be considered by the man who damaged my son's car.

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3 minutes ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

Are you sure this is an actual friend?  The friendly landlord of a friend isn't typically someone that I would classify as a friend unless there was an actual relationship independent of that. 

Yes I am sure he is a friend.  LOL....He happens to be the landlord also of a mutual friend.  

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Recently my dh was careless and backed into the truck of a guy that was doing some work at a neighbor’s house. Big dent. Totally my dh’s fault. Truck was older (Like a 2002) but in great shape. 

That man was so nice. He went for two estimates that were in the $1500-2000 range. We would have let our insurance pay for it but it would have raised our rates, we would have lost our safe driver discount, etc. The guy told us he didn’t care about perfection and if we could find someone to do a decent job cheaper he’d be fine. My dh called around and found a place that fixed it up for about $500. We paid cash on the spot and the man was happy with the good enough repair. 

Sure we owed the guy the full $1500-2000 repair. But he was gracious and reasonable. We have been gracious and reasonable to strangers in the past and it was nice to be on the receiving end of that grace. As frustrated as dh and I were with dh’s lapse in judgement, it was awfully nice to have such a reasonable interaction.

It is just the way we handle things in our family and obviously other people do too. I was sure grateful that man was so kind and understanding. 

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1 hour ago, Kim in Appalachia said:

I'm sorry this happened to your son's car.  I would upset too and I would want to fix it.

We tend to be DIYers so we would handle that ourselves. In fact we have, on my dh's Rav4.  First when my son dinged it (Ding meaning we actually had to replace the bumper. We ordered a new one and did it ourselves) and when a stanger scratched it up.  Said stranger left a note on the car and offered to pay but my dh did it himself.  He buffed the scratches out the best he could and then got matching paint for the areas that were down to metal, then covered it up with clearcoat (??? or whatever that stuff was from the Auto store).

$400 is a lot of money. If you think the gentleman could afford that, then you could run the cost by him. That being said, that amount of money could be more than he could afford.  Accidents happen, and yes we should be responsible about them.  But there is also grace and mercy.

I totally understand wanting to keep the car looking good.  I think that is a reasonable thing.  I also think your son could learn how to do that type of small repair.  It's a good lesson and a good skill to have. 

I would try and do it myself. If it wasn't doable then I might approach the guy about it. Especially with an older guy who already said he could just do it himself. If he sees that your son made a real effort to fix it and it didn't work out, he may be less grugging in paying out money to repair it professionally. 

I hope the car gets fixed to a level that your son is satisfied with. 

 

Thank you.  There seems to be an assumption that the friend can't afford the bill.  As if by ds accepting the money for the repair the man won't be able to eat or buy his medication or something.  I mean good grief, obviously (or maybe not) if the friend says, 'hey I just don't have it, what can we work out?' ds is not going to angrily demand he pay up or else.  

The car will be repaired.  That part is for sure.  Who pays for it is the only question.  

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4 minutes ago, Scarlett said:

He was not.  Good grief.

I think we're gonna need pictures and schematics the car and the mower, surveys of the property, and drone footage, for sure. Satellite imagery. I want your son And the old man  drug tested, including CBC and Chem 7. Plus hair And fingernail samples. 

And an hourly weather report for the day in question.

Did I mention the rental agreement? Need that too.

 

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Just now, unsinkable said:

I think we're gonna need pictures and schematics the car and the mower, surveys of the property, and drone footage, for sure. Satellite imagery. I want your son And the old man  drug tested, including CBC and Chem 7. Plus hair And fingernail samples. 

And an hourly weather report for the day in question.

Did I mention the rental agreement? Need that too.

 

LOL....thank you a much needed laugh.  

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Is it hard to tell in the picture how deep the scratches are? You can get the touch up kits from the dealership that are for deeper scratches - it comes with a filler, then the regular touch up paint pen on top. DH’s friend sat on his (DH’s) tailgate while it was hooked up to a trailer and it left two dent/scratches, down and into the metal, about 3 inches long. DH didn’t ask his friend to pay, and friend didn’t offer. DH tried the filler, and it protected it from rust, but you could still see the lines. We didn’t get an estimate to fix it “properly”, but maybe we should have. For $400, it might have been worth it, because I know it bothered DH to see the shadows of those lines all the time. So, while I wouldn’t ask a friend to pay, I can see why your DS would want to have it fixed.

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7 minutes ago, teachermom2834 said:

Recently my dh was careless and backed into the truck of a guy that was doing some work at a neighbor’s house. Big dent. Totally my dh’s fault. Truck was older (Like a 2002) but in great shape. 

That man was so nice. He went for two estimates that were in the $1500-2000 range. We would have let our insurance pay for it but it would have raised our rates, we would have lost our safe driver discount, etc. The guy told us he didn’t care about perfection and if we could find someone to do a decent job cheaper he’d be fine. My dh called around and found a place that fixed it up for about $500. We paid cash on the spot and the man was happy with the good enough repair. 

Sure we owed the guy the full $1500-2000 repair. But he was gracious and reasonable. We have been gracious and reasonable to strangers in the past and it was nice to be on the receiving end of that grace. As frustrated as dh and I were with dh’s lapse in judgement, it was awfully nice to have such a reasonable interaction.

It is just the way we handle things in our family and obviously other people do too. I was sure grateful that man was so kind and understanding. 

If by gracious and reasonable you mean ds should pay for the repair himself and never mention it to the friend...well, I guess ds can't afford to be that gracious and reasonable this time. 

Or if you mean a reasonable person would not want or need the vehicle repaired professionally?  

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1 minute ago, arctic_bunny said:

Is it hard to tell in the picture how deep the scratches are? You can get the touch up kits from the dealership that are for deeper scratches - it comes with a filler, then the regular touch up paint pen on top. DH’s friend sat on his (DH’s) tailgate while it was hooked up to a trailer and it left two dent/scratches, down and into the metal, about 3 inches long. DH didn’t ask his friend to pay, and friend didn’t offer. DH tried the filler, and it protected it from rust, but you could still see the lines. We didn’t get an estimate to fix it “properly”, but maybe we should have. For $400, it might have been worth it, because I know it bothered DH to see the shadows of those lines all the time. So, while I wouldn’t ask a friend to pay, I can see why your DS would want to have it fixed.

All along the edge it is scraped down to where the paint is completely gone.  And then the other scratches are pretty deep too.  Ds paid to have a door ding fixed by PDR...he got it in a parking lot somewhere but he didn't let it go unrepaired.  This is MUCH MUCH worse than that.  

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2 hours ago, Scarlett said:

Well, there is no way it will stay unrepaired. His dad will insist it be repaired if it is not repaired by the time he sees ds next.  

 

Does his dad inspect his car every time he sees him? Because that is the only way he would notice that. 

It's up to your son, but I could never ask someone to pay $400 to fix that. Two of you work for an auto body shop, but no one will help you with the repair or give you a break on price? That's weird to me, because I have a brother who doesn't even work in the body shop, and way bigger favors than painting this on the cheap would be no big deal. We keep our cars up but would not require that this be a perfect fix, just safe from rust.

Is your ds getting that entire panel replaced?  If he isn't, you need to get a second and third estimate. That seems crazy high, particularly for someone who actually works at an auto body shop. 

 

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4 minutes ago, Scarlett said:

If by gracious and reasonable you mean ds should pay for the repair himself and never mention it to the friend...well, I guess ds can't afford to be that gracious and reasonable this time. 

Or if you mean a reasonable person would not want or need the vehicle repaired professionally?  

 

I think she means gracious and reasonable in exactly the same manner the guy in her post was to them: accepting a professional but less than perfect repair. 

It can definitely be hard to judge by a picture, but, if the initial estimate is that high, it would be gracious of your ds to get additional estimates rather than having the older gentleman do it. If the initial estimate is for a perfect repair, it would be gracious of your son to consider a less than perfect repair that would still make it look better and protect the car from rust.

 

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3 hours ago, Scarlett said:

We keep our vehicles up so that they don't turn in to pieces of junk covered in dents and scratches. Obviously not everyone feels that way about their vehicles.  

We keep our vehicles up as well. What is showing in the picture is what I would categorize as normal wear and tear. It wouldn't occur to me to get it repaired.

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3 hours ago, Scarlett said:

Someone has to pay for it.  Either ds now, or ds when he trades it in, or the person who actually damaged it.  I mean, I wouldn't recommend taking him to small claims court or anything but yes he definitely should pay for it.  

I don't think that's enough damage to affect the value of the car. It's normal wear and tear and as such will be taken into account in the value of the car when it is sold or used as a trade-in.

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2 hours ago, Scarlett said:

He cares about scratches whether he is keeping it a week or 10 years.  He wants to keep it looking good.  

If he caused this damage himself, would he have it repaired? What about if he came up to his car in the parking lot and it had been damaged and no one had left a note - would he have it repaired then?

He parked on the grass and someone accidentally dinged his car while they were cutting the grass. I'd file this solidly under the "live and learn" column, even if it was expected that he parked on the grass. He didn't have to do that - he could have parallel parked in the street, which is legal unless it is marked "no parking."

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26 minutes ago, Scarlett said:

If by gracious and reasonable you mean ds should pay for the repair himself and never mention it to the friend...well, I guess ds can't afford to be that gracious and reasonable this time. 

Or if you mean a reasonable person would not want or need the vehicle repaired professionally?  

Yeah I guess it doesn't make sense given your position. I think reasonable in this case would be to accept a less than perfect repair. 

But I'm going to bow out and admit this is just out of my experience. While people I know generally care for their belongings and take pride in the homes, cars, etc. I guess I don't run in circles where people would expect their cars to never have door dings or bangs and scrapes. So my frame of reference is off. In my social circle people would not fret about such damage so I don't really get your perspective. But you are certainly entitled to it!

 

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48 minutes ago, Scarlett said:

Obviously all of those things would have to be considered by the man who damaged my son's car.

But, they may also need to be considered by your son's friend.  If the parking arrangement was not what was specified in the rental agreement, it could cause some problems for the friend.  Will the landlord decide it is not worth having a tenant if he has to worry about damage to the tenant's friends' cars?  Will he raise the tenant's rent next time around?  Will he no longer allow the tenant (or the tenant's friends) to park on the grass on his property?  Could the landlord say, "yes, I owe you $400 for damage to your car, but your owe me $800 for damage to my lawn you parked on?"  

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2 hours ago, Scarlett said:

Well, there is no way it will stay unrepaired. His dad will insist it be repaired if it is not repaired by the time he sees ds next.  

Because??? Sounds like his dad can pay for it, lol. 

Honestly, a patch job would be reasonable. Is the difference in how it looks between a patch up job done DIY and the $400 repair really worth it to him? I mean, that's practically the cost of repainting the whole car! What we are all saying is the difference in function and appearance isn't worth $400 to anyone. No one should pay that much when a few bucks and 30 minutes of time would get you to almost the same result. Not your son, not the neighbor. 

 

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When I was in college, I bumped into someone's car while parking at church and scratched it a bit - much less than what your pic shows.  I left a note with my name and number.  They called, and turned out to be acquaintances of my parents.  They wanted it done *right*, at the dealership's shop, and it cost $700.  My parents thought it was a bit over-the-top, but it wasn't a sacrifice to pay it, so they did, for the sake of the relationship and making it right.  I don't think it changed how we thought of them - we thought they were a bit odd wrt the importance they placed on it, but it wasn't wrong of them or anything.  It was a lot of money, though - it would have a been a real hardship to have paid it myself.  I don't know how I would have felt if paying for it was a huge sacrifice - it did feel like we were paying for a luxury, not a need.

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19 minutes ago, jdahlquist said:

But, they may also need to be considered by your son's friend.  If the parking arrangement was not what was specified in the rental agreement, it could cause some problems for the friend.  Will the landlord decide it is not worth having a tenant if he has to worry about damage to the tenant's friends' cars?  Will he raise the tenant's rent next time around?  Will he no longer allow the tenant (or the tenant's friends) to park on the grass on his property?  Could the landlord say, "yes, I owe you $400 for damage to your car, but your owe me $800 for damage to my lawn you parked on?"  

It is the designated parking for the tenant.  

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6 hours ago, Scarlett said:

You would not expect damage to be fixed if it is only cosmetic?  

We don't fix minor scratches and dings on our cars that are only cosmetic. $390 just so your car looks good? Sorry, that's just never been our priorities.

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12 minutes ago, Ktgrok said:

Because??? Sounds like his dad can pay for it, lol. 

Honestly, a patch job would be reasonable. Is the difference in how it looks between a patch up job done DIY and the $400 repair really worth it to him? I mean, that's practically the cost of repainting the whole car! What we are all saying is the difference in function and appearance isn't worth $400 to anyone. No one should pay that much when a few bucks and 30 minutes of time would get you to almost the same result. Not your son, not the neighbor. 

 

It is no where near close to the cost to paint the entire car.  

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32 minutes ago, TechWife said:

If he caused this damage himself, would he have it repaired? What about if he came up to his car in the parking lot and it had been damaged and no one had left a note - would he have it repaired then?

He parked on the grass and someone accidentally dinged his car while they were cutting the grass. I'd file this solidly under the "live and learn" column, even if it was expected that he parked on the grass. He didn't have to do that - he could have parallel parked in the street, which is legal unless it is marked "no parking."

As mentioned up thread, ds has paid to have his car repaired when he came out to find someone had damaged it and didnt' leave a note. The guy was mowing UNDER my son's car and got the mower hung up and thus the damage.  He parked in where they always park and where they are expected to park.  

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52 minutes ago, katilac said:

 

I think she means gracious and reasonable in exactly the same manner the guy in her post was to them: accepting a professional but less than perfect repair. 

It can definitely be hard to judge by a picture, but, if the initial estimate is that high, it would be gracious of your ds to get additional estimates rather than having the older gentleman do it. If the initial estimate is for a perfect repair, it would be gracious of your son to consider a less than perfect repair that would still make it look better and protect the car from rust.

 

Reputable body shops all use the same program to give an estimate.  And he isn't going to take it to a non reputable shop.  If they guy doesn't want to pay for the damage he did, ds will obviously have to pay it himself.

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Just now, Scarlett said:

Reputable body shops all use the same program to give an estimate.  And he isn't going to take it to a non reputable shop.  If they guy doesn't want to pay for the damage he did, ds will obviously have to pay it himself.

He can choose to pay for it himself, or choose to do a less expensive repair. It's a choice. 

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23 minutes ago, itsheresomewhere said:

This is minor and could be an easy DIY fix.   We keep our cars well and that wouldn’t have us sweating over it.  We would fix it ourselves.

If DS works in a body shop, why not try it himself?  Great learning experience and I bet one of the guys would help him learn it.

It isn't that kind of shop.  I just looked at the estimate....paint and material alone were $190.  

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1 minute ago, GoodGrief1 said:

He may find that he's not welcome to park there anymore if he pursues this. I'm not sure I would welcome the tenant's visitors quite so readily if these sorts of risks accompanied them.

You realize my son didn’t do it right?  The man just needs to not mow under someone’s car in the future. 

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3 minutes ago, GoodGrief1 said:

He may find that he's not welcome to park there anymore if he pursues this. I'm not sure I would welcome the tenant's visitors quite so readily if these sorts of risks accompanied them.

Besides the fact you can’t tell a tenant he can’t have guests. Even if he were the vindictive type . 

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24 minutes ago, Scarlett said:

As mentioned up thread, ds has paid to have his car repaired when he came out to find someone had damaged it and didnt' leave a note. The guy was mowing UNDER my son's car and got the mower hung up and thus the damage.  He parked in where they always park and where they are expected to park.  

 

I would be more understanding about this if the guy was another 18yo and not a 70yo. Seriously, what kind of negligent idiot mows UNDER a parked car?  It’s not like he could have mowed all the way under the car, anyway, so he would have had to go back later and finish up, so why not just ask Scarlett’s ds to move his car for a few minutes so he could mow the parking area?

The man did a very stupid thing and he damaged Scarlett’s son’s car. Yes, it’s minor damage, but I’m confused as to why most people are ridiculing Scarlett, and why they seem to think her son should either drive the car as it is or pay out of his own pocket to have it repaired at a body shop. Why shouldn’t he want his car to remain in pristine condition, and why should he pay for the repair when he wasn’t responsible for the damage? Many people really do care about driving a nice car, and I assume Scarlett’s son is among them. 

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29 minutes ago, Scarlett said:

As mentioned up thread, ds has paid to have his car repaired when he came out to find someone had damaged it and didnt' leave a note. The guy was mowing UNDER my son's car and got the mower hung up and thus the damage.  He parked in where they always park and where they are expected to park.  

Trying to mow under a car seems like a stupid move. Not only because of possibly scratching the car, but couldn't that be a fire/explosion hazard.

It's like peoplw smoking while mowing, I always question their intelligence.

I agree that this sucks. You are well within your right to ask for compensation.

Kelly

 

 

 

 

 

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3 minutes ago, Catwoman said:

 

I would be more understanding about this if the guy was another 18yo and not a 70yo. Seriously, what kind of negligent idiot mows UNDER a parked car?  It’s not like he could have mowed all the way under the car, anyway, so he would have had to go back later and finish up, so why not just ask Scarlett’s ds to move his car for a few minutes so he could mow the parking area?

The man did a very stupid thing and he damaged Scarlett’s son’s car. Yes, it’s minor damage, but I’m confused as to why most people are ridiculing Scarlett, and why they seem to think her son should either drive the car as it is or pay out of his own pocket to have it repaired at a body shop. Why shouldn’t he want his car to remain in pristine condition, and why should he pay for the repair when he wasn’t responsible for the damage? Many people really do care about driving a nice car, and I assume Scarlett’s son is among them. 

 

First, no one is ridiculing Scarlett.

It's the friendship aspect and the fact that this is really just a minor ding, not a major repair. Most of us are saying we either wouldn't repair it or would consider it a DIY, that it's not extensive enough to warrant the cost of a body shop. Even nice cars get dings and scratches.

 

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9 minutes ago, TechWife said:

 

First, no one is ridiculing Scarlett.

It's the friendship aspect and the fact that this is really just a minor ding, not a major repair. Most of us are saying we either wouldn't repair it or would consider it a DIY, that it's not extensive enough to warrant the cost of a body shop. Even nice cars get dings and scratches.

 

Agreed.

I think what people are saying is that most people don't care about scratches and dings. Because of that, this situation could be tricky. 

Scarlett's son has every right to want it fixed, and to ask for compensation.

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