Ok, this is not a good day...well it's not the worst, but I couldn't have gotten a better surprise from being out today for only 2 hours. I went to home depot and thought it was so sunny out that I'd take my FD for a spin. I double-park the car far from the store, away from other cars. I come back and everything seems fine, so I drive to meet my parents and brother for dinner. We're eating on the patio when I notice this huge white line on the side of the rear quarter panel...a little curious as to what it could be, I go closer to check it out - I notice a dent in the light reflection as I'm walking closer. It turns out that someone or something hit and scraped my car right down to the sheet metal, through I don't know how much paint - in a diagonal line about 5 inches long. I can't understand how this happened since the only time I left the car alone was at Home Depot. I'm going to check if they have a loss-prevention team that has video cameras in the parking lot. I can't afford a new paint job right now and I have no idea how I can touch this up. Do you guys have any suggestions?...I'd like to do something temporarily to keep rust and moisture off the metal. Ugh, if I could only find out who did this. It sure doesn't look like an accident and if it was, whatever hit the car and scraped it was very pressurized. Anyhow, let me know if you have some ideas to touch this up until I can do more. Frustrated and pissed, -Joe

 

Yep, call your insurance company.

 

They don't cover that up here unfortunately (in igloo territory :-P)

 

you can get some mazda touch up paint to cover it for now

 

I can't believe you don't have comprehensive coverage there. Man, for $100 you could get that whole panel repainted, minimum, plus maybe an entire paint polish/wax/rub-out, etc.

 

Sounds more like a hate crime. Probably someone jealous of your ride. Happens more than you'd like to think. Go for the video if they have it.

Is it a dent-scratch? If so, must have been a car and probably done by accident. If not, hate crime (keyed).

Good luck. Keep us updated.

 

For the meantime, buy some car paint from your local auto shop, you could try and match the colour, it's up to you.

Mask of the scratched area (don't paint anything that doesn't need it, windows etc) and paint on the new stuff. This will stop it rusting 'till you can sort it out.

BTW - Montego Blue is a pain in the *** to colour-match

 

Double park? As in take up multiple spaces? I found that doing that is just asking for trouble.

 

Thanks a lot for your suggestions guys. I wish we had comprehensive insurance for that...I can get it for the windshield and stuff, but not this kind of stuff. I only took up two spots because the spots weren't needed that far away and to give people the idea I didn't want someone parking beside it, but yes, sometimes it creates more attention than you want. I agree that it sounds more like an intentional thing so I'm hoping they have video. And, lastly, the colour is black, so hopefully it won't be too hard to match, but it will still be visible to an extent...although I don't mind compared to what it is now.

 

Im sorry to hear that. When i get an RX7 and see anyone do that to my car I will kill them, Especially if Weird Al does it(I hate that guy).

 

Absolutely! I never do that, in fact, it upsets me when I see someone do it. The best thing to do is always park in an end stall, as close to the curb as possible, with you most screwed up side exposed (if you have one that is)
My wife thinks it's pretty funny the things I go through to find a parking spot.
Lastly, never park near or downhill from a shopping cart return stall, just in case one gets loose.

Frank

 

I usually park out in the boonies of any given lot or garage, and take up two spaces out there. Most lots & garages (out here anyway) have some remote portion that no one else wants to walk from unless they have to. I doubt that anyone cares that far away, and if they do, **** 'em since there are plenty of closer empty spots available.

If they don't have a remote area in the lot, or if it's full anyway, then I just take one spot and live with the possibility of the car being damaged by the typical negligent ******* (or rare genuine accident). I won't take two spots if I think it will actually put someone else out.

[side note: I've seen a lot of people who would rather drive around a parking lot for 15 minutes to find a spot 10 feet closer to the front door, than park farther out and just walk right in. It's fine if that's what they want to do with their time-- hell, it keeps more spots open for me in the boonies anyway...]

 

Sorry to hear that. I share your pain.....or in this situation, more like frustration. I work in a mall, so you can imagine how many new "discoveries" I find after each shift. I also use to work at Home Depot (aka CRAP-Depot) and surprisingly I had less problems parking my car there. I guess it's cuz I watch my car like a hawk when I'm working and if I caught anyone scratching my car, I'd drive a forklift into theirs.

As already mentioned, just touch up the scratch as a temporary solution. Pick up a small bottle of touch-up paint from mazda for a couple dollars. It comes in a little glass container with a brush, exactly like a bottle of nail polish. If the scratch is deep, apply the paint in several thin layers (allowing lots of time for each layer to dry) until it's a little more than level with the rest of the paint. Then LIGHTLY wet sand with high grit paper til you get a nice even surface.


Jason

 

Hearing **** like this gets my panties in a wad! I am the same way, rarely ever dive the car but when I do, it's parked away from everyone else...Seems to me like this should be an easy fix though...Thing I don't understand (excuse my body shop ignorance) is, can they just fix & paint that quarter of the car? I mean, since it's kinda part of the roof does that mean the whole thing will have to be repainted as a whole?

 

Get a different insurance agency buddy. Belair covers everything, from vandalism, to theft, whatever.

 

time for a new insurance company. here in MB, just pay the deductable and its all fixed

 

I typically don't take 2 spots but once I repaint my ride I'm gonna start. I got so many door dings that I sometimes think people do it on purpose. I have 3 cars and the FD has about three times more door dings that my other two. I drive it less and have had it for less time time too.

But what I HATE the most is when I park away from everybody else (and only take one spot),when I come back there is always somebody NEXT TO ME. Why do people do that??? I don't get it, it's like their nature to follow.

The same thing happens in surfing. I especifically surf far (I mean far) from the crowd in the line up. Pretty soon I spot some fool walking down the beach and paddles straight to me. So we end up about 20 feet from each other. Other people come in and do the same thing and pretty soon I'm in the middle of a crowd. IDIOTS... People are sheep man.

 

FWIW, park next to other nice rides - they will avoid dinging your doors as much as you would. Don't park next to a sh*t box and never double park - as mentioned, you'll **** someone off or draw attention to your car.
As for the scratch, buy some touch up from Mazda - it comes in a small tube - run the paint along the scratch with a toothpick, let it cure, then scrape off the access with razor blade scraper (very carefully) - then use a product like Mother's scratch remover - it's basically a rubbing compound that will blend the scratch repair in with the original paint - then buff like a bastard. If for no other reason, this will at least carry you over until you can get a pro to do it - you may be surprised with your own results, depending how handy you are - 2 cents

 

Definitely do not take up multiple parking spaces. I have seen people intentionally ding cars just for taking two spaces, no matter how remotely they are parked. Just try to get a good spot against a curb. Or better yet, don't drive a 7 to a place where you have to worry about it.

 

hahahaha...This is sooooo true. WTF is wrong with people that when I park my car miles away, even in just one spot, some stupid brown or light blue Chrysler mini van from the 80's has to park RIGHT beside me?

 

My wife's 2002 Protege is 1-1/2 years old and doesn't have a single ding (knock on wood). My wife just parks it any old place too, even in super tight compact spaces. I have several door dings and some ******* hit my fender lip above the rear wheel hard enough to make a dent (not a ding). It's just more signs that society in general is made up of stupid, selfish people who could care less about other people's things.

I remember when I got my first new car -- a Nissan SE-R. The first week I had it, some bitch parked next to me hits my rear bumper with her cart right in front of me. She sees the look on my face and says "oh, it's no big deal." I just stood there and looked psychotic for a few moments and she realized that it was a big deal and quickly got into her car and took off.

I have noticed the same thing about parking all alone in the middle of nowhere. Some jackass in a 70s chevy pickup or something always parks right next to me. Pisses me off.

 

Hey sorry to hear that. My only explanation is that people get jealous of the beautiful car that you own and get upset and damage it just out of pure jealousy. Again sorry to hear that. The same thing happened to me though and I did get the video tape but there is nothing that they can do about it here in Texas.

They will give you the tape but then you have to give it to the police so that they might be able to identify who did it and then press the charges so hope it works out for you. Once again sorry to hear that.

 

yeah seriously!!! i sometimes park in a parking lot of a store thats closed...litterly 200 feet away from anyone and there is always some f-body parked next to me...it wouldnt **** me off if it was 2 spots over, but why RIGHT next to me.

 

sorry about that man that sucks get a new insurance company b/c that crap happens all the time best of luck

 

Oh man this **** makes me mad..
About 2 years ago 3 weeks after i got the sweetest Jet-Black paintjob on my car this fat bitch desides to come park right beside me when the parking lot was almost empty i was on the other end of the parking lot no where near the entrance and to top it off i had 5 spaces on either side

So she parks so close that there was no way she could actually open her door w/o hitting my car.. so i do everything i can to let her know i'm paying attention to what she's doing and turn off the car and the stereo..

Does she care? Guess not since she looks at me and just swings her door open and HITS MY CAR! OH **** bitch!

i jump out and yell "what the hell are you doing" her answer is "it's no big deal" so i reply with "so it's no big deal if you scratched my car and end up paying for it"
again she just doesn't seem to realise the seriousness of her actions and says "jeeze luois" and walks away... JEEZE LUOIS!! WHAT! oh god help me now!
as soon as she dissapears behind the malls doors i begin to scope out the parking lot.. no visible cameras, no one in the parking lot that had seen what happened or that could see what was gonna happen for that matter, seconds later 2 girls i had dropped off return i fill them in on how the chip of paint had come off my passenger mirror so b4 i could get out and do anything they take matters (house keys) into their own hands and lets just say the bitch got what she had comin for her!!

Muahaha... what happened that night is nothing compared to what i'm gonna do to the poor son of a bitch that messes with my new baby (Rex)