OLD GUY SCRATCHED MY CAR - HAVE I MADE THE RIGHT DECISION?
 

I must be getting soft in my old age:

Parked my car up in a street (mereted parking) and went into see my sister in her shop with my 8 month old daughter. The space was tight. Came back to my car, there is a different car parked behind mine, an old Renault, parked very squint etc. The alarm bells are ringing and then I see the disabled badge (I know - I do not mean to discriminate.) Then the worst (and inevitable part) there is a score on my rear bumper through the paint to the plastic and lo and behold, a series of scores on the cars bumper parked behind.

I set about taking some photos of the evidence and weighing up my options. I then see an oldish guy struggling to walk towards the car which I had already guessed was his.

I then asked him nicely if it was him and he denied it, stating that a bus was waiting on him whilst he parked (so he must have been harased in my opinion.) He did seem like a nice old bloke and under the circumstances I actually felt sorry for him.

So what would you do? In days gone by, I would have been totally raging, however perhaps being a dad now (for the past 8 months) has changed my priorities....

Still gutted that my immaculate car now has a small blemish, however pleased at myself that I was grown up about it....

Maybee something nice will hapen to me now!!

I'm sure Santa has you on his "good" list! ;) :D

Ns04

SHAME ON YOU PS LEWIS

pay for the damage
do it now:razz:

If you can go through life not getting in a rage even if other would under the same circumstance it makes you the better person. I think you handled things well.

Anger only hurts the angry.

Being a dad just change your outlook on life, that's for sure.

lOOks like you'll be getting an extra christmas card through the letterbox this year. :)

I don't know if i'd of been the same, unless he owned up to it. Denying it would've seen me react i think.

Move over Ghandi Mr Popes in town.... :D

Good on you fella..! ;)

Well done mate...:luxhello:
Some things in life just have to be let go.

Thats nice of you, but did you get his details?

No need to get angry I would have got his insurance details and if he refused called the police. Whilst its only a scratch what would he have done had it been a light or something more major , denied that too probably. Sorry he shouldn't be on the road if he can't park.
Thats my opinion anyway

I find that the older generation blatantly lie and are more tight the older they get. I would have taken him to task over it tbh, if you could see it was definitely him that did it. Have had too many hit and runs that I could do nothing about.

My neighbour's tile fell off and destroyed my shed roof. He said he would sort me out, then once it was repaired he told me it was my fault as when I had an aerial fitted I had stood on his roof and loosened the tile. A complete fabrication, and completely impossible. Not that this has any relevance to you, but a warning that old people will say anything to get out of paying for something they have caused damage to....

Agreed.

End of the day, whether someone is disabled, old, male, female, different ethnicity or obese, if they fook up my car then they are paying for it.

I pay through the nose to run my car and have spent a fortune buying it and adding extras on, so no one is going to ruin it for me if I can help it.

Fair play for handling things the way you did but at the end of the day I'd be wanting to get it settled either outside of insurance if he prefers or through insurance.

G

There is no need to lose your head these days but if it was me and he started denying it (lying) I would of got a bit funny with him. If he did sctratch your car there will be reminents of your paint on his bumper. The elderly make out they hav a hard time (and some do) there are some vicious OAP out there.

good for you
martin

[QUOTE=magicgreg;7456726]Agreed.

End of the day, whether someone is disabled, old, male, female, different ethnicity or obese, if they fook up my car then they are paying for it.

I pay through the nose to run my car and have spent a fortune buying it and adding extras on, so no one is going to ruin it for me if I can help it.

My thoughts exactly

I forgot to say that my missus saw a doddering old git in a land rover completely misjudge parking in Tescos and drove down the side of a car, ripped the wing mirror off, then realising what he had done...drove off. She went into Tescos and reported him......feel sorry for whoever it was when they got back to their car....

Yeah, well I took a few photos and all that including his reg no, but as I said, I decided to let it go. His bumpers had at least 1/2 dozen marks on them so I am certain it would have been him however could not prove it short of having an analysis carried out of his bumper. Although he denied it, I do not think he was actually aware of it.

Right, where are those Swan Vestas - I am away round to his house/ old folks home!!!!.............

I just hope the 12 year old kid the dithering old **** mows down at a zebra crossing is as forgiving :)

"Remember age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability...."

Yes you did the right thing IMHO.

Agreed. :thumb:

You do have a little extra help on your side though. ;)

You did a good thing. Not really much harm done, besides if you claimed off his insurance your premium would have gone up for the next 5 years.

Someone drove full bore into the side of my run around the other day. Amazingly it didnt do much damage as she reversed into me fully square on. Yes I could have insisted on dealing through the insurance. I would have lost out on all my policies because of it. I could have asked for a cash settlement, but as I had no intention of repairing the car that wouldnt have sat right with me either. I decided to go for the no harm done hand shake and we went our seperate ways.

Unless the claim went 50/50 there would be absolutely no increase in your premium and you would not have lost anything on your policies (not that I understand what you are on about there...)

All costs are recovered from the third parties insurance...

You done the right thing - ,maybe if you do the same thing one day you may be let off - we all make mistakes. He might not have even know he did it.

I would have gone off my head a few years ago, but like you I have a 2 year old girl and things just seem a bit more important now than the paint on my car. Don't get me wrong still love the Scooby (in none sexual way!) just not obsessed anymore - which is a good thing.

There are stages in this kind of scenario.

A small mark you can polish out ok, one that needs paint is not ok.

Just had a similar thing happen to a six month old Merc - most of the scrape the old lady in the Fiesta did while the Merc was parked came to £500 + VAT to fix - sorry but the old dear's got the bill which her insurers will now deal with.

But you are right to stay cool - its not life and death and, despite it being your pride and joy, its only a car after all and can be fixed.

I learnt that lesson from my elderly company chairman when, as a very young man, I pranged my Ford Escort 1.6 GHIA [great car]. When I told him about the shunt, his first and only question was "Anyone hurt?". When I said no, he just said "Good, just fill out the claim form and get yourself a new car!"

I later learned that some years previously he had lent his Rover 3500 to his 24 year old son who wrapped it around a tree and had been killed: that put it all in perspective for the old boy.

At the end of the day you did what felt right for you. I agree with most of the comments and don't know how i would react.
The old guy as you say is probably not even aware he has done the damage to your car.
As i said earlier if it makes you feel good in yourself then you made the right decission.

Glad it wasn't mine though:lol1:

for the above statements i take my hat off to you, i have a 8 month old and my life has changed totally, you now realise that after all it is just a 'car' other things mean more.

well done for not ranting and raging at a old bloke and lets hope you get what you wish for at christmas:thumb:

So, from the Scoobynet masses, when I'm old and doddery, I have a right to cause damage to other peoples property :wonder: No, it's not true.

Firstly, well done for not getting angry.

Secondly, if he's caused damage to your car he should have it repaired. End of.

Age doesn't matter, he should have insurance and they will pay.

If he can't park a car he shouldn't be driving, he's a danger on the road. Imagine if it was your child he hit and broke their arm. You'd view this in a different light.

I applaud him for doing what he did, but at the end of the day....take a new Audi, say 40k, scratched in the same way straight after you have picked it up. As it has aluminium panels can only be repaired at a handful of Audi approved repairers etc.......

......people would have a different opinion.

If I had an old banger with normal road use scratches and chips, and there was 'just another' scratch to the list, I would have done the same, but not if it was in the case above.

well done
 

well done m8
2 points i am 51 disabled and drive a scooby 05 sti and a 3.2 litre crossfire convertable. the motability car is a fiesta. so not all people with badges are old foggies. also have a paraplegic son who is nineteen and he gets loads of sh-t for different reasons. of course many are and a bloody nightmare to be honest. having kids does change your outlook and i take my hat off to you, i think your actions are to be applauded. plus winning an arguement with a very elderly person is a nightmare. i hope your car does not cost you a lot and its soon in tip top condition again.
cheer mick :luxhello:

If the guy is genuine then sort the damage yourself and feel good about what you have done.

Hat's off to you.

I agree completely here. Getting angry and letting him off paying for the damage are two different things.

No point getting angry obviously but he caused this damage and he really should pay for the repairs (or at least his insurer).